Mick Sullivan

OVERALL STATISTICS

BIRTHAGESIGNED ONFROM
12-01-1934
N/A
Date unknown.
Wigan
DEBUTLAST MATCHLEFT
16-01-1961 v Hull
Oldham
1963- York
CAREERAPPEARANCES (SUBS)
1960-1962
82 (0)
TRIESGOALSDGOALSPTS
31
0
0
93

Biography of Mick Sullivan



HERITAGE NO : 780
Mick Sullivan by Dave Dooley:

Mick Sullivan was born in Dewsbury on the 12 January 1934. Sullivan signed for Huddersfield from Shawcross Boys Club on 29 May 1952 as an 11 stone, 18 year-old right winger. He soon gained a reputation as a quick, direct and decisive player. Saints signed him from Wigan for a world record £11 000 fee. He only played for the Saints in the seasons 1960/1961, 1961 /62 and 1962 /63.

Mick was signed by Harry Cook before the 1961 Challenge Cup deadline. Within seven days this signalled the departure of Jan Prinsloo to Wakefield for £9000. Sullivan made his debut for Saints on January 16th, 1961 playing centre and scoring a try in a hard fought 22- 15 home victory over Hull. In that season Sullivan scored four tries in 19 matches.

The following season (1961/2) Mick crossed the line 15 times in 31 matches. In his final season with Saints Sully scored 10 tries in 30 matches. Altogether Mick played 80 matches for the Saints scoring 29 tries. This relatively paltry total for an international winger in my opinion can be accounted for by two significant factors. Firstly, the team at the time `favoured` getting the ball out to the prolific Vollenhoven and Mick played in several positions for the team developing a different, more defensive role for the side.

Alex Service writes in his book `The March of the Saints`

"Arguably the greatest left winger in the post war era, Mick Sullivan made his name in the 1954 World Cup in France and wore an international jersey each year between 1954 and 1963 - an incredible achievement. Skilful in attack, he scored an astounding 38 tries in 19 matches during the 1958 tour down under.

Signed by Wigan from Huddersfield fro a then record fee of �9,500 in 1957, he won two Challenge Cup medals with the pie-eaters in 1958 and 1959 scoring a try in each Wembley Final. He scored a try for the Great Britain side that defeated Australia in the 1960 World Cup Final. This was his second such medal having been part of the GB side that carried off the first World Cup in France in 1954.

There were times when Sully`s experience was utilised in both centre and stand off during his first seas
on at Knowsley Road when he was required to shadow a potentially dangerous opponent. Although barely 12 stones, Sullivan was renowned for his tackling ability and often had to mark players 2 or 3 stones heavier than himself! "
During his brief career with Saints, Mick Sullivan gained 10 caps for Great Britain, played once for England and added three caps to his Yorkshire headwear collection. He played for Saints in the 1961 RL Cup Final performing creditably in his role in containing the mighty Billy Boston. He also gained winners medals in the 1961 and 1962 Lancashire Cup Finals when saints beat Swinton 25- 9 and 7 - 4 respectively.

I recall Mick scoring five tries against his old club Huddersfield on February 3rd. 1962 in a 36-5 victory. He was transferred to York and later played for his hometown Dewsbury. For the lattermentioned club in 1966 Mick led them to a Challenge Cup semi-final against one of the greatest of all Saints` sides. In that match the lowly Yorkshire side nearly pulled off one of the greatest upsets of all time. The match was characterised by many a trade-mark crunch tackle from Sully playing loose forward.

His international career was truly remarkable. He made his debut in the 1954 World Cup match against Australia in Lyons. Playing in the centre he helped pull off a surprise 28-13 win. Mick carried on to play in all four tournament games and did not miss a Test or World Cup game for the next seven years. He scored four Test hat tricks for Great Britain. His most famous was in the Third Test on the 1958 Tour against Australia when Mick helped the Lions to a famous ashes winning 40-17 victory at the Sydney Cricket ground. Mick Sullivan played a record breaking 46 times for Great Britain scoring 41 tries.

