Larry Corowa

  • Playing Career

Playing Career

Vital Statistics

Born
Monday, 5th August, 1957
Current Age
66 years and 259 days

Biography

The career of electrifying winger, the ‘Black Flash’, was almost over before it had started. Injuries suffered in a car accident following a game for Tweed Heads/G’Coast in Brisbane kept the 16-year-old out of the game for two years. Corowa linked with close friend Percy Knight with the Queanbeyan Kangaroos in the Canberra competition before coming to prominence when he scored five tries for Monaro against the visiting Great Britain side in 1977. The 19-year-old signed with Balmain the following year and stamped his claim for Kangaroo selection with a series of blistering performances which yielded 24 tries for the season. (Incredibly, Corowa was top-scorer for the Tigers that year with 72 pts from tries alone). In September 1978, he confirmed that he was the fastest man in the game when he defeated Stawell Gift winner Steve Proudlock in a 100m challenge race at Wentworth Park. On tour with the Kangaroos, Corowa played in just 7 matches but made his Test debut against Great Britain the following year, scoring a try in the first match of the 1979 Ashes series. Corowa played in two Tests in 1979 and was awarded the MBE in 1980 for services to the game. A burst appendix in 1981, coupled with further injury problems and the game’s growing emphasis on defense, resulted in the decline of his rep career and he returned home to Tweed Heads at the end of 1984. His career looked to have finished when he led South Tweed to an upset win in the Group 18 competition in 1987 but four years later, while working with Wally Lewis at the G’Coast, he made a comeback to first grade after an absence of seven years!
- ALAN WHITICKER

Playing Career Statistics

All statistics shown in this section are based only on data available in the RLP database, and are not necessarily a complete and/or 100% accurate representation of a player's career. This information should be used as a guide only. If you see a question mark (?), it denotes that the figure is not available.

To view a list of corresponding matches, click on the List button.

Competitions
Competition   App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
City vs Country Firsts 3 4 -   - 12 2 1 0 66.67% List
National Panasonic Cup 4 10 -   - 30 3 1 0 75.00% List
Craven Mild Cup 6 5 -   - 15 3 3 0 50.00% List
NRL 99 65 -   - 203 43 52 4 43.43% List
Interstate Matches 5 5 -   - 15 5 0 0 100.00% List
Tooheys Challenge Cup 2 - -   - - 1 1 0 50.00% List
Tour Matches Australia 2 1 -   - 3 2 0 0 100.00% List
Test Series 2 1 -   - - 2 0 0 100.00% List
The Ashes 2 1 -   - 6 2 0 0 100.00% List


International

Test Matches - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Australia 1979 2 1 -   - 3 2 0 0 100.00% List


Representative

Australia - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Monaro 1977 4 9 -   - 27 3 1 0 75.00% List
NSW Country Firsts 1977 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List
NSW Firsts 1978-79 5 5 -   - 15 5 0 0 100.00% List
NSW City Firsts 1978-79 2 4 -   - 12 2 0 0 100.00% List
Overall1977-1979 12 18 0   0 54 10 2 0 83.33% List


Club Career

NRL/NSWRL - By Year

Team Season App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Balmain NSWRFL 1978 21 24 -   - 72 9 11 1 42.86% List
Balmain NSWRFL 1979 17 14 -   - 42 8 8 1 47.06% List
Balmain NSWRFL 1980 18 5 -   - 15 7 11 0 38.89% List
Balmain NSWRFL 1981 16 9 -   - 27 5 10 1 31.25% List
Balmain NSWRFL 1982 12 5 -   - 15 4 7 1 33.33% List
Balmain NSWRFL 1983 13 7 -   - 28 10 3 0 76.92% List
Gold Coast NSWRL 1991 2 1 -   - 4 0 2 0 0.00% List

NRL/NSWRL - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Balmain 1978-83 97 64 -   - 199 43 50 4 44.33% List
Gold Coast 1991 2 1 -   - 4 0 2 0 0.00% List
Overall1978-1991 99 65 0   0 203 43 52 4 43.43% List

Your Say

  • brad may
    22/05/2011

    the black and gold flash. if larry had the slightest gap to run at it was all over because nobody could catch the speed machine larrry corowa

  • Paul Carter
    23/06/2011

    In 1978 Corowa got a 10 in Rugby League Week.It came after he scored 4 Tries for Balmain in their 39-5 win over Newtown at Henson Park on April 2.Corowa also won the 100 Metre Sprint at the League Olympics at Leichhardt Oval in 1978 after a False Start.

  • Anonymous
    29/08/2011

    Larry is the reason I became a league fan and a Tigers fan. Wonderfully exciting to watch - a spectacular runner and athlete.

  • JEFF MITCHELL
    19/08/2015

    Larry played for Woden Valley Rams with Percy.I was at that game,5 against the poms.Gee he could run.Never forget it.
    Cheers Larry
    Jeff Mitchell
    WVJRL Club Boy of the Year 1976

  • Mirrors
    24/05/2016

    The most exciting player of his time

  • Mike Gielb
    19/09/2016

    Played with Larry at Woden Valley Rams. His nickname with us there was "Gazelle". Tough to keep up with him at training.

  • Anonymous
    29/06/2017

    Larry was never selected for his tackling ability however the first bloke I ever saw miss a tackle but have enough sheer pace to get up and run the guy down (bear park197?) One of the greats

  • Anonymous
    17/03/2018

    I was at Wentworth Park to witness the match race against Steve Proudlock, Larry won in a hand-timed 10.3 seconds over 100m - a time that would have been good enough to earn a Bronze medal at the 1980 olympics and only 0.05 seconds behind Alan Wells the gold medalist!

  • Anonymous
    10/06/2020

    larry corowa was the fastest rugby league player of all time unheralded and unmatched for sheer speed.

  • Anonymous
    14/08/2021

    What a legend of the game, exeptional athlete

  • Anonymous
    15/06/2022

    fastest of them all larry corowa.

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Contributions: Greg Fiveash, Andrew Ferguson, Rugby League Tables, Paul Carter, Shawn Dollin, Alan Katzmann, Steven Russo, AJ Lucantonio

Sources: NSWRL Rugby League Yearbook 1991-92