Vale Darrell Bampton: Rabbitohs stalwart and Kangaroos manager

After a protracted illness, former Rabbitohs captain and seasoned

administrator Darrell Bampton, OAM, passed away, leaving the rugby league community in sadness.

 

After a protracted illness, Bampton, South Sydney first-grade player No. 559,

passed away on Saturday. He was seventy-four years old.

 

Bampton, affectionately referred to as “Number Nine,” left the game to work as

Souths’ chief executive officer and as the Kangaroos and NSW Origin teams’ squad manager.

A youngster from South Sydney, Bampton represented the Alexandria

Rovers, Waterloo Waratahs, and Zetland United teams before making his first-grade debut against Cronulla in 1970.

 

During his two stints with the Rabbitohs in 1969–73 and 1978–79, he played 116 games, 51 of which were in first grade.

If Souths hadn’t possessed back-row players like Ron Coote, Paul Sait, Bob McCarthy, and Gary Stevens, Bampton

most likely would have played in more first-grade matches.

 

In 1969, he was a member of the winning third-grade premiership team as well as

captain of the President’s Cup winning team.

 

In 1969, the Rabbitohs emerged victorious in all three major junior

championships; they also defeated

Canterbury in the third-grade grand final and suffered a significant upset loss to

the Balmain Tigers in the first-grade grand final.

 

The main reason Bampton left Souths at the end of 1973 to take a captain-coach position at Collegians Wollongong was

because he was finding it difficult to secure a spot in the back row with Sait,

McCarthy, and Stevens around. Two years before, Coote had left.

In 1975, he captained the Illawarra CRL team that defeated Great Britain.

 

Jack Gibson, the new coach, pushed Bampton to go home at the start of 1978.

He leaped at the chance because he had

been driving three nights a week for training from Coogee to Wollongong.

 

Because of his excellent preseason play, Gibson was named club captain.

 

Bampton’s abilities as a football administrator have been acknowledged

at the club, State of Origin, and Test levels.

 

Between 1997 and 1999, Bampton served as the CEO of South Sydney Football Club. From 1999 to 2002, he managed the NSW

State of Origin. During the 1999 Tri-Series, 2000 World Cup, 2001 Kangaroo

tour, and 2002 ANZAC Test, he managed the Australian team.

In 2002, he was also named vice-president of the NSWRFL.

 

In 1994, Bampton was granted Life Membership in the SSDRLFC, and in

2006, he was granted Life Membership in the NSWRL.

 

His abilities were acknowledged by the Australian Government in 2009 when he

received the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for his services to rugby league as

a player and coach of young players, among other managerial responsibilities.

 

A statement from South Sydney read: “On behalf of everyone connected to the

Rabbitohs, we offer our deepest and most sincere condolences to the family

and friends of Mr Darrell Bampton, OAM” .