Footy legend Terry Hill dies aged just 52 – throwing the rugby league world into shock
- Played great for Manly, NSW and Australia
- Climbed to the top of the sport in a career spanning 274 matches
- Colorful cult hero dies in the Philippines
The footy world is in a state of shock and mourning after Manly, NSW and Kangaroos great Terry Hill died aged just 52.
The Sea Eagles legend suffered a heart attack in the Philippines, where he had spent more time in recent years while working for charity. News Corp reported.
Terry Hill (pictured playing for Manly in 2005) rose to the top of the game in a long and highly successful career
Newtown-born Hill (pictured holding the ball for Manly) was one of the best players in the world at his peak, representing NSW and Australia several times
Hill played 246 games in a club career that saw him play for Souths, Easts, Wests, Manly and the Wests Tigers, as well as playing 14 games for NSW and a further nine for his country.
Born in the western Sydney suburb of Newtown, he made his first-class debut for Souths in 1990, moving to Easts in 1991 and then to Western Suburbs in 1992 before making his home with Manly in 1994.
He excelled in the centers for the Sea Eagles for six seasons, helping them to premiership glory in 1996, before returning to the club to end his career in 2005, having made 49 appearances for the Wests in four years Tigers had played.
Known as one of the game’s most colorful characters, he was a regular on Channel Nine’s The Footy Show during its most successful years. He will also be remembered by fans for his star roles in ads for Lowes men’s clothing.
Hill, nicknamed ‘Tezza’, was one of Footy’s most colorful characters and became a regular on The Footy Show (pictured) at the height of his popularity, as well as starring in well-known TV commercials for menswear chain Lowes (below)
Hill was at the center of one of the defining dramas of the modern game when he was called up to play for Easts in 1991, despite agreeing to join Wests.
He and other players took legal action against the game’s then governing body, the NSWRL, and won their case in the Supreme Court.
“Those players were very brave men because they had no financial backing and they all put their names on the line, which meant they put their homes on the line because if they had lost, the League would have come after them because of the costs,” says footy. The great lawyer Kevin Ryan said about Hill and his co-stars.
Hill – nicknamed ‘Tezza’ – made his representative debut for City in 1993, the same year he first broke into the Blues State of Origin team.
More to come…