Ian Thomson

Who is Ian Thomson?

Ian Thomson is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer of the 1970s and 80s. An Australian international and New South Wales interstate representative front row forward, he played club football for the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, with whom he won the 1978 NSWRFL Premiership, as well as the Balmain Tigers.

Thomson came from a strong rugby league family. His father Jim and brother Gary were both Balmain players. His uncle, Allan Thomson was an Australian international. Ian played President's Cup for Balmain in 1974. He then spent two seasons with Quanbeyan under coach Don Furner, earning representative honours with Country Firsts in 1976. He returned to Sydney, signing with Manly-Warringah for the 1977 NSWRFL season. The following year he represented New South Wales and was first selected to play for Australia in the first test against New Zealand. The 1978 NSWRFL season's Grand Final was to be played by the Manly-Warringah and Cronulla-Sutherland clubs. The game ended in a draw and resulted in a re-play which was won by Manly-Warringah, with Thomson playing in both matches. After that he went on the 1978 Kangaroo tour.

In the second-last round of the 1980 regular season, Thomson was sent off for a high tackle and was subsequently suspended by the judiciary for the rest of the season.