John Wittenberg

John Wittenberg
Personal information
Full name John Julius Wittenberg
Born 1938
Wide Bay, Queensland, Australia
Died 3 November 2005
Burren Junction, New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
Position Prop forward
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1961 Newtown (Toowoomba)
1962–63 Wynnum Manly
1964–66 Theodore
1968–70 St George Dragons 53 4 0 0 12
Total 53 4 0 0 12
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1962–66 Queensland 9 1 0 0 3
1968–70 New South Wales 5 0 0 0 0
1966–70 Australia 6 0 0 0 0

John Wittenberg (1938–2005) was an Australian rugby league player. A front-row forward with the St. George Dragons, was a representative in the Australian national team in 1966 and from 1968 to 1970 earning six Test caps.

Playing career

Wittenberg was from Wide Bay, Queensland and played for Toowoomba, the Wynnum-Manly Seagulls and in the Central Queensland town of Theodore in the early and mid sixties from which clubs he represented for Queensland and Australia. The Queensland Rugby League attempted to block his transfer to Sydney in 1967 forcing him to sit out the 1967 season and causing him to miss selection for the 1967 Kangaroo Tour.

He played 53 games for the St. George Dragons from 1968 to 1970 representing for New South Wales and regaining Australian representative selection during that time. Four of his representative caps were at the 1968 World Cup played in Sydney including the World Cup Final victory against France in June 1968.

He died of a heart attack while working on his farming property in Burren Junction west of Wee Waa, New South Wales aged 67. His son, Jeff, played professionally in Australia and England.

Sources


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