Tony Branson Vale

[Father Ted]

WENTWORTHVILLE UNITED JUNIOR RUGBY LEAGUE FOOTBALL CLUB
· 3 hrs ·

Sad news on the passing of former Wenty JRL President Tony Branson today in Nowra.
Tony was our President from 1997-2007 and was a great man.
He played Ist Grade for St George toured with the Kangaroos and represented NSW

Another Saints great gone

 

[TruSaint]

He was in the 71 side that lost to Souths.

RIP.

Thanks @Father Ted ..

 

[Stan Gorton 2511]

Sad to hear remember he was on fire in 1971 scored a great try v Manly Kangaroo 5/8th gf team great favourite of mine that year

 

[Father Ted]

Sad to hear remember he was on fire in 1971 scored a great try v Manly Kangaroo 5/8th gf team great favourite of mine that year

Had that eternal battle with Phil Hawthorne for the 5/8th spot , neither ever let us down

 

[Old Timer]

The mud lark of the tour of England prior to us signing him I think
Lovely guy was a director at Wenty Leagues for a fair while
I think he captain coached in the Gong after he left saints.
Sad day as another one makes way for us to climb further up the ladder.

 

[RedVee]

Tony Branson was one of the team when I first started taking real notice as a young bloke. Sad to hear of his passing.

 

[sco22]

So sorry to hear Tony’s passing another great dragon gone RIP

 

[jak]

tony branson was one of my favourite saints players,frank facer signed him from under souths noses,sorry to hear of his passing.

 

[The Major]

Absolute legend of a guy. Had the pleasure for a number of years while I played at Wenty catching up with him at post game bevvys chewing his ear off about playing for the Saints. He gave me every minute I needed being the massive fanboy I was and just a thorough gentleman to boot. Will be missed.

 

[Coffs dragon]

I just remember him being a tough player and a great foil for Billy Smith.
RIP Tony Branson another great Saint!

 

[hazzbeen]

I just remember him being a tough player and a great foil for Billy Smith.
RIP Tony Branson another great Saint!

I had the pleasure of being coached by both Tony and Kevin Goldspink when playing on the south coast in my early days , both were complete Gentlemen and great blokes ..... Will be missed .....

 

[Old Timer]

I had the pleasure of being coached by both Tony and Kevin Goldspink when playing on the south coast in my early days , both were complete Gentlemen and great blokes ..... Will be missed .....

Kevin Goldspink a blast from the past and inadvertently helped me win a watch in 1968.
Rugby League week ran a competition organised by Rex Mossop on behalf of Crommelin Chemical Co to pick the Kangaroo side that year.
I won the watch as 1st prize by picking 1 person more than the next best and it turned out my bolter Kevin Goldspink proved the difference.
Whilst he made the tour he was held out of the test side by Elton Rasmussen.

 

[hazzbeen]

Kevin Goldspink a blast from the past and inadvertently helped me win a watch in 1968.
Rugby League week ran a competition organised by Rex Mossop on behalf of Crommelin Chemical Co to pick the Kangaroo side that year.
I won the watch as 1st prize by picking 1 person more than the next best and it turned out my bolter Kevin Goldspink proved the difference.
Whilst he made the tour he was held out of the test side by Elton Rasmussen.

They were a different breed of players then , we got up to stuff also , but not to the extent of players these days ....

 

[denis preston]

The mud lark of the tour of England prior to us signing him I think
Lovely guy was a director at Wenty Leagues for a fair while
I think he captain coached in the Gong after he left saints.
Sad day as another one makes way for us to climb further up the ladder.

Owned a sports store in Nowra , must have been just after he retired i guess. To this day dont know why Saints brought both Tony & Phil Hawthorne as they were both specialist 5/8's .One of Franks greatest stuff ups brought on by us having so much money to spend and rebuilding from the end of our greatest era. Vale Tony, obviously a good man.

 

[Blood Shot Eyes]

Former great Dragons 5/8 ..one of my favourite players....RIP mate

 

[Old Timer]

Owned a sports store in Nowra , must have been just after he retired i guess. To this day dont know why Saints brought both Tony & Phil Hawthorne as they were both specialist 5/8's .One of Franks greatest stuff ups brought on by us having so much money to spend and rebuilding from the end of our greatest era. Vale Tony, obviously a good man.

Always wondered why myself
Branson was biggish for a 5/8 and my dad always thought Saints were looking at him more as a lock to cover for the loss of Raper who in fact was an extra 5/8 wearing a locks jumper.
If I remember correctly TB didn’t have great hands like Raper and was really only good on 1 side when it came tackling.
Then again FF might have thought that after Branson’s highly acclaimed Kangaroo tour that he didn’t want another club to have his services so maybe he repeated the Huddart scenario?

 

[Inisai Toga]

Sad to hear the news! He had a great contribution to the 71 side. Always remember that he had a wonderful dummy.

 

[HenryTatana]

Kevin Goldspink a blast from the past and inadvertently helped me win a watch in 1968.
Rugby League week ran a competition organised by Rex Mossop on behalf of Crommelin Chemical Co to pick the Kangaroo side that year.
I won the watch as 1st prize by picking 1 person more than the next best and it turned out my bolter Kevin Goldspink proved the difference.
Whilst he made the tour he was held out of the test side by Elton Rasmussen.

Just finished reading on another of the threads about Frank Hyde and I was reminiscing about the time I won a portable stereo aka a Walkman, though it wasn’t a Sony from Frank. And here we have Old Timer talking about his competition win. Oh the memories........

 

[Old Timer]

Just finished reading on another of the threads about Frank Hyde and I was reminiscing about the time I won a portable stereo aka a Walkman, though it wasn’t a Sony from Frank. And here we have Old Timer talking about his competition win. Oh the memories........

Frank was a great footballer himself not that I saw him but plenty of evidence to say so.
If not for loyalty he probably gets a premiership or two he was that good.
It was great when the commentators were actually great footballers who knew the ins and outs of the game unlike some of the dopes in the studios these days.
Ah the Seiko watch for the MOM what a great era it was HT.

 

[Inisai Toga]

Frank was a great footballer himself not that I saw him but plenty of evidence to say so.
If not for loyalty he probably gets a premiership or two he was that good.
It was great when the commentators were actually great footballers who knew the ins and outs of the game unlike some of the dopes in the studios these days.
Ah the Seiko watch for the MOM what a great era it was HT.

Agree with your sentiments! Wonderful era and Frank knew is football alright. If not for the war he may well have represented. But above all, Frank was a classy person. He had a great respect and passion for the game, it’s rules and how the game was represented.