Mr Duncan Thompson MBE

A scheming halfback regarded as one of the game’s greatest tacticians who was named on the bench in the Queensland Team of the Century. Born in Warwick, he played 17 games for Queensland (1915-25) and two games for NSW (1921-22), plus nine Tests for Australia (1919-24). He began his career in Ipswich from 1911-15 before a bank transfer saw him join North Sydney in 1916. He joined the Australian Army in 1917 and saw active World War 1 service in France and Belgium.

He was shot through the chest in April 1918 and told he’d never play again, but he resumed in 1919 with a bullet fragment in his body, touring New Zealand in 1919 with the first full Test side to cross the Tasman. Won premierships with Norths in 1921-22, including the second as captain, and toured Great Britain with the 1921-22 Kangaroos, playing all three Tests and 23 tour matches, and topping 100 points. After a disputed 1923 suspension on a kicking charge, he vigorously denied he returned to Toowoomba and captained the powerhouse Clydesdales in 1924-25.

His representative career closed with two Ashes Tests against the touring British Lions in ’24 before he again served his country in World War II as an amenities officer at Townsville and in Papua New Guinea. he later coached the Clydesdales to six victories in the Bulimba Cup in the 1950s, and was a state and national selector in the 1950s and ‘60s. He was inducted in 2005 into the Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame, and in 2006 was named halfback in the North Sydney Team of the Century.

In 2008 he was named among Australia’s Greatest 100 players 1908-2007.