John Thorley - Prop
Wales RL
| Heritage No | 239 |
| Date Of Birth | 28/05/1927 |
| Place Of Birth | Mountain Ash |
| Clubs | Dewsbury Rams, Halifax Panthers, Neath |
| Honours | Wales RL, Great Britain, Other Nationalities |
George M. John Thorley was Wales' lone representative in the very first World Cup Final that Great Britain won after beating hosts France in 1954. He originally played rugby union for Neath, winning a county cap with Glamorgan, before turning professional with Halifax in 1952. There he played 261 times, scoring 27 tries. Also in 1954, he played in front of a British record crowd in rugby league, 102,575 for the Challenge Cup Final replay against Warrington, that Halifax lost. A Halifax Hall Of Fame Inductee, John later joined Dewsbury. After retiring from playing, John Thorley became a keen supporter of Halifax, he also took up golf and was a member of Halifax West End Golf Club for more than 30 years, was involved in the Welsh Rugby League Past Players organisation and was deputy churchwarden at Halifax Parish Church. He died in Halifax on July 12, 2005 aged 78.
Note: The statistics tab shows all of the player’s known appearances for this particular Wales side against international sides or other non-capped recognised first class matches. To see exactly how many full test rugby league caps for Wales (or any other country) that this player has, please click the “Test Summary” tab. Nines individual player records are not shown, please click here for full details about Nines. Please also note that clubs’ current names are used throughout this website, due to the database only being able to feed one name per club (e.g. Wigan will also be known as Wigan Warriors throughout all player profiles).
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