He won every honour in the game scoring a total of 342 tries with Huddersfield, Wigan, Saints, York and Dewsbury. After his career was over in GB Mick went to play for Junee in a rebel NSW league for one season.



SEASON STATISTICS

Season (Official Matches)TriesGoalsDGoalsMatches
1960~615 0 0 20
1961~62 14 0 0 31
1962~63 12 0 0 31
TOTALS:31 0 0 82
Season (Other Matches)TriesGoalsDGoalsMatches
1961~620001
TOTALS:0001

ALL MATCHES

DateMatchPosOpponentsCompVenueFTFTOTGDG
16th Jan 1961 1
W
 3 Hull L H 22 15 1 VIEW
21st Jan 1961 2
W
 3 Whitehaven L A 15 11 VIEW
4th Feb 1961 3
L
 3 Warrington L H 7 8 VIEW
11th Feb 1961 4
D
 5 Widnes CC1 H 5 5 VIEW
16th Feb 1961 5
W
 5 Widnes CC1(rep) A 29 10 1 VIEW
18th Feb 1961 6
W
 5 Widnes L H 44 7 1 VIEW
25th Feb 1961 7
W
 5 Castleford CC2 A 18 10 1 VIEW
21st Mar 1961 8
W
 4 Barrow L H 31 2 VIEW
25th Mar 1961 9
W
 6 Salford L H 45 2 VIEW
27th Mar 1961 10
L
 6 Wakefield Trinity L A 2 4 VIEW
31st Mar 1961 11
L
 3 Wigan L A 2 12 VIEW
1st Apr 1961 12
L
 4 Workington Town L A 11 12 VIEW
3rd Apr 1961 13
L
 5 Swinton L H 3 10 VIEW
8th Apr 1961 14
W
 4 Hull L A 9 4 VIEW
15th Apr 1961 15
W
 3 Hull CCSF N 26 9 VIEW
22nd Apr 1961 16
L
 6 Featherstone Rovers L A 11 28 VIEW
25th Apr 1961 17
W
 3 Blackpool Borough L H 28 4 VIEW
29th Apr 1961 18
W
 5 Featherstone Rovers L H 38 0 1 VIEW
6th May 1961 19
L
 5 Leeds ChSF A 4 11 VIEW
13th May 1961 20
W
 5 Wigan CCF N 12 6 VIEW
12th Aug 1961 --
W
 5 Liverpool City* Fr Charity Cup H 29 14 VIEW
19th Aug 1961 21
W
 5 Leeds L H 20 5 1 VIEW
26th Aug 1961 22
L
 5 Swinton L A 6 15 VIEW
2nd Sep 1961 23
W
 4 Leigh LC1 H 43 8 1 VIEW
9th Sep 1961 24
W
 5 Salford L A 24 7 VIEW
16th Sep 1961 25
W
 3 Whitehaven L H 44 0 VIEW
23rd Sep 1961 26
W
 3 Barrow L A 34 2 VIEW
30th Sep 1961 27
L
 3 Hull L H 22 25 VIEW
2nd Oct 1961 28
W
 5 Oldham LC2 H 30 7 2 VIEW
7th Oct 1961 29
W
 5 Whitehaven L A 10 3 VIEW
10th Oct 1961 30
W
 5 Salford LCSF H 21 2 VIEW
14th Oct 1961 31
W
 5 New Zealand Tour H 25 10 VIEW
28th Oct 1961 32
L
 5 Warrington L A 7 11 VIEW
11th Nov 1961 33
W
 5 Swinton LCF N 25 9 1 VIEW
18th Nov 1961 34
L
 5 Widnes L A 12 13 VIEW
25th Nov 1961 35
W
 5 Workington Town L H 16 7 VIEW
2nd Dec 1961 36
L
 5 Hull Kingston Rovers L A 5 12 VIEW
9th Dec 1961 37
L
 4 Wakefield Trinity L A 10 12 VIEW
