Norm Provan: Kogarah Oval’s main grandstand to be named after the late Immortal
St George legend Norm Provan is set to be honoured at his spiritual home of Kogarah Oval. Here’s the plan and why the mayor believes it has to be done.
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St George legend Norm Provan is set to be honoured with Kogarah Oval’s main grandstand to be named after the late Immortal.
Georges River Council has voted to name the grandstand after the 10-time premiership winner just hours after he was laid to rest in a private ceremony in Queensland.
Local mayor Kevin Greene raised the motion for council to “commemorate (Provan’s) memory, council commence the process to officially rename the Western Grandstand” during his mayoral minute on Monday night.
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“This morning I had the privilege of attending St George Leagues Club for the Norm Provan Memorial Service,” Greene said. “As I walked in, I looked up the stairs, as so many have done over the last 50 years, at the imposing picture of Norm, the colossus of the club.
“While Norm Provan was a humble man, who never chased accolades, I believe Georges River Council should honour his memory by starting the process to name the western grandstand at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium, the ‘Norm Provan Grandstand’.
“I passionately believe this is appropriate.
“While his playing record is stellar, even more impressive is the esteem with which he was held within rugby League and the broader community. His peers, including his fellow Immortals, regarded him as the best they played with or against. As a leader he was revered. Never outspoken or demonstrative he led by example whether at training or in the game, hence the enormous respect he received. When the legends walk was unveiled in 2004, Norm Provan was the unanimous choice to lead the ceremony.”
Provan opened the legends walk outside Netstrata Jubilee Oval.
The Dragons had resisted naming parts of the ground but Netstrata Jubilee Oval is now operated fully by the council.
Provan is one of four St George Immortals alongside Reg Gasnier, Graeme Langlands and Johnny Raper. Only Raper, 82, is alive after Provan’s passing earlier this month at 89.
The newly named grandstand will be part of the celebrations planned to honour Provan when Jubilee Oval hosts its first match next season.
The Dragons are hoping that may be in round one and could include tribute games against the Tigers, Parramatta or Cronulla. The Tigers clash would pay homage to Provan’s iconic photo alongside Magpie Arthur Summons, which makes up the NRL premiership trophy. He coached at Parramatta and Cronulla.
Lachlan McLean, who is contesting the Georges River Council elections later this year, launched the petition to rename the grandstand which was backed by opposition leader and Kogarah MP Chris Minns.
NRL TO HONOUR IMMORTAL PROVAN
Immortal Norm Provan will be farewelled in a private ceremony in Queensland on Monday.
The league great will be laid to rest in Caloundra after his passing aged 89 last week.
There had been some discussions with the NSW Premier’s office and the Dragons about the prospect of a state funeral but the complications around border closures made that impossible. Instead there are plans to honour the rugby league legend next year when the NRL competition resumes.
Provan was living in a nursing home in Caloundra before he did. St George Leagues Club will host a restricted number of people on Monday where they will live stream the funeral. Constraints will limit the amount of people the club can hold.
They have also provided a video package of Provan’s extensive highlights to be played. St George Illawarra are also in discussions with Provan’s family to celebrate his life next season.
They hope the NRL will allocate a match at Jubilee Oval to kickstart the season. Regardless, they are planning a tribute to the 10-time premiership winner. If it is not in round one, it will depend on St George Illawarra’s draw for matches in Sydney.
A potential tribute game against the Wests Tigers could occur given Provan’s iconic photo alongside Magpie Arthur Summons which makes up the NRL premiership trophy.
Other potential matches for tribute games include Cronulla or Parramatta – where Provan spent time coaching.
Provan is one of the game’s 13 Immortals, alongside ex-teammates Reg Gasnier, Johnny Raper and Graeme Langlands. The quartet also feature as part of the club’s legends walk outside Kogarah Oval which was opened by Provan in 2004.
