Kenneth John Irvine (5 March 1940 – 22 December 1990),[4] also nicknamed "Mongo",[5] was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.
Irvine made his Australian debut on the tour against France at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris on 31 October 1959.
[7] In 1961, Irvine showcased his speed at a specially-arranged event specifically in an attempt to break professional world record over 100 yards.
[citation needed] Irvine's speed was such that he is still considered by many to be the fastest player ever to lace on a boot, and is favorably compared against other noted rugby league speedsters such as Johnny Bliss, Michael Cleary (a 1962 Commonwealth Games 100 yards Bronze Medallist who beat Irvine in a A£2,000 match race at Sydney's Wentworth Park in 1964), Martin Offiah and Darren Albert.
Irvine's feat of scoring a try in each test of an Ashes series against Great Britain was later equalled by Sam Backo in 1988 and Mal Meninga in 1990.
Ken Irvine was involved in one of the most talked about and controversial passages of play in rugby league test match history in 1962.
In the third Ashes test against Great Britain at the Sydney Cricket Ground, referee Darcy Lawler awarded a try to Irvine late in the game, ignoring a forward pass from Bill Carson amid howls of protest from Lions players.
Australian captain Arthur Summons then gave him the goal kicking duties leaving him with a side-Tara thatline conversion.
The goal gave Australia a 17–16 win and in doing so saw to it that they avoided losing the series 3–0 to the tourists after the Lions had won the first test 31–12 in Sydney and the second 17–10 at Lang Park in Brisbane.
Irvine had the honour of captaining the Bears on occasions, although he infamously threatened to lead his team off in protest of referee Keith Page during a 1970 match against Canterbury-Bankstown at Belmore Sports Ground (Norths won the game 9–8).
The Sea Eagles club Secretary knew the value of adding the games best winger to what was already a quality team that included the likes of Bob Fulton, Fred Jones, Mal Reilly, Bill Hamilton, Graham Eadie and Terry Randall.
In 2006 Ken Irvine was named on the wing for the Manly Sea Eagles Dream Team to celebrate the club's 60th anniversary.
[4] In 2018, the award for the NRL's top tryscorer for the season was named the Ken Irvine Medal, with David Fusitu'a from the New Zealand Warriors being the inaugural winner (with 23 tries)[19]