Tom Kirk

Who is Tom Kirk?

Tom Kirk was a rugby league footballer in Australia's New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership of the 1930s and 40s. A fullback and goal-kicker, he played for the Canterbury-Bankstown, Newtown and North Sydney clubs and also played representative football for New South Wales. He became the first player to score 1,000 career points in the NSWRFL as well as the first player to be the season's top point scorer five times.

Kirk first tasted premiership success with Canterbury's 1938 Grand Final-winning team, landing four goals in the 19-6 win over Easts in the final. That year he also topped the competition's point-scorers list and the following year made his debut for NSW in the centres.

Joining Newtown, Kirk became the first player to kick 100 goals in a season in 1943, including five in the 34-7 win over Norths in the premiership decider. He was the season's leading point scorer on five occasions, the last in 1946. He twice kicked a club record 11 goals during the 1944 season and set Newtown's club record for most points in a match with 25 against St George, on 26 August 1944. Kirk made a return to the New South Wales side in his final year in the Sydney competition.