Born – 4 November 1929

Passed Away – 30 May 2020

Vale Bob Dimond

The last surviving member of the 1948 Kangaroos passed away last Saturday, aged 90. When the team sailed out of Sydney on 4 August 1948, Bob Dimond was the youngest on that tour at just 18. He was born at Dapto, south of Wollongong and as he recalled later in his life, everything happened so quickly in 1948. He had gone from being selected in an Illawarra seconds team on 11 April to being named as a Kangaroo, just 10 weeks later, on 19 June. It became even better for the Dapto teenager, as a week out of Sydney, the team stopped at Adelaide where the Australians played South Australia on 11 August, with Bob scoring five tries in the 96-5 win.

An outstanding all round athlete as a young boy, Bob was a champion sprinter, footballer and cricketer while a student at Dapto Primary School. He joined the local rugby league club in 1945 and did well with the under 17 team. The next year, on 14 July 1946, while still just 16, he made his First Grade debut at Wollongong Showground in Dapto’s 28-10 loss to Wollongong. Playing mainly at outside centre, he established himself as a regular first grader in 1947 and moved up to the representative scene in 1948. After representing Illawarra seconds, he was selected for Group 7, followed by Combined Groups 6 and 7 and then for Southern Districts who were beaten 13-12 at Newcastle on 1 May. After the Newcastle game, he was selected as a winger in the Country Seconds team to meet City Seconds but an injury saw him promoted to the Country Firsts side. Although City won easily by 28-13, Bob impressed and was chosen for the NSW team to play Queensland at the SCG on 15 May. In 1948, he finished with three games for NSW and also played for NSW Country against the touring New Zealanders at Wollongong on 23 May.

While he did not play a Test with the Kangaroos, he played 15 matches for Australia on tour, scoring nine tries, including three in the 60-7 win over French side, Cannes on 10 January 1949. He played 10 matches on the English leg of the tour, three at outside centre and was in the mix for Test selection after being named in the squads to prepare for the First and Second Tests.
After returning home, Bob again played for Dapto in 1949 and represented Country Firsts twice that year, against City Firsts and in the 18-6 win over Queensland on 19 June at Wollongong Showground. In 1950, he moved to Sydney where he had two seasons with the Wests Magpies, scoring 12 tries in his 23 first grade games. He signed as captain/coach of the Picton club in Group 6 for the 1952 season but a broken leg in a motor bike accident in March resulted in him missing the entire season. St. George offered him a contract for 1953 but after being selected in the First grade squad, he decided to accept a captain/coaching role at Kempsey. After four years with Kempsey, he returned to Dapto as captain/coach in 1957, where he played some matches with his younger brother, Peter, who went on to play 10 Tests. The youngest of the three Dimond brothers, Gordon, also played with Dapto a few years later. Before he passed away, Bob was Australia’s oldest Kangaroo, while he and his brother, Peter, are the only brothers to represent Australia as teenagers. Bob’s daughter, Jenny Dimond was a world class tennis player and reached the fourth round of the 1975 Wimbledon Championships, before being beaten by Yvonne Goolagong Cawley.
His early working career was spent as a baker, but after moving to Caringbah in the late 1950s, he became a fireman and did this job for 30 years or so. Bob and his wife Elsie moved to the Gold Coast in 2013. The couple have two daughters, Jenny and Robyn, two grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

The last surviving member of the 1948 Kangaroos passed away last Saturday, aged 90. When the team sailed out of Sydney on 4 August 1948, Bob Dimond was the youngest on that tour at just 18. He was born at Dapto, south of Wollongong and as he recalled later in his life, everything happened so quickly in 1948. He had gone from being selected in an Illawarra seconds team on 11 April to being named as a Kangaroo, just 10 weeks later, on 19 June. It became even better for the Dapto teenager, as a week out of Sydney, the team stopped at Adelaide where the Australians played South Australia on 11 August, with Bob scoring five tries in the 96-5 win.

An outstanding all round athlete as a young boy, Bob was a champion sprinter, footballer and cricketer while a student at Dapto Primary School. He joined the local rugby league club in 1945 and did well with the under 17 team. The next year, on 14 July 1946, while still just 16, he made his First Grade debut at Wollongong Showground in Dapto’s 28-10 loss to Wollongong. Playing mainly at outside centre, he established himself as a regular first grader in 1947 and moved up to the representative scene in 1948. After representing Illawarra seconds, he was selected for Group 7, followed by Combined Groups 6 and 7 and then for Southern Districts who were beaten 13-12 at Newcastle on 1 May. After the Newcastle game, he was selected as a winger in the Country Seconds team to meet City Seconds but an injury saw him promoted to the Country Firsts side. Although City won easily by 28-13, Bob impressed and was chosen for the NSW team to play Queensland at the SCG on 15 May. In 1948, he finished with three games for NSW and also played for NSW Country against the touring New Zealanders at Wollongong on 23 May.

While he did not play a Test with the Kangaroos, he played 15 matches for Australia on tour, scoring nine tries, including three in the 60-7 win over French side, Cannes on 10 January 1949. He played 10 matches on the English leg of the tour, three at outside centre and was in the mix for Test selection after being named in the squads to prepare for the First and Second Tests.

After returning home, Bob again played for Dapto in 1949 and represented Country Firsts twice that year, against City Firsts and in the 18-6 win over Queensland on 19 June at Wollongong Showground. In 1950, he moved to Sydney where he had two seasons with the Wests Magpies, scoring 12 tries in his 23 first grade games. He signed as captain/coach of the Picton club in Group 6 for the 1952 season but a broken leg in a motor bike accident in March resulted in him missing the entire season. St. George offered him a contract for 1953 but after being selected in the First grade squad, he decided to accept a captain/coaching role at Kempsey. After four years with Kempsey, he returned to Dapto as captain/coach in 1957, where he played some matches with his younger brother, Peter, who went on to play 10 Tests. The youngest of the three Dimond brothers, Gordon, also played with Dapto a few years later. Before he passed away, Bob was Australia’s oldest Kangaroo, while he and his brother, Peter, are the only brothers to represent Australia as teenagers. Bob’s daughter, Jenny Dimond was a world class tennis player and reached the fourth round of the 1975 Wimbledon Championships, before being beaten by Yvonne Goolagong Cawley.

His early working career was spent as a baker, but after moving to Caringbah in the late 1950s, he became a fireman and did this job for 30 years or so. Bob and his wife Elsie moved to the Gold Coast in 2013. The couple have two daughters, Jenny and Robyn, two grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

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