Name Jerry Brien | Role Rugby player | |
Jerry Brien (born in Sydney, Australia) was a rugby league footballer and coach. He played for the Western Suburbs Magpies, St. George Dragons and for the New South Wales Rugby League team. He also coached the Canterbury-Bankstown club.
Career
In 1925, Brien was chosen to play for New South Wales although he was only playing for the Magpies reserve grade, and had played just a handful of first grade games since his debut in 1923.
Brien represented NSW again in 1928, and was selected to represent Australia in the second test against England, but an injury suffered playing for Wests stopped him from making his international debut.
After 6 seasons with the Magpies, Brien joined the St. George Dragons for 4 games in 1929.
After his retirement as a player, Brien began coaching, including stints with South Grafton in 1932 & Cowra in 1933. In 1937, Brien returned to coach the Magpies for the eight games of the shortened season. In 1939, he took over as coach at Bulldogs for a season, and returned to be at the helm when they won their second premiership in 1942.
By 1947, Brien was NSW coach and one of their selectors. Later, he became an Australian selector, but was dropped as a NSW selector in March 1951, making him inelegible to fill the national role.