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Stats -

St George 1948-49, 1952-56 & 1958-62,
171 games.
17t, 1g (53pts)
North Sydney - sorry stats not available
Went on to captain Australia in 1963 and then led Norths in 1965
Billy Wilson retired in 1966 but returned to play with Norths in 67 to assist the injury ravaged club
NSW rep (1960 & 1963).
Aust rep (1959-60 & 1963).

On the night of 26th of August 2006 the North Sydney Rugby League Football Club announced their TEAM OF THE CENTURY :

1. Brian Carlson (1957-62)
2. Ken Irvine (1958-70)
3. Jimmy Devereux (1908, 1910, 1912-13)
4. Greg Florimo (1986-98)
5. Harold Horder (1920-23)
6. Tim Pickup (1972-74)
7. Duncan Thompson (1916, 1920-23)
8. Gary Larson (1987-99)
9. Ross Warner (1963-74)
10. Billy Wilson (1963-67)
11. David Fairleigh (1989-99)
12. Mark Graham (1981-88)
13. Peter Diversi (1952-55)
Bench:
14. Sid Deane (1908, 1912-14, 1917, 1919)
15. Ken McCaffery (1957-59)
16. Billy Moore (1989-99)
17. John Gray (1975-77, 1981-83)
Coach:
Chris McKivat (1920-23)

courtesy of Tony Adams great book The Hitmen - A tribute to League's tough guys.

The following season (1953) Wilson gave team mates an insight into his amazing courage and tenacity. In a semi-final against North Sydney, Wilson suffered a badly gashed eyebrow that saw him dash from the field covered in blood.

With no replacements permitted for injured players, Wilson was back several minutes later, the would held together by a series of stitiches. Swathed in bandages, Wilson lasted the match, and helped Saints to a hard-fought 15 -14 win.

Back in the dressing room, Saints official Frank Facer congratulated Wilson on his performance and asked him how the eye was feeling.

"It's not bad," Wilson said, adding casually, "but I broke my arm when I went back on and that's hurting a bit"

Despite that injury, Wilson was back playing at the commencement of the following season. It soon became clear that he had not given the arm time to mend completely.

At halftime of one game Facer asked him how he was bearing up.

"I'm going okay.... but I've broken my arm again" Wilson replied.

However, needless to say, Wilson trooped back out for the second half moments later.

Wilson broke his arm for the third time in a famous club match against Balmain in 1956, but again stayed the distance, setting up the winning try with his bad arm strapped to his side.

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courtesy of Tony Adams great book The Hitmen - A tribute to League's tough guys.

He face many rugged opponents in his day, but nont troubled him more than noted English hard man Derek Turner.

"He was the hardest player I faced" Wilson said after his retirement. "One day he caught me around the throat with a stiff arm and I thought he'd taken my head off."

Former Saints, NSW and Australian team-mate Johnny Raper still remembers that tackle

"It was a killer and I think that was the only time I ever saw Blueys legs buckle" Raper says. "He was really stung by the blow and was gone for a while. But, to his credit, he came back for more later in the game and gave Turner as good as he got."

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courtesy of Tony Adams great book The Hitmen - A tribute to League's tough guys.

With the likes of Norm Provan, Ken Kearney and Wilson leading the way up front, Saints were Sydney league's sleeping giant of the early 1950's. The Dragons finally broke through for the first of their incredible run of 11 straight premiership titles in 1956, with Wilson the key man.


Centre Merv Lees leaving the field during the 56 Grand Final.

Saints beat a determined Balmain side 18 -12, despite playing with just 12 men for over an hour. Centre Merv Lees was helped from the field with a badly dislocated collarbone after only 13 minutes, leaving Saints in disarry. But Wilson, always a calm man in a crisis, moved out into the centres. The remaining five forwards, led by Provan and Kearney, did the job as Saints secured the title in rousing style.

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"I didn't want any truck with the front row but Kearney (St George Coach) finally won through," Wilson said years later. "Once I tried it, I found I loved the physical contact and, if I had my time over again, I wouldn't have waisted all those years in other positions."

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courtesy of Tony Adams great book The Hitmen - A tribute to League's tough guys.

In 1962 Saints found themselves once more opposed to the Magpies in the Season finale. This was a match in which Billy Wilson was involved in one of leagues most infamous incidents. Saints five eight that day, Johnny Raper, takes up the story.

"Wests prop Jim Cody flattened our skipper Norm Provan and we were far from impressed as Norm was carried off on a stretcher. The mood was fairly ugly in the dressing rooms at halftime, as "sticks" lay there dazed in the corner. Plenty of blokes were talking about get squares. But Billy, who had taken over as captain, suddenly jumped to his feet and made it clear there would be none of that.

"I know you blokes are all fired up after what happened to 'Sticks' (Provan) but I don't want you to go out there and look to get even with them. This is a grand final and we'll win it for sure if we keep level heads. I don't want to see any of you blokes throwing a punch - let's just go back out there and play football."

