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Full name | Kenneth John Irvine | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Cremorne, New South Wales, Australia | 5 March 1940||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Died | 22 December 1990 Brisbane, Queensland, Australia | (aged 50)||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 5 ft 8 in (173 cm)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 12 st 4 lb (78 kg)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Position | Wing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Kenneth John Irvine (5 March 1940 – 22 December 1990),[4] also nicknamed "Mongo",[5] was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. He holds the standing Australian record for the most tries in a first-grade career – 212. No other player has yet managed 200 tries in their Australian club career, with the closest to Irvine's tally being South Sydney Rabbitohs player Alex Johnston who has scored 195 tries. He is also the 2nd all-time top try-scorer for the Australian national team with 33, two behind Darren Lockyer's 35. Irvine's great speed is legendary and he is regarded as Australia's greatest ever winger, being named in 2008 in the list of Australian rugby league's 100 greatest players, as well as being an automatic selection for the Australian Rugby League's "Team of the Century".[6]
Irvine played his club football for the North Sydney and Manly-Warringah clubs in the New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership, winning the premiership with Manly in 1972 and 1973. His great speed saw him play primarily on the Wing.