Dick Thornett

Norman Richard "Dick" Thornett ( born September 23, 1940 in Sydney, † October 12, 2011 ) was an Australian water polo, rugby league and rugby union player.

For Australia, Thornett was part of the water polo selection in the Olympic tournament in 1960, was forward the Wallabies, Rugby Union selection and the Kangaroos, the Rugby League selection. He is one of only five Australians, the national team of their homeland were in three sports. As a rugby player, he was a feared player in the jerk and in spite of the same, a faster and smarter ball carrier with a weight of just over 100 kg.

Water polo

Thornett played for the Water Polo Club of Sydney's suburb of Bronte and 1959/60 for the selection of New South Wales. He was so successful that he was appointed to the Executive of the Australian national team in 1960. At the Olympic Water Polo Tournament 1960, he came in two group matches against South Africa and Yugoslavia, are used. Both games were lost, however. Because of the great expense for the Olympic Games in 1960 suffered his rugby career. After the Olympic tournament he played only two more years of water polo, because it focused on the rugby and that the water no longer had enough time.

Rugby Union

Thornett began at school with the rugby, 1958, he played for the first time at age 17 in the men's team of Randwick DRUFC. He started as a back rower, and later in the national team but more often as a lock. For the Wallabies he arrived on June 10, 1961 against Fiji on his debut. Overall, he played 1961/62 in eleven games in which it could reach two attempts.

Rugby League

Because of his achievements in Rugby Union some rugby league clubs were aware of Thornett. In an offer the club his brother Ken, the Parramatta Eels from Sydney, he was early 1963 Rugby pro and joined the League code. For the Eels, he played in nine seasons 168 times. Also known as League Second -row player, he quickly made a talking point and has been used in the summer of the same year for two games against South Africa for the Kangaroos. Until 1968 it was used in a total of 14 tests for his country, including three times at the Rugby League World Cup in 1968, where he became world champion.

His two older brothers Ken and John were also successful national rugby player; Ken in Rugby League, Rugby Union in John. Both Dick Thornett played some matches together.