Bulldogs History Database
Eddie Burns
| Coach # | 20 |
|---|---|
| Player # | 16 |
| DOB | 6th Mar 1916 |
Eddie Burns is one of the true immortals of the Canterbury-Bankstown club.
A local junior, he joined the club in the inaugural year and played in the initial reserve grade game.
Eddie was to became a regular first grade player until his retirement in 1950 with the exception being a half season stint with Waratah Mayfield in 1940.
A mobile but tough prop forward, he gained a reputation for his try scoring ability mainly through his support play.
In fact against Newtown in 1942, Eddie scored four tries in a game. His 62 first grade tries were not passed until 1980 by Chris Anderson.
Eddie was also part of a formable front row combination with Henry Porter and Roy Kirkaldy. Together the 'Three Musketeers' played in 94 games together from 1938 to 1948.
Eddie played in the inaugural semi final in 1936 and was a member of both Premiership teams in 1938 and 1942.
A member of the City Cup winning team of 1939, he also played in the 1947 Grand Final loss to Balmain.
Eddie was an unlucky omission from the 1948-49 Kangaroo squad after playing two games for NSW that year.
After retirement, Eddie continued his association with the club by coaching the reserve grade team to the Grand Final in 1952.
Becoming a Life Member of the club and the NSWRL, Eddie retuned to the club to coach the first grade back team back to the semi-finals in 1960 after a 13 year drought.
Eddie also coached in 1961, 1962 and 1965. His 1962 team won the inaugural Pre-Season competition.
He coached NSW from 1963 to 1965 and was manager of the Australian team that toured New Zealand in 1969.
On the administration side, Eddie was President of the club in 1967 and 1968.
He was named at prop in the 'Berries to Bulldogs 70 Year Team of Champions' in 2004.
Eddie passed away in June 2003 at the age of 87.
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