imported>Jevansen: added :Category:20th-century Australian sportsmen

2024-12-30T07:25:17Z

added Category:20th-century Australian sportsmen

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{{Short description|Australian rugby union and rugby league footballer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Use Australian English|date=July 2013}}
{{Infobox rugby league biography
|name = Rupert Mudge
|fullname =
|image =
|imagesize =
|caption =
|birth_date = {{birth date|1928|6|6|df=y}}
|birth_place =
|death_date = {{death date and age|1993|7|23|1928|6|6|df=y}}
|death_place =
|height =
|weight =
|position = {{rlp|PR|SR}}
|club1 = [[Workington Town]]
|year1start =
|year1end =
|appearances1 =
|tries1 =
|goals1 =
|fieldgoals1 =
|points1 =
|club2 = [[Sydney Roosters|Eastern Suburbs]]
|year2start = 1955
|year2end = 58
|appearances2 = 47
|tries2 = 3
|goals2 = 0
|fieldgoals2 = 0
|points2 = 9
|teamA = [[Other Nationalities rugby league team|Other Nationalities]]
|yearAstart = 1949
|yearAend = 53
|appearancesA = 13
|triesA = 1
|goalsA = 0
|fieldgoalsA = 0
|pointsA = 3
|retired = yes
|source = <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/players/rupert-mudge/summary.html|title=Rupert Mudge - Playing Career|publisher=Rugby League Project|access-date=29 November 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Rugby league records |id=10691 |title=Johnny Mudge |access-date=29 November 2024}}</ref>
}}
'''John "Rupert" Mudge''' (1928–1993) was an Australian [[rugby union]] and [[rugby league]] footballer who played in the 1940s and 1950s. He played both [[Rugby football|rugby]] codes in [[Sydney]], [[New South Wales]] as well as playing [[rugby league]] in [[England]]. While in England, he played at representative level for [[British Empire XIII rugby league team|British Empire]] and [[Other Nationalities rugby league team|Other Nationalities]].

==Biography==
Rupert John Mudge played for the Randwick [[rugby union]] club in his junior years before being recruited by English rugby league club, [[Workington Town]], where he was joined by fellow Australian recruit [[Tony Paskins]].

Mudge was coached by former [[Great Britain]] rugby league test captain, [[Gus Risman]]. A [[Rugby league positions#The back row|back-rower]], or {{rlp|pr}}, Rupert Mudge played at {{rlp|sr}}, and scored a [[Try (rugby)|try]] in [[Workington Town]]'s 18–10 victory over [[Featherstone Rovers]] in the [[1951–52 Challenge Cup]] Final during the [[1951–52 Northern Rugby Football League season#Challenge Cup|1951–52 season]] at [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley Stadium]], [[London]] on Saturday 19 April 1952, in front of a crowd of 72,093.<ref name="Australians star in Cup Final">{{cite news
| last = AAP (London)
| title = Australians star in Cup Final
| newspaper = [[The Sydney Morning Herald]]
| date = 1952-04-21
| url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kacUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5rADAAAAIBAJ&pg=7206,6511911
| access-date = 2009-10-07}}</ref>

Three Australian footballers were in the Workington Town side, including Rupert, [[Tony Paskins]] and [[Bevan Wilson (rugby league)|Bevan Wilson]]. They played the match in front of [[Anthony Eden]], who was Foreign Minister in the Government and Rupert John Mudge scored the longest ever running try at Wembley, which was the turning point in the match. It was then added to when Aussie teammate [[Tony Paskins]] and [[George Wilson (1940s rugby player)|George Wilson]] together scored another try in the final minutes of the game and Workington Town team beat Featherstone and won.<ref name="Australians star in Cup Final" />

Rupert Mudge played at {{rlp|sr}} in [[Workington Town]]'s 12–21 defeat by [[Barrow Raiders|Barrow]] in the [[1955 Challenge Cup]] Final during the [[1954–55 Northern Rugby Football League season|1954–55 season]] at [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley Stadium]], [[London]] on Saturday 30 April 1955, in front of a crowd of 66,513.

In 1955 both Mudge and Paskins returned to Australia where they joined the [[Sydney Roosters|Eastern Suburbs]] rugby league team, Paskins was appointed captain. Mudge who played 45 matches for the Eastern Suburbs club in the years (1955–58) is recognised as that club's 448th player.

After his retirement from football Rupert spent some years as a panelist on the Channel Seven Rugby League panel discussion program "Controversy Corner" hosted by Rex (the Moose) Mossop.

In his professional life in Australia, besides football, he worked for P.Rowe Pty. Ltd.

He married his Australian sweetheart, Yvonne Rita Trenerry, who had followed him to England in Workington Town where they lived until 1955 when they returned to Australia to live at Coogee Beach. They had two children, Barbara and John.

In the late 1990s Rupert John Mudge was invited to England for a special celebration at Wembley Stadium, because he still held the record for the longest running try. Returning home happy he succumbed to the cancer which claimed his life in six short weeks. He died at the [[Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney]] on 23 July 1993. He was cremated at [[Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park]].<ref>Sydney Morning Herald: Death Notice- 26 July 1993</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* ''The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players''; Alan Whiticker & Glen Hudson
* ''The Story of Australian Rugby League''; Gary Lester

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100114185150/http://totalrl.com/features/content.php?feat_id=273&featcat_id=32 France defeated in ‘Battle of the Boulevard’]
*[http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/3381481/Hulton-Archive 30 April 1955 Photograph of Workington Town]

{{Workington Town - 1952 Challenge Cup Final winners}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mudge, Rupert}}
[[Category:1928 births]]
[[Category:1993 deaths]]
[[Category:Australian rugby league players]]
[[Category:Australian rugby union players]]
[[Category:British Empire rugby league team players]]
[[Category:Other Nationalities rugby league team players]]
[[Category:Place of birth missing]]
[[Category:Rugby articles needing expert attention]]
[[Category:Rugby league locks]]
[[Category:Rugby league props]]
[[Category:Rugby league second-rows]]
[[Category:Sydney Roosters players]]
[[Category:Workington Town players]]
[[Category:Australian expatriate rugby league players in England]]
[[Category:Burials at Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park]]
[[Category:Footballers who switched code]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian sportsmen]]

Rupert Mudge - Revision history

imported>Jevansen: added :Category:20th-century Australian sportsmen