Lithuanians in the News
18th April 2021
Famous Rugby League Player, Lithuanian Heritage Tommy Raudonikis
is Mourned by the Australian Sporting World
The late Tommy Raudonikis. Photo courtesy NRL.com
Tributes have flown in after the passing of the legendary Australian Rugby League (ARL) star, Tommy Raudonikis, who died on 7 April 2021 on the Gold Coast, Queensland, just a few days short of his 70th birthday. He was born in a migrant camp in Bathurst, New South Wales, to a Lithuanian father and a Swiss mother.
During an outstanding and controversial playing career, he played in Sydney with the Western Suburbs Magpies 1969-1979 and the Newtown Jets 1980-1982, moving to Queensland in 1983. In 1980 he played as captain of the New South Wales team in the inaugural State of Origin game.
Many achievement awards followed him. In 2004 he was included in Western Suburbs Magpies team of the century. In February 2008, he was included in the list of 100 Greatest Players in Australia in the century (1908-2007), to celebrate rugby league’s centenary in Australia. The Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) was awarded to him in 1982.
According to ARL Commission chairman Peter V'Landys, "Tommy was one of a kind. There will never be another Tommy Raudonikis. ... Tommy was everything that makes rugby league the greatest game of all.”

For more information:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-07/rugby-league-legend-tommy-raudonikis-dies-aged-70/100052450
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/the-nappy-needle-had-gone-right-through-my-skin-the-birth-of-the-raudonikis-legend-20210407-p57h56.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Raudonikis