Ian Freeman (rugby league)
{{Short description|Australian rugby league player}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Use Australian English|date=July 2013}}
{{Infobox rugby league biography
|retired = yes
|name = Ian Freeman
|fullname =
|image =
|country =
|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1957|8|31|df=yes}}
|birth_place =
|height =
|weight =
|position = {{rlp|PR}}
|club1 = Western Suburbs
|year1start = 1983
|year1end = 89
|appearances1 = 65
|tries1 = 3
|goals1 = 0
|fieldgoals1 = 0
|points1 = 12
|club2 = Barrow
|year2start = 1989
|year2end = 90
|appearances2 =
|tries2 =
|goals2 =
|fieldgoals2 =
|points2 =
|source = [http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/players/ian-freeman/summary.html Rugby League Project]
}}
Ian Freeman (born 31 August 1957), also known by the nickname of "Herbie", is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. He played for the Western Suburbs Magpies. He played 65 first grade games in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership with the Magpies, and then spent a season playing with Barrow in England. He was described as a "hard man" known for his "rugged play".{{cite news|author=Paul Tait|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|title=Injuries force Wests totrial new pack|url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zGtWAAAAIBAJ&pg=4168,7227522&dq=ian+freeman&hl=en|access-date=7 May 2013|date=26 February 1986}} He was also known for being bald and bearded.{{cite book|title= Sin Bin: The Untold Story of a True Footy Bad Boy|last= Elias|first= John|author2=Josh Massoud|year= 2010|publisher= Pan Macmillan|location= Australia|isbn= 978-1-4050-4021-1|page=131|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=3gyFC85aB6wC|access-date= 7 May 2013}}
Club career
A Cooma junior, Freeman made his first-grade debut with the Western Suburbs Magpies in the first game of the 1983 season. He was a regular in the side that year, playing at either prop or second row. The next year he made just 4 appearances, all losses.
With the threat of Wests being kicked out of the competition, Freeman spent the 1985 season playing with Cooma in the country Group 16 league.{{cite news|author=Alan Clarkson|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|title=The shape of League to come|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=27oyAAAAIBAJ&pg=4029,7874304&dq=ian+freeman&hl=en|access-date=7 May 2013|date=1 January 1986}} Returning to Wests, he was often the starting prop in 1986, and again in 1987 when he made 22 appearances for the season. In 1986 he captained the Magpies when they had a surprise 30–20 victory over Manly{{cite news|author=Jason Dasey|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|title= Silvertail effort gives Wests the KISS of life|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yrcyAAAAIBAJ&pg=3671,4581072&dq=ian+freeman&hl=en|access-date=7 May 2013|date=21 April 1986}}
Freeman missed the first 4 games of the 1988 season due to a suspension imposed after a head-high tackle in a pre-season National-Panasonic Cup match. Freeman denied the charge, saying, "He went down fairly easily and when I slung him to the ground his head hit hard. I thought my tackle was hard but it was fair." On-ground officials disagreed, saying the opposing player had been unconscious before he hit the ground. Freeman received a reduced sentence because of his previously clean record.{{cite news|author=Alan Clarkson|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|title=Freeman's 4-week ban mystifies the Magpies|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=1itWAAAAIBAJ&pg=3081,425531&dq=ian+freeman+magpies&hl=en|access-date=7 May 2013|date=1 March 1988}}
Freeman spent two more years with Wests, before playing for Barrow in the 1989/90 English season.
After retiring, Freeman spent a season coaching Junee.{{cite web|work=sporting pulse|title= Centenary Heroes|url=http://www.sportingpulse.com/assoc_page.cgi?c=1-6940-0-0-0&sID=169471&news_task=DETAIL&articleID=11475994|access-date=7 May 2013}}
Freeman was honoured as a bench player in the Western Suburbs Magpies' Team of the Eighties.{{cite news|work=weststigers.com.au|title=Team of the Eighties|url=http://www.weststigers.com.au/default.aspx?s=article-display&id=30925&title=vest,-keato,-cogger-all-honoured|access-date=7 May 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110227200942/http://www.weststigers.com.au/default.aspx?s=article-display&id=30925&title=vest%2C-keato%2C-cogger-all-honoured|archive-date=27 February 2011}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- Whiticker, Alan and Hudson, Glen; The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players; published 2005 by BAS publishing, f16/171 Collins St, Melbourne, Vic., 3000
{{Western Suburbs Magpies Team of the Eighties}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Freeman, Ian}}
Category:Australian rugby league players
Category:Barrow Raiders players
Category:Western Suburbs Magpies players