Rupert Mudge

Who is Rupert Mudge?

John "Rupert" Mudge is an Australian rugby league player. He played both rugby codes in Sydney, New South Wales as well as playing rugby league in England. Rupert John Mudge played for the Randwick rugby union club in his junior years before being recruited by English rugby league club, Workington Town, where he was joined by fellow Australian recruit Tony Paskins. While in England, he played at representative level for British Empire, and Other Nationalities.

Mudge was coached by former Great Britain rugby league test captain, Gus Risman. A back-rower, or Prop Mudge was a try scorer for Workington Town in the 1952 Challenge Cup final victory over Featherstone Rovers.

The Challenge Cup was played on 20 April 1952 at Wembley Stadium. [The original Wembley Stadium, known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007.]

Three Australian footballers were in the Workington Town side, including Rupert. They played the match in front of Anthony Eden, who was Foreign Minister in the Government and Rupert John Mudge scored the longest ever running try at Wembley, which was the turning point in the match. It was then added to when Aussie team mates Tony Paskins and Bevan Wilson together scored another try in the final minutes of the game and Workington Town team beat Featherstone and won. The Sydney Morning Herald - Apr 21, 1952