Billy Noke is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played for the St. George Dragons, Brisbane Broncos, South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Western Suburbs Magpies. He played primarily in the back row. He is the cousin of Kyle Noke.

Billy Noke
Personal information
Full nameBilly Noke
Born (1963-10-06) 6 October 1963 (age 61)
Dubbo, New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
PositionSecond-row
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1982–87 St. George Dragons 67 6 12 0 48
1988 Brisbane Broncos 16 3 0 0 12
1989–90 St. George Dragons 22 0 1 0 2
1991 South Sydney 6 0 0 0 0
1992 Western Suburbs 3 0 0 0 0
Total 114 9 13 0 62
Source: [1]
As of 31 January 2019

Career

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He starred in the unbeaten Australian Schoolboy Tour of England in 1979 before being a member of the premiership winning St. George Dragons Presidents Cup team in 1981.

He was then graded by St George in 1982 as an import (there was a local junior/import rule at the time with each club being limited to a number of imported players) Noke, took a risk doing this as one more year in the local junior's competition would have given him local junior status.

He would then not have been included in the limited number of imported players a club could have at the time, he really had to back his ability to do this with many other imported forwards at the club experienced NSW & Australian representatives.

A talented ball-player with a good kicking game, Noke played in the Dragons' 1985 Grand Final loss to Canterbury. In the same season, he won the Dally M second rower of the year, but his career did not take off as expected when he went to the Broncos upon their inception into the NSWRL premiership. His return to Sydney, with seasons at Souths and Wests was similarly unsuccessful.

Noke captain-coached Turvey Park to the 1993 Group 9 Premiership.[2][3]

References

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  1. ^ "Billy Noke – Career Stats & Summary – Rugby League Project". Rugby League Project.
  2. ^ Govorcin, Damir. "Scott's hat-trick clinches victory". Rugby League Week (22/09/1993). Sydney: Bauer Media Group.
  3. ^ "Group 9". NSW Country Rugby League Annual Report (1993). Sydney: NSW Country Rugby League.