1930-2025

27th November 1930 – 6th June 2025.

Heritage Medal.

Wests Player Number 575 (1959)

Newtown Player Number 414 (1950)

Dick played 10 Test for Australia as well as 3 World Cup games for Australia.

At 94 years of age Dick was also the oldest living Kangaroo and was chosen in the Newtown Team of the Century.

The Wests Team photo of 1960.

Dick passing the ball to his winger Dave Barsley at the SCG.

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Poole played junior football at the De La Salle school in Marrickville and then with the Earlwood Christian Youth Organisation before being graded with Newtown in 1949.

Initially he played mainly in reserve grade with occasional first grade appearances up until 1952 when he established himself as a centre in the top grade.

Poole was captain-coach of Newtown in 1955 when they went down by one point to South Sydney in the Grand Final.

He played 133 games for Newtown over nine seasons till 1958, the last four seasons as captain-coach. In 1959 he moved to the Wests Magpies for his last two seasons.

Dick playing for Newtown.

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Poole first represented New South Wales in 1954. Following his Kangaroo Tour appearances of 1957 he was selected as captain-coach of New South Wales in 1957.

Poole made his Australian Test debut in 1955 in the series against France after having initially been picked as a reserve for the squad. His last minute call up was for the third Test played in Sydney in July 1955. He was selected for the three Tests of 1956 against New Zealand and then for the 1956–57 Kangaroo Tour of England and France. He appeared in six Tests and 11 minor tour matches scoring 17 tries in all.

1957 World Cup winning Captain coach of Australia.

In 1957, he was a surprise selection as captain-coach ahead of the more experienced  Ken Kearney in the squad for the World Cup tournament to be played in Australia. Poole’s side included magnificent players such as Brian Carlson , Norm Provan , Kel O’Shea , Kearney  and Brian Clay  and they swept all before them. Poole enjoyed a record of three times captaining his country for three victories.

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‘I had the privilege of chairing Dick off Pratten Park after he played his retirement game in Reserve grade in 1961 — I think Joey Ryan was on the other leg’  Carl Ross.

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Dick Poole was surrounded by family when he passed away of natural causes at his Ashfield nursing home.

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 “Think where mans’ glory most begins and ends
And say my glory was I had such friends” – Yeats