1. Graeme Langlands retired as the most-capped player for the Australian national team with 45 international appearances from 1963 to 1975, and captained his country in 15 Test matches and World Cup games.
34 Facts About Graeme Langlands
1. 2.
Graeme Langlands was born on 2 September 1941 in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia to Frank Horace Graeme Langlands and Hazel Miriam Ferguson.
3.
Graeme Langlands had an unhappy childhood brought up by his alcoholic father.
4.
Graeme Langlands represented Combined NSW High Schools from 1955 to 1957 and was playing 1st grade with the Wollongong Club in the Illawarra competition at age 18.
5.
Graeme Langlands made his Test debut as a centre against New Zealand at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 1963.
6.
The depth of the selectors' fullback options, including incumbents Ken Thornett then Les Johns, meant that Graeme Langlands spent the first four years of his Test career at centre.
7.
Thereafter Graeme Langlands played international football for Australia every season for 13 seasons.
8.
Graeme Langlands played in four St George Grand final winning sides, including 1966 where he kicked seven goals to beat Balmain.
9.
Graeme Langlands was the competition's leading point scorer in season 1971 and season 1973.
10.
Graeme Langlands was the Dragon's top point scorer in first grade in 10 seasons between 1963 and 1975.
11.
Graeme Langlands first captained Australia for the 1970 Ashes series and thereafter barring injury for the next five years.
12.
Graeme Langlands was Captain-Coach for the 1972 World Cup series, the 1973 Kangaroo tour and the 1974 Test Series at home against Great Britain.
13.
Graeme Langlands last captained Australia in their undefeated four match campaign of the 1975 World Cup.
14.
Graeme Langlands was the last Kangaroo selected in the dual Captain-Coach role.
15.
Graeme Langlands retired with the record of Australia's top point-scorer against Great Britain until surpassed by Mal Meninga in 1992.
16.
Graeme Langlands was a graceful, balanced runner of the ball, long-striding and fast.
17.
Graeme Langlands's trademark sidestep off either foot has become legendary in the Australian game.
18.
Graeme Langlands gave chase and as the ball came down over the try line, he leaped into the air and caught it on the full and had seemingly scored a spectacular try.
19.
The French referee Georges Jameau disallowed it though, believing Graeme Langlands to be offside.
20.
An incident renowned in Australian rugby league concerns Graeme Langlands playing for the Dragons in the 1975 NSWRL Grand Final against Jack Gibson's Eastern Suburbs.
21.
When Graeme Langlands kicked for the touchline early in the match but missed, it became obvious to everyone that something was wrong.
22.
Graeme Langlands later admitted regret at not listening to Facer and returning to the field for the second half.
23.
Graeme Langlands was originally planning to retire at the end of the Grand Final, but the humiliating experience spurred him to return in 1976, where in the few early-season matches he played his performance was mediocre.
24.
Graeme Langlands was awarded Life Membership of the St George Dragons in 1973.
25.
Graeme Langlands retired in 1976 at age 34 after 235 matches for St George.
26.
Graeme Langlands was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1986.
27.
In 2002 Graeme Langlands was inducted into the Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame.
28.
In February 2008, Graeme Langlands was named in the list of Australia's 100 Greatest Players which was commissioned by the NRL and ARL to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia.
29.
Graeme Langlands went on to be named as an interchange player in Australian rugby league's Team of the Century.
30.
On 20 July 2022, Graeme Langlands was named in the St George Dragons District Rugby League Club's team of the century at fullback.
31.
Graeme Langlands married Lynne Burgess in 1966 and they had three children.
32.
Graeme Langlands ran a brewery truck, worked in bottle shops and pubs and for a period in the 1990s ran a bar in Manila in the Philippines.
33.
Graeme Langlands died on 20 January 2018 at a nursing facility in Sydney's Sutherland Shire at the age of 76.
34.
Graeme Langlands was being treated for dementia and Alzheimer's disease.