Opposition leader and Kogarah MP Chris Minns has backed the local-led campaign to rename the Kogarah Oval grandstand the Provan stand.
“Norm was a legend of the game and a legend of the community,” Minns said. “And I want to throw my support 100 per cent behind an initiative to rename the grand stand at Netstrata Jubilee the Norm Provan stand.
“It’s a fitting tribute to a giant of the game but more importantly a giant of the St George region, somebody that brought so much attention and love for one of the great rugby league teams in the world.”
GRAND PLAN TO HONOUR IMMORTAL PROVAN ON HOME TURF
Kogarah Oval could host a round one fixture as part of the NRL’s plans to celebrate the life of Immortal Norm Provan.
The NRL and the Dragons are locked in discussions about the best way to honour Provan who died aged 89 this week.
St George’s spiritual home of Kogarah Oval will no doubt be a focal point of any plans when the Dragons eventually return to the ground next season.
ARLC chairman Peter V’landys said that could happen as early as round one – in a match which would be totally dedicated to celebrating Provan’s unsurpassed records.
“We will look at all ways to honour the great man,” V’landys said. “He is a legend of the game. Not only is he a legend of the game but he was also a magnificent role model. He is everything we want the modern player to be.
“His record is extraordinary. Not just in rugby league but in any sport. But what gets me the most is how highly everyone speaks of him as a person.”
St George Illawarra chief executive Ryan Webb said the club would work with Provan’s family before deciding the best way to celebrate his life.
“We want to pay respect and we will talk to the NRL and Norm’s family,” Webb said. “We will come up with something that’s fitting.”
Provan is one of the game’s 13 Immortals, alongside ex-teammates Reg Gasnier, Johnny Raper and Graeme Langlands. The quartet also feature as part of the club’s legends walk outside Kogarah Oval which was opened by Provan in 2004.
But there is a push to have the grandstand at Kogarah Oval named in Provan’s honour.
The Dragons have resisted the urge to name any portion of the venue in the past but that could change at the council-run ground.
Lachlan McLean, who is contesting the Georges River Council elections later this year, has launched a petition to rename the stand the Norm Provan Grandstand.
“The grandstand at Kogarah Jubilee has never been named after anyone,” McLean, wrote. “It should be named after the Immortal Norm Provan. Let’s make this happen Georges River Council.”
Story behind most iconic image in Australian sport
— David Riccio
You would never know it, but Norm Provan and Arthur Summons barely knew each other before that day.
Remarkable now that two strangers, two mud-caked gladiators, will remain forever immortalised together, as the most iconic image in Australian sport.
“It’s surreal, what happened from that photo being taken,” Summons said at the release of Norm Tasker’s 2013 book The Gladiators.
“Our images being used for the premiership trophy … it’s beyond my ability to explain it.
“The mud helped make it, we look like statues and a statue they made from it. We’re epitomised for as long as they play for that trophy. We’ll be long gone and they’ll still be playing for it because it is rugby league.”
Provan and Summons are rugby league. Gone now.
But together, forever.
The date was August 24, 1963.
Provan had just led St George to an eighth consecutive premiership with an enthralling 8-3 victory over the Summons-captained Western Suburbs at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
As the two skippers trudged towards one another through thick mud up to their ankles, Sun Herald photographer John O‘Gready moved in close to snap the five-second moment of congratulatory embrace.
The giant-like Provan, without his heavy St George guernsey and wearing only shoulder pads with the diminutive Summons staring up at his rival, depicted perfectly the true essence of rugby league; big man versus little man, humility in victory and defeat.
O‘Gready won an international photography award at the time, but the photo did not even make it onto The Sun-Herald’s front page the following day. It ran on page three, under the headline ‘Who’s That?’ In 1982, it was a former Wallaby who came up with the idea to immortalise Provan and Summons in bronze, giving rugby league one of the most iconic trophies in Australian sport.
