'Deeply saddened': League community mourns the passing of Western Division legend

Parramatta Eels, Western Division and Lithgow rugby league legend Barry Rushworth has died.

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The Parramatta club released a statement on Thursday, October 29. Rushworth, affectionately known as Bowser, died at the age of 85.

Born in Lithgow on August 23, 1941, Rushworth began his rugby league journey in the NSW country town before emerging as one of the game's outstanding centres.

"The Parramatta Eels are deeply saddened to announce the passing of club great Barry Rushworth," the club said.

"In recognition of his outstanding contribution to the club, Barry Rushworth was inducted into the Parramatta Eels Hall of Fame in 2007, securing his place among the club's most respected figures.

"Barry will be remembered for his contribution to the Eels, his achievements at representative level and the lasting connections he forged through rugby league.

"The Parramatta Eels extend their deepest condolences to Barry's family, friends, former teammates and all those who knew him."

Below is a story this masthead did with Rushworth in 2026.

Barry Rushworth. Picture from file

Barry 'Bowser' Rushworth's body was aching, battered by the brutal reality of city football.

It was August 1963, and the Lithgow Workies centre had just dragged his bruised frame off the Sydney Sports Ground turf after a gruelling, narrow 15-10 loss to the city boys. He was sore, exhausted and a long way from the crisp air of the Central West.

But before the mud could even dry on his boots, a single conversation changed the trajectory of his life forever.

In an era when country footballers were often treated as cannon fodder for the big smoke, Rushworth had just achieved the impossible: selection in the 26-man Kangaroos squad bound for Great Britain and France.

'Deeply saddened': League community mourns the passing of Western Division legend

He was one of only four bush footy players to crack a squad dominated by legends of the game, cementing his role as an early architect of Western Division's formidable rugby league legacy (the others being Gilgandra's Earl Harrison, Gerringong's Paul Quinn, and Ipswich Brothers' John Cleary).

Today, sitting in his Lithgow home of more than 30 years, there is a push to rename the grandstand at Tony Luchetti Sportsground in his honour - a fitting tribute to a giant of the region who helped build the town's sporting and social identity.

But back on that August night, he was just a country boy waiting for his name to be called.

"That night we were somewhere near where the team was going to be announced," he recalls.

"So they announced the team and I was in it and it was bloody great. Group 10 played Group 11 and then they picked the Country side to play against City, and out of that game, they picked the Australian touring team."

'Deeply saddened': League community mourns the passing of Western Division legend

When he landed in England in September 1963, his manager roomed him with none other than St George great Graeme Langlands, who had been selected for Australia after his maiden season in the Sydney premiership.

"He was still early on in his career," Rushworth said. "He was great. I lived with him for five months. I learned how to be a bit of a yahoo. He's a bit of a larrikin, but he was a good bloke and a great mate."

Rushworth played in 19 games on tour, against various club and representative teams in England and France, scoring nine tries.

Barry Rushworth pictured with his Kangaroos blazer from the 1963-64 Kangaroos tour. Picture by Bradley Jurd

But breaking into the starting Test team presented a roadblock immense in stature - one few anywhere in the game would have ever faced before.

The starting centres at the time were Reg Gasnier and Langlands. To be stuck behind two men who would go on to make the most exclusive club in rugby league - The Immortals - was a fierce reality check.

Yet, rubbing shoulders with the game's absolute pinnacle only sharpened the resilience and elite standards Rushworth would eventually bring back to the west.

Rushworth did get to play one Test, though, and it was the last game on tour, where there was still everything to play for.

France had won the first Test in Bordeaux 8-5, before the Kangaroos hit back to win at Toulouse 21-9, meaning whoever won the third game would secure the series. It was Australia that would seal the best-of-three series, with Rushworth scoring a crucial try in a 16-8 win in Paris.

Rushworth was just one of five Western Division players selected to represent the Kangaroos on tours of Great Britain and France during that era, alongside Dubbo Macquarie's Don Parish, Eugowra's Ian Walsh, the aforementioned Harrison, and Eugowra's Barry Beath.

The touring 1963-64 Kangaroos. Barry Rushworth is pictured in the back row, second on the left. Picture supplied

Rushworth arrived at Parramatta at a time when the club was enjoy its first genuine run of success since joining the premiership in 1947.

The Eels had made the play-offs for the first time in 1962 and then ran fourth the following year before Rushworth joined ahead of the 1964 season, fresh from his tour of Europe.

Alongside Rushworth at Parramatta were six other internationals - Ron Lynch, Billy Rayner, Bob Budgen, Brian Hambly, and Ken and Dick Thornett - with the last three having all toured Europe alongside the Lithgow centre in the 1963-64 off-season.

Rushworth's move to Lithgow wasn't sealed until he returned from Europe and while he admits a number of teammates on tour had convinced him to join their club, it was actually the words of Langlands on tour that convinced him to move to the Eels.

Barry Rushworth (top left) alongside his Western Division team mates.

"I spoke to Changa one night about it and I said: 'I'll probably end up going to Sydney, mate,'" he said.

"And I said: 'What do you reckon I should do?'

"He said: 'Go to Parramatta, mate. They've got a good team'.

"So I had a yarn with Hambly and the Thornetts and when I came home, Parramatta got on to me."

In his first season with Parramatta, the Eels fell one game short of the grand final, losing 16-7 to Balmain.

It was the closest the Eels got to a premiership decider until 1976, by which time Rushworth had returned to Lithgow.

Across eight seasons at Cumberland Oval from 1964 to 1971, Rushworth played 140 games and scored 25 tries.

Lithgow league legend, Barry Rushworth. File picture.

By the time the Amco Cup kicked-off in 1974, Rushworth was in the twilight of his career.

Turning 33 that year, he was back playing in his hometown with his beloved Lithgow Workies, when he received the call up to Western Division's quarter final with Canterbury.

Rushworth believed he was "too old" to play Western Division, but accepted the call-up against the team that would go on to lose the Sydney premiership grand final to Eastern Suburbs 19-4.

"When they told me I was in the Western Division side, I told them I was a bit too old for it," he said.

"But they told me they wanted me to play, so I said: 'Okay, I'll play'.

"I had already done my stint at Parramatta and I went on to play three games."

After upsetting Canterbury 12-10 in the quarter final, Western Division took on Manly, the biggest club in the country at the time, having won the last two premierships and featuring legends like Graham Eadie, Malcolm Reilly, and Max Krilich on the semi-final.

But in freezing conditions, that saw a dumping of snow fall on Orange's Wade Park the night before, Western Division held the Sea Eagles to a 12-all draw.

There was no extra-time or replays in the competition, instead the result was decided on a penalty count-back.

It set up a final with Penrith, with Western Division winning 6-2 in a try-less decider.

Rushworth would go on to play rugby league in Lithgow until 1980.

Rushworth married his wife Pat in 1963 before he went on tour and they had six children - Michael, Jason, Darren, Marty, Julie and Hayley.

When he returned to Lithgow, he became a publican and owned the Lansdowne Hotel on Main Street for over two decades.

But Rushworth didn't like sitting around after he sold up in 2001 and Pat suggested to go buy another pub and that's how he ended up as the publican of the Royal Hotel in Wallerawang.

There is currently a proposal put to the Lithgow City Council to rename the Ashley Grandstand, named after former Lithgow mayor and NSW senator Bill Ashley, at Tony Luchetti Sportsground to the Barry 'Bowser' Rushworth Grandstand.

Council is currently seeking feedback, with submissions closing on Tuesday, May 26.

"It be a nice honour, that'd be great, you know," Rushworth said.

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