Timothy Alan Lane

Tim Lane was a talented, attacking inside back with the ability to step off both feet who, like many others of his generation, was unfortunate to play in an era dominated by Mark Ella, Michael Lynagh, Michael Hawker and Andrew Slack. Also a strong defender, Lane was born in the north-west New South Wales town of Coonabarabran and educated at St Stanislaus College in Bathurst. Lane represented NSW Schools before he moved to Sydney and joined the Newtown Jets rugby league club. He then switched back to union and linked up with the famous Randwick club for two seasons (1979-80).

In 1981 he relocated to Brisbane on the request of national coach Bob Templeton in order to push his claim for higher honours and almost immediately made his debut for Queensland against Victoria at Ballymore. With Ella and Lynagh dominating representative selection, Lane made the decision to venture to Italy in 1983 where he played for Riete in the second division. The travel obviously agreed with Lane as he returned to win a place on the Eighth Wallabies tour to the U.K. in 1984.

The following year, and with Lynagh shifted to fly half following Ella’s post-Grand Slam retirement, Lane made his Test debut against Canada in Sydney. He was retained for the second Test of the Canadian series and the one-off Bledisloe Cup Test however Brett Papworth was then picked at No.12 for the two internationals with Fiji, a position he went on to dominate for the next two seasons. Tim Lane played three Tests for Australia in just fifteen days and he will forever be Wallaby #650.

Highlights

1985

Lane won his first Test cap as the starting inside centre alongside fellow debutant Nigel Kassulke in the 1st Test, 59-3 defeat of Canada in Sydney. He held his spot for the 2nd Test of that series in Brisbane and then partnered James Black in the 9-10 loss to New Zealand in Auckland.