With the competition rebranded the Winfield Cup, former Wallabies flanker Gary Pearse searched for trophy ideas in his marketing role at the tobacco company before stumbling on the gladiators image.
“We had consultants on the trophy,” Pearse said last year.
“We had the Super Bowl kind of idea. We considered maybe a cup, because it was called the Winfield Cup. We looked at all these things and we were going nowhere, and then I thought I will just go back into the past of rugby league. “And I saw the photo and thought if we can bring this to life, it’s perfect.” The trophy was unveiled ahead of the 1982 decider between Parramatta and Manly. It was modified for the 1996-97 Optus Cup and again for the NRL’s foundation season in 1998, but the cast of Provan and Summons has remained the central feature.
In 2013 the NRL trophy was officially renamed the Provan-Summons Trophy to mark 50 years since that fateful grand final.
But perhaps the most endearing element of the past 58-years is the close friendship that Provan and Summons forged.
The two strangers before that famous grand final developed a close mateship that spanned more than half a century.
Provan and Summons are rugby league. Gone now.
Together, forever.
Cheers, Sticks: Immortal giant leaves lasting legacy
— Dean Ritchie
Sticks was a teetotaller.
One schooner of lemon squash after training at the Carlton Hotel and then home to Miranda.
Big Norm ‘Sticks’ Provan always kept a respectful distance between himself and his players. If he did have a post-match celebratory beer after a game, he wouldn’t finish it.
He once said: “I was never one of the boys, I never went to the pub or places like that. But this aloofness did give me a bit of an edge and I never had to make apologises for any decisions I made or feel bad about dropping a close mate.”
While the larrikins inside his legendary St George team were enjoying beers and bourbons at the Carlton Hotel, 600 metres along Jubilee Ave from Kogarah Oval, Provan would be walking away.
“He didn’t worry about the boys having their schooners,” Dragons teammate Johnny King said. “He was a well-mannered gentle giant who led by example.”
Provan died on Wednesday night aged 89 after a long battle with dementia.
He displayed the same fight as when he sought respect from his peers.
“Norm was a very clean-living guy, unlike the old man,” joked Stuart Raper, the son of Dragons Immortal John. “Norm used to pull Dad into line a few times, tell him to pull his head in. Dad had so much respect for him.
“Dad never spoke about anyone else the way he did with Norm. He was a mentor and real father-figure to Dad, who came into that great St George side in 1959.”
Provan was a fitness fanatic who pushed his teammates to their physical limits up and over the Cronulla sandhills and on road runs around Kogarah, Allawah and Bexley.
That gave Provan his high.
“He certainly wasn’t a drinker from early days,” said premiership-winning Dragons captain Steve Edge. “That was his choice. But he was always there at reunions and always made you feel comfortable. He was revered by the players.
“Norm was my Immortal from when I was 10 years old. He was a champion who always took an interest in my career. Norm was a very caring, quiet and unassuming individual, an absolute legend and no one has a record like him.”
Provan owned two electrical shops, one in Rockdale, the other at Hurstville.
He happily spoke footy to customers and was often spotted on the road out front patiently waiting for a Saints fan to wander past for a chat. His handshake would all but swallow the smaller hand of his customers. He later bought the Oasis resort at Caloundra.
“He had a huge hand. He more or less shook your arm, not your hand,” King said. “He wasn’t a snob. If a bloke came in to buy a fridge, Norm would talk footy with him. What a lovely bloke. A huge man, bloody oath he was.”
Provan would also be seen outside St George’s dressing room inside the SCG Members’ Pavilion – where the NSWRL would play their weekly match-of-the-round — signing autographs for 30 minutes after fulltime, sometimes for the same kids week after week.
Often he was still sweating in his Red V playing strip.
The 13th Immortal, Provan was a rangy and imposing second-rower during St George’s unprecedented 11-year reign as NSWRL premiers between 1956 and 1966.
