The St George Illawarra Dragons pay their respects to Bob Bugden, who passed away last week.
Bugden was a six-time premiership-winning halfback for the St George Dragons during their historic run of 11 straight premierships.
Born in Murwillumbah on the NSW far north coast in 1936, Bugden made his first-grade debut as an 18-year-old in the 1954 finals series.
Two months earlier, he was playing B-Grade for Sutherland in the St George juniors and was a member of Saints’ President’s Cup team.
In all, he played 135 first-grade premiership games for the Dragons, scoring 57 tries, and was halfback in the first six grand finals (1956–61) of the Red V juggernaut’s 11-year winning streak in the NSWRL premiership.
Bugden represented NSW in 1959 and 1960 while at St George (and in 1964 when he was playing for Parramatta). A Kangaroo in 1959-60, he played two Tests against France in 1960, scoring three tries on his Test debut, and was a member of Australia’s 1960 World Cup squad.
Bugden’s rise to first grade was certainly meteoric – he had appeared in four games in third grade and one in the reserves when picked to replace the injured Johnny Holden for the 1954 minor semi-final against Norths.
Bugden was quick, tough and remarkably durable. He hardly missed a game because of injury, appearing in all 17 of St George’s finals matches between 1954 and 1961, while his three grand final tries were crucial.
Following his retirement from football, Bob Bugden worked in real estate in Australia and overseas, and lived for many years on the Gold Coast. He died on 2 November 2023. He was 87.
