John Pettigrew

John Pettigrew began playing for the Aberdare Rangers junior team while he was in high school at Cessnock. He later played for Cessnock youth teams. He joined their senior team in 1953, playing wing half or fullback, but he was so skillful that the club used him as an attacker on occasion. Pettigrew later played for Gladesville-Ryde and Prague near Sydney, playing over 320 first-grade matches. He became a player-coach for Belmont Swansea at the end of his career.

Pettigrew earned his first international cap against South Africa in October 1955, and eventually earned four caps, including the 1956 Olympics. However, he also played for a number of overseas touring sides that were not strictly internationals. He was with Blackpool in 1958 and Heart of Midlothian in 1959 and for Northern Districts against South Africa as well as a number of matches for New South Wales against Queensland, South Australia and Victoria, including the 1960 interstate carnival.