Ron Lynch

Playing Career

Vital Statistics

Nickname(s)
Thirsty
Born
Monday, 12th June, 1939
Died
Sunday, 12th May, 2024 (Aged 84 years and 334 days)

Honours & Awards

Based only on data available in the RLP database. This information should be used as a guide only.

The Ashes
1966, 1967/1968
Test Series
Australia vs New Zealand 1967
Interstate Series
1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1966

Biography

Ron ‘Thirsty' Lynch was a rock-solid lock who came to P’matta from Forbes where he had first represented NSW in 1960. Lynch made his Test debut against NZ in 1961 and while his rep career was kept in check by champion lock John Raper, this did not prevent him from playing in 12 Test matches, (the last being 1970's 'Battle of Brisbane' against Great Britain). A shoulder dislocation ruled him out of the 1963-64 Kangaroo tour but he was duly selected on the 1967-68 tour (14 matches including three Tests). Lynch is best remembered scoring a freakish try after the ball rebounded off the cross bar in the 1963 semi-final against Balmain The same year, he captained P’matta to victory over a visiting South African national side. While the Eels were infrequent semi-finalists during his captaincy, Lynch was consistently one of the club's best players. He was captain-coach in of the club in 1970 but moved to Penrith, captaining the struggling club in every match for two seasons before retiring in 1973.
- ALAN WHITICKER

Playing Career Statistics

All statistics shown in this section are based only on data available in the RLP database, and are not necessarily a complete and/or 100% accurate representation of a player's career. This information should be used as a guide only. If you see a question mark (?), it denotes that the figure is not available.

To view a list of corresponding matches, click on the List button.

Competitions

Competition   Comp Wins App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
The Ashes 2 6 1 -   - 6 4 2 0 66.67% List
Tour Matches Western Division - 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List
Tour Matches New South Wales Firsts - 3 - -   - - 2 1 0 66.67% List
Tour Matches Australia - 16 1 -   - 3 10 5 1 62.50% List
Tour Matches Sydney Firsts - 2 3 -   - 9 1 1 0 50.00% List
Tour Matches Parramatta Eels - 1 3 -   - 9 1 0 0 100.00% List
Test Series 3 12 1 -   - - 7 4 1 58.33% List
Interstate Series 5 15 2 -   - 6 10 4 1 66.67% List
City vs Country Firsts - 4 2 -   - 6 2 2 0 50.00% List
NSWRFL Premiership (NRL) - 238 38 -   - 114 100 131 7 42.02% List
NSWRFL Finals - 7 1 -   - 3 1 6 0 14.29% List
Preseason Cup - 46 2 -   - 6 16 29 1 34.78% List


International

Test Matches - By Team

Team Years   App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Australia 1961-62, 1966-67, 1970   12 1 -   - 3 7 4 1 58.33% List

International Matches - By Team

Team Years   App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Australia 1961   1 - -   - - 1 0 0 100.00% List


Representative

Australia - By Team

Team Years   App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Western Division 1959   2 - -   - - 0 2 0 0.00% List
Probables (AU) 1959   1 - -   - - 1 0 0 100.00% List
NSW Country Seconds 1959   1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List
NSW Country Firsts 1959-60   3 - -   - - 0 3 0 0.00% List
NSW Firsts 1960-64, 1966-67   18 2 -   - 6 12 5 1 66.67% List
NSW City Seconds 1961, 1964, 1966, 1968   4 1 -   - 3 2 1 1 50.00% List
Sydney Firsts 1962-64   3 3 -   - 9 2 1 0 66.67% List
NSW City Firsts 1962-63, 1967   3 2 -   - 6 2 1 0 66.67% List
Overall1959-1968   35 8 0   0 24 19 14 2 54.29% List


Club Career

NSWRFL Premiership (NRL) - By Year

Team Season   App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Parramatta NSWRFL 1961   14 - -   - - 3 11 0 21.43% List
Parramatta NSWRFL 1962   19 2 -   - 6 9 8 2 47.37% List
Parramatta NSWRFL 1963   19 5 -   - 15 12 7 0 63.16% List
Parramatta NSWRFL 1964   19 7 -   - 21 13 6 0 68.42% List
Parramatta NSWRFL 1965   19 4 -   - 12 11 7 1 57.89% List
Parramatta NSWRFL 1966   16 3 -   - 9 6 8 2 37.50% List
Parramatta NSWRFL 1967   19 2 -   - 6 6 13 0 31.58% List
Parramatta NSWRFL 1968   17 1 -   - 3 7 9 1 41.18% List
Parramatta NSWRFL 1969   21 1 -   - 3 11 10 0 52.38% List
Parramatta NSWRFL 1970   12 - -   - - 2 10 0 16.67% List
Parramatta NSWRFL 1971   19 3 -   - 9 10 9 0 52.63% List
Penrith NSWRFL 1972   22 3 -   - 9 5 16 1 22.73% List
Penrith NSWRFL 1973   22 7 -   - 21 5 17 0 22.73% List

NSWRFL Premiership (NRL) - By Team

Team Years   App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Parramatta 1961-71   194 28 -   - 84 90 98 6 46.39% List
Penrith 1972-73   44 10 -   - 30 10 33 1 22.73% List
Overall1961-1973   238 38 0   0 114 100 131 7 42.02% List

Your Say

  • E Curb Nottus
    08/05/2012

    An ironman of a player, Lynch played 7 and a half seasons straight in the Sydney comp without missing a game, in an era devoid of substitutions
    and 'bloodbins', he just kept backing up for 80 minutes, game in, game out, season in, season out.

  • Brian Davies
    01/09/2013

    I am sure he also played Centre for Australia in a district game in New Zealand during a New Zealand tour (possably because of injuries to the normal centres). One of the best whose international selections were only reduced by the presence of the great John Raper. They even selected him in second row to keep both of them in the team on occasions.

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Contributions: Greg Fiveash, Paul Carter, Andrew Ferguson, Shawn Dollin, Max Turner, Rugby League Tables, Alan Katzmann, Michael Borg, Bill Bates