His appearance in 10 of the 11 grand finals – winning them all — is an Australian rugby league record. He was captain-coach in the last four grand final wins and played 18 games for NSW and 31 matches for Australia.
A statue of Provan and great mate Arthur Summons form the prize issued each year to the NRL premiers, named the Provan-Summons trophy. The image – nicknamed The Gladiators – came from a photograph captured in the SCG mud after the 1963 grand final.
Stuart Raper – a former NRL player and coach – said: “Dad always said that Norm was the most respected player he had ever been involved with. You could just see when Dad talked about Norm, the look on his face was so respectful. No one could ever say anything bad about Norm in front of Dad.
“Norm was huge for Dad. Coming into that environment from Newtown, to a club that had won three premierships, playing in front of 50,000 to 60,000 fans every week, you could imagine how big that was for Dad. Norm was the glue that kept everything together.”
King added: “Norm would sit down and talk to the player before anyone else knew he was dropped.”
After his playing retirement, Provan coached St George in 1968, Parramatta (1975) and Cronulla (1978-1979).
He was inducted into the Australian Rugby League and International Rugby League Hall of Fames in 2004.
“Norm Provan remains an iconic and crucial part of St George’s rich history,” St George Dragons chairman and St George Illawarra board member Craig Young said.
“Norm was instrumental in St George’s great run of 11 premierships, a feat we will never see occur again. Everyone involved with St George District and the St George Illawarra Dragons wish to send their condolences to Norm’s family.”
Provan drew additional praise from ARLC chairman Peter V’landys.
“We have lost one of the genuine legends of our game,” V’landys said. “Norm was revered for his leadership and his courage as a player – but also his incredibly humble, kind and genuine nature as a person.
“He played in 10 of St George’s 11 successive grand-final victories – the last four as their captain-coach.
“Sadly, the game has now lost both of our ‘Gladiators’. But our Provan-Summons Trophy will live on as an acknowledgment of Norm and his good mate Arthur. They will be missed, but always remembered.”
NRL CEO Andrew Abdo spoke about Provan’s respect within the rugby league community.
“Norm was a wonderful player and role model,” Abdo said. “He set high standards for himself and those around him, evidenced by his remarkable achievements.
“As an Immortal, Norm’s contribution to the Game will live on forever. Today we mourn the passing of a rugby league legend.”
IMMORTAL’S UNTOUCHABLE RECORD
—Aaron Wallace
Forever an Immortal, Norm Provan should also be remembered as a rugby league untouchable.
When it comes to mind-blowing statistics, Provan is in a league of his own.
In a decade between 1956 and 1965, Provan played in just 23 losses in the Premiership, with only three of those by more than 12 points. Incredibly, he didn’t lose a game at Kogarah in that period.
He played in 10 straight winning grand finals, four as captain-coach — a record likely never to be broken — the closest players to his 10 wins not to have played in those all conquering Dragons’ teams are way back on six wins each.
Provan played 15 seasons in the Premiership, missing just 45 games for St George in that period — several of those on interstate and international duty and played at least 15 matches in every season, barring 1960 (12 games).
The Dragons never missed the finals in those 15 seasons and finished no lower than third. Provan played in all but one of their 31 finals matches over that period, missing only the 1960 major semi-final with an injury suffered in a Test match against France.
TIMELINE — PROVAN’S REMARKABLE CAREER
18th December, 1931: Norm Provan is born in Urana, NSW.
1950: After being turned down by Eastern Suburbs the previous season, Provan is graded by St George.
7th April, 1950: Provan makes his first grade debut for Saints in a 18-13 loss to Manly.
12th September, 1953: Provan plays in his first grand final, a 31-12 loss to South Sydney. He would not lose another one.
15th May, 1954: Plays the first of his 20 matches for NSW.
12th June, 1954: Makes his Test debut for Australia, appearing in all three matches in the Ashes win over Great Britain.
