Brian Norton (rugby league)

Brian Norton (27 December 1944 – 22 April 2018) nicknamed "Chicka" was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.[2] He played in the NSWRFL premiership for North Sydney and St George as a prop.

Brian Norton

Personal information
Full name	Brian Edward Norton
Born	27 December 1944 North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Died	22 April 2018 (aged 73) Lane Cove, New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
Position	Prop
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1968–70 North Sydney 40 3 0 0 9 1971–74 St George 43 5 0 0 15 1975 North Sydney 7 0 0 0 0 Total 90 8 0 0 24 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 1967 NSW Country 1 0 0 0 0
Coaching information
Club Years Team Gms W D L W% 1985–86 North Sydney 34 15 1 18 44
Source: [1]

Early life

Norton was born and raised in North Sydney and played his junior rugby league in the area. Norton then moved to Tamworth in country New South Wales and was selected to play in the country representative side in 1967.

Playing career

Norton was graded by the club he supported as a child, the North Sydney Bears in 1968. Norton spent three years at Norths but the club struggled on the field finishing near the bottom of the table. In 1971, Norton joined St George but did not feature in the club's finals campaign or grand final loss to Souths that year. In 1972, Norton featured more prominently for St George and played in both the club's finals matches as they made it to the preliminary final before being defeated by Eastern Suburbs. St George then qualified for the finals the following year with Norton featuring in both games against Newtown which ended in defeat. In 1975, Norton rejoined North Sydney and spent one last season at the club as they finished 9th on the table before retiring as a player.[3]

Coaching career

Norton began his coaching career when he replaced Gregory Hawick as coach of North Sydney midway through the 1985 season. At the time of coming in as coach, North Sydney were in danger of finishing last on the table but he guided North Sydney to safety with an 11th-placed finish. Norton is credited with bringing back a fighting spirit to the Norths club and he instilled a motto for the team to follow which was “The real winners are those who lose but keep fighting".

In his first full season as coach, Norton guided Norths to the finals in 1986. At the time, Norths had only managed to qualify for the finals on 2 occasions in the last 20 years before this. Norths went on to lose their elimination final against Balmain played at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Despite having a successful season, Norton stood down as coach and was replaced by Frank Stanton for the 1987 season. Even though Norton's tenure at the club was short, his impact on the club changed the culture at Norths and set them on a path over the next decade to go from easy beats to title contenders.

After leaving Norths, Norton went and coached in Darwin before returning to North Sydney and became a board member at the club.[4]

References

1. Ferguson, Shawn Dollin and Andrew. "Brian Norton - Career Stats & Summary - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org.
2. "Vale - Brian 'Chicka' Norton". Men of League Foundation. 23 April 2018. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
3. "Vale: NRL in Memorium 2018". National Rugby League. 29 December 2018.
4. "Vale - Brian 'Chicka' Norton - 1960-70s Front Row Forward and 1980s Coach". 23 April 2018.