Former Australia and New South Wales coach Terry Fearnley has died aged 81, the National Rugby League said Wednesday.
Fearnley was the first coach to win a State of Origin series for NSW against Queensland in 1985 and later that year coached Australia to a 2-1 Test series victory over New Zealand.
"Terry was rugby league royalty," NRL head of football Todd Greenberg said. "He was a player, coach, and has always been a respected voice in the game."
Fearnley played 139 matches for Eastern Suburbs between 1954-55 and 1957-64, and coached at the Easts, Parramatta, Western Suburbs, Cronulla and Illawarra.
He turned to coaching after retirement and took the Parramatta Eels to a grand final for the first time in 1976 (losing 13-10 to Manly) and again in 1977 when Parramatta went down to St George (22-0).
He coached the Eels until 1979 and later took charge of Western Suburbs (1982), Cronulla (1983-84) and Illawarra (1988), with a career winning percentage of 55.5 as a first grade coach.
Source: AFP