8th September, 1956: Wins his first grand final as the Dragons down Balmain 18-12. Was selected for his first Kangaroo Tour later that year.
21st September, 1957: Wins his second grand final, a 31-9 victory over Manly. In 2008, he was retrospectively awarded the Clive Churchill Medal as best on ground.
13th September, 1958: Scores a double in the club’s third straight grand final victory, a 20-9 win over Wests. Was again named the retrospective Clive Churchill Medal winner.
15th August, 1959: The Dragons capture their fourth straight grand final, going undefeated through the year before downing Manly 20-0 in the decider with Provan scoring a try.
16th July, 1960: Plays the last of his 31 matches for Australia, a 7-5 loss to the touring French side.
3rd September, 1960: A fifth straight title for the Dragons and another grand final try for Provan, this time during a 31-6 thrashing of Easts.
10th June, 1961: Plays the last of his 25 games for New South Wales, a 21-20 victory over Queensland at the SCG.
16th September, 1961: The Dragons break South Sydney’s record for most consecutive premierships, claiming their sixth title with a 22-0 win over Wests.
15th September, 1962: After taking over for Ken Kearney as captain-coach, Provan steers the club to their seventh straight grand final win in a 9-6 rematch against the Magpies.
24th August, 1963: In perhaps Provan’s finest hour, he leads the Dragons to yet another win over the Magpies in the grand final. The 8-3 victory is not without controversy, with referee Darcy Lawler’s performance coming under scrutiny, but Saints manage to hold on for an eighth title in a row. Provan is again awarded the Clive Churchill Medal retrospectively, making him the only man to claim the prize on three occasions. After the match, photographer John O’Grady captures the iconic image of Provan and Western Suburbs captain Arthur Summons embracing. Titled “The Gladiators”, it would later form the basis for the premiership trophy.
19th September, 1964: Wins his ninth grand final as a player and his third as a coach as the Dragons beat Balmain 11-6.
18th September, 1965: In front a record Australian crowd of 78,056, with many more spectators piling onto the SCG roof for a glimpse of the action, Provan leads the Dragons to their tenth consecutive premiership in a 12-8 victory over Souths. The match is Provan’s 256th and final game for the Dragons and he retires with a record ten grand final appearances to his name. He is still the fourth-most capped St George or St George Illawarra player of all time.
14th September, 1968: After taking over as non-playing coach for Ian Walsh, Provan steers the Dragons to a top-four finish but they lose the preliminary final to South Sydney.
7th September, 1975: In his sole year as coach of Parramatta, Provan takes the club within inches of their first grand final appearance. After finishing equal fifth, the Eels win two playoff matches and a semi-final against Canterbury in the space of five games before falling valiantly to Manly in the minor-semi 22-12.
16th September, 1978: In his first year as Cronulla coach, Provan guides the young club to their second grand final appearance. The 10-all draw with Manly necessitates a replay three days later.
19th September, 1978: The Sharks fall 22-0 in the replay. It’s the last of 13 grand finals Provan was involved in as a player or coach.
9th September, 1979: After guiding the Sharks to a third placed finish, Cronulla crash out of the finals in straight sets. Their final game, a 30-15 loss to Canterbury, is Provan’s last as first grade coach.
26th September, 1982: The Winfield Cup, which bears Provan’s likeness from “The Gladiators” photograph, is awarded for the first time.
1998: The NRL awards the Provan-Summons medal, for the people’s choice, as part of the Dally M Awards for the first time.
2004: Provan is inducted into the Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame.
April, 2008: As part of rugby league’s centenary celebrations, Provan is named as one of the 100 greatest players of all time and selected at second row in the Australian Team of the Century. Provan was also selected in the New South Wales team of the century.
1st August, 2018: Provan is named as the 13th Rugby League Immortal, joining his Dragons teammates Reg Gasnier, Graeme Langlands and Johnny Raper.
14th October, 2021: Provan passes away at age 89 after a long illness.
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