16th Dec 1961 38
L
 3 Oldham L H 8 9 VIEW
6th Jan 1962 39
W
 5 Barrow L H 30 6 VIEW
13th Jan 1962 40
L
 5 Leeds L A 3 20 VIEW
3rd Feb 1962 41
W
 5 Huddersfield L H 36 5 5 VIEW
10th Feb 1962 42
W
 5 Salford CC1 A 15 2 VIEW
24th Feb 1962 43
L
 6 Leigh L A 6 7 VIEW
3rd Mar 1962 44
L
 5 Huddersfield CC2 H 2 13 VIEW
24th Mar 1962 45
W
 5 Widnes L H 13 8 VIEW
31st Mar 1962 46
W
 5 Swinton L H 5 2 VIEW
3rd Apr 1962 47
W
 5 Hull Kingston Rovers L H 27 2 VIEW
7th Apr 1962 48
W
 5 Hull L A 12 8 VIEW
9th Apr 1962 49
W
 5 Leigh L H 42 4 1 VIEW
14th Apr 1962 50
W
 5 Blackpool Borough L A 15 2 2 VIEW
20th Apr 1962 51
L
 5 Wigan L H 16 18 1 VIEW
22nd Sep 1962 52
W
 3 Liverpool City WDC H 32 3 1 VIEW
29th Sep 1962 53
D
 3 Blackpool Borough WDC A 12 12 VIEW
2nd Oct 1962 54
W
 3 Oldham LCSF A 10 8 VIEW
9th Oct 1962 55
L
 3 Widnes WDCSF H 9 10 VIEW
13th Oct 1962 56
D
 4 Castleford L H 10 10 VIEW
20th Oct 1962 57
W
 5 Huddersfield L A 22 9 VIEW
27th Oct 1962 58
W
 5 Swinton LCF N 7 4 VIEW
10th Nov 1962 59
L
 5 Warrington L H 2 4 VIEW
24th Nov 1962 60
W
 4 Huddersfield L H 36 3 VIEW
8th Dec 1962 61
W
 3 Leeds L H 13 6 VIEW
15th Dec 1962 62
L
 3 Wakefield Trinity L A 7 10 VIEW
22nd Dec 1962 63
W
 4 Hull L H 27 14 VIEW
9th Mar 1963 64
L
 4 Hull Kingston Rovers L A 2 3 VIEW
11th Mar 1963 65
L
 4 Halifax CC1 A 2 9 VIEW
23rd Mar 1963 66
W
 5 Bramley L H 38 0 3 VIEW
26th Mar 1963 67
W
 4 Wigan L H 20 11 VIEW
30th Mar 1963 68
W
 4 Featherstone Rovers L A 17 10 1 VIEW
1st Apr 1963 69
W
 5 Workington Town L H 29 0 2 VIEW
6th Apr 1963 70
W
 5 Halifax L H 33 3 1 VIEW
12th Apr 1963 71
W
 5 Wigan L A 24 4 1 VIEW
13th Apr 1963 72
L
 3 Swinton L A 8 9 VIEW
15th Apr 1963 73
L
 5 Swinton L H 9 24 VIEW
20th Apr 1963 74
W
 4 Featherstone Rovers L H 18 5 VIEW
29th Apr 1963 75
L
 5 Wakefield Trinity L H 15 16 VIEW
4th May 1963 76
W
 5 Widnes L A 25 2 VIEW
6th May 1963 77
W
 5 Oldham L H 22 8 1 VIEW
13th May 1963 78
W
 5 Widnes L H 14 6 VIEW
18th May 1963 79
W
 5 Bramley L A 21 9 VIEW
25th May 1963 80
W
 5 Halifax L A 33 5 1 VIEW
27th May 1963 81
W
 5 Hull Kingston Rovers L H 16 15 VIEW
30th May 1963 82
W
 5 Oldham L A 24 9 1 VIEW
*Unofficial Match. **Non Playing Sub.
WINS : 54 | LOSSES : 26 | DRAWS : 3

GALLERY





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