"I was still a young bloke at the time and it sounded like good advice to me and besides, I learned early in life not to argue with a bloke like Bluey Wilson. We ran back on the field with our thoughts on nothing other then playing football and no sooner had we kicked off then I saw Jim Cody flat on his back, apparently Bluey had hit him with the best left hook you'd ever want to see. Cody was carried off and Bluey was waved straight off by referee Jack Bradley. He gave us a wink and said, "I'll see you all for victory drinks in the Members Bar after the game."

"Luckily we hung on to win 9-6."

Years later, Wilson claimed he only realised after he'd decked Cody that it was the same player who had earlier dispatched Provan. "It wasn't intentional," Wilson said, "I didn't know who it was but Saints still had to battle through with only 12 men."

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courtesy of Tony Adams great book The Hitmen - A tribute to League's tough guys.

Johnny Raper, has fond memories of playing with Billy Wilson during the Dragon's heyday.

"He was as hard a player you'll ever see and I often remember him head-butting rival front-rowers for the loose head in the scrums," the champion lock recalls. "They'd butt each other like a pair of billy goats and would both look like a mess at the end of the game. I'd often see Billy an hour later sharing a beer with his rival, with both blokes sporting half a dozen stitches in their scones. They were a breed apart, fornt-rowers - blokes like Bluey were proof of that.

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Lowrie's comments on a Young Billy Wilson,
" The best Junior league player I've ever seen"

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courtesy of Tony Adams great book The Hitmen - A tribute to League's tough guys.

Reg Gasnier, tells another story of the special bond between Billy Wilson and his former Saints team mates.

"We were playing Norths at Kogarah Jubilee Oval and just before we ran out onto the field, we got word that Bluey had a couple of badly broken ribs," Gasnier remembers. "there was no way he should of been playing but it was a game against Saints and he wasn't about to miss it. When we ran out onto the field to face them, we could clearly see he had rolls and rolls of elastoplast around his ribs for protection. The word was quickly passed among the Saints players to go easy on him. Everytime we tackled him, it was like we were dropping Billy on eggshells."

"It didn't take long for Billy to work out what was going on and he was furious. He hated the thought of getting and special treatment, even though he was obviously playing in great difficulty. He really started getting stuck into us. 'You're a bunch of sissies,' he yelled at us. 'You wouldn't know how to tackle hard.'

'He was hoping his abuse would bring an end to our gentle treatment but we knew him too well. Our forwards looked after him all game and he lasted the 80 minutes without any problems, although his pride probably took a bit of a battering.

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courtesy of Tony Adams great book The Hitmen - A tribute to League's tough guys.

Former West Forward John "Chow" Hayes, an opponent in two grand finals, was one of the many victims of Wilson the Prankster.

"I'm a big fan of the modern game but I believe the one thing that's missing is the camaraderie (that once existed) between players from rival clubs," Hayes says, "Saints and Wests were arch rivals in those days but we were always mates before and after the game. We used to hate playing Saints because they were a great side and often belted the crap out of us.

But after the game we'd always get together for a drink.

"We played a lot at the SCG in those days and had many nights together, the two teams mingling and joking in the Members Bar. Billy was always a riot on those occasions. He was a real character and you'd just have to keep your eye on him. If you didn't, odds were you'd lose yor tie quick smart. More than one bloke had his tie severed when he wasn't paying attention to what Billy was up to. He loved playing that sort of prank but if someone played one back on him, he'd be just as happy - - there was no lair in him. I don't think you could find anyone who'd say a bad word about hime.

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courtesy of Tony Adams great book The Hitmen - A tribute to League's tough guys.

Former supercoach Jack Gibson, a rugged front-rower himself in the 1950's and early 60's, also played in two losing grand finals against Saints - with Easts in 1960 and West in 1963. He had many battles with Wilson and has plenty of admiration for the man.

"There was never any doubt about his courage - that's what you could say about Billy," Gibson says. "He was probably scared a few times - we all were. The players who never had any fear in those days should have been locked away. But Billy could never be intimidated. He didn't say alot on the field like some so called tough guys. Billy just did what he had to do and went about it quietly and efficiently. He was never a cheap shot merchant - he'd take you on eye to eye. I respected him for that."

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courtesy of Tony Adams great book The Hitmen - A tribute to League's tough guys.

North Sydney reached the finals in 1964 but got there without Wilson, who broke his leg mid-season after playing just 10 matches. Of course, he failed to the let the injury that ended his season prevent him from finishing the match in which it occurred. In fact, Wilson had an x-ray after the match which showed nothing more then deep bruising to the leg. So, he continued to play for the next three weeks. But the pain worsened and a second x-ray revealed a fracture which had not shown up in the earlier examination.

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my dad's choice really .. he played 3 1st grade games for parramatta in 1954 ... knew billy wilson, to quote my mother who also knew him, "a thorough gentleman"

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