John Elford

John Elford (born 1 March 1947) is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s and 1970s. He played his entire first grade Australian club football for Western Suburbs and also played for both the New South Wales and Australia representative sides. He was described as, "A great defender and a confident ball player." Background Elford was born in Casino, New South Wales, Australia. Playing career Hailing from Casino, Elford was a Surf lifesaving sprint champion before starting his professional league career. He came to the Western Suburbs club in 1966 as a winger but later was shifted to the forwards where he remained the rest of his career. By 1968 he was playing on the wing for Sydney Seconds. In 1969 Elford appealed against the league's transfer and retention system, that prevented him from joining another club. He claimed that players had attended training with the "smell of alcohol on their breath," and they, "later became sick on the field." He went on to accuse a coach of wanting, "to fight everyone in the first grade behind a shed, one at a time" He took no part in the 1969 season.