Rugby League Career
Born in Queensland but raised on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, Johnny Bliss, nicknamed Blistering for his outstanding speed, was a scrawny Manly district junior who started out as a Hooker with the North Narabeen Surf Club. He was shifted to the Wing as 16 year old after his coach Tom Ballard saw him packing into a scrum and then incredible pace in general play. Ballard told him "You're too fast for a hooker boy - you're now on the wing".
As the Manly club wouldn't have a first grade team until 1947, he was graded with Balmain in 1939. He went to North Sydney in 1941 but the Tigers claimed him on residence grounds for the 1942 and 1943 seasons (at the time a player was bound to play for the club in who's city zone he lived and a transfer involved proving residence for 12 months prior). In 1947 he moved to Manly and played on the wing in their first ever premiership match against Western Suburbs at Brookvale Oval, scoring a try in the teams hard fought 13-15 loss to Wests.
Bliss topped the try scoring for the North Sydney Bears in 1944 scoring seven tries, including a club record 5 tries in the 51-10 win over Easts in Round 9 at North Sydney Oval, and again topped the list in 1945 scoring nine tries. He would also top Manly's try scoring list in 1947 and 1950, scoring 10 tries in each season. In total Johnny Bliss played 121 games and scored 78 tries during his NSWRL career.
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