The Western Suburbs magpies family wish former player and captain, Warren Boland a very happy birthday on 1st February.
Warren was something of a rare breed in rugby league in that he was captain of a side whilst playing on the wing. It is unusual to have a captain who is so far removed from the centre of the action.
Warren played lower grades for St George, winning an U23 title with the dragons in 1974. He took a year off in 1975 and joined Balmain in 1976 as he was attending Macquarie Uni at the time. He was unable to cement a regular first grade spot at the tigers and joined Western Suburbs in 1979 along with several other fringe first graders from the tigers. He was an immediate starter in first grade with the magpies and finished the season with 8 tries. With the loss in 1980 of so many experienced players to other clubs, Wests coach Roy Masters appointed Warren as first grade captain and it was a position Warren held until he retired at the end of 1983 with the only exception being when he was out injured. Warren suffered a broken leg early in the 1981 which kept him out for several months but came back towards the back end of the season as the magpies made a charge for the finals but unfortunately missed the finals (the only time in Roy's time at Wests they missed the first grade finals).
In all, Warren played just under 100 first grade games for the magpies scoring 22 tries. He was named as wing and captain of the Western Suburbs Team of the Eighties.
After retirement, Warren found a niche as a rugby league commentator working for ABC calling the Saturday afternoon game during the late 80's & early 90's with Arthur Beetson and then with Fox. He has also done commentary for the ABC calling the QLD Cup rugby league matches.
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