Club Career
His junior football was played in Wollongong with Wests Illawarra and in 1980 he was graded with them. He trialled with the Western Suburbs Magpies in 1981 and debuted in first grade in the latter part of that season aged 20.
He was sought out by Balmain Tigers club secretary Keith Barnes and persuaded to join Balmain who were putting together a side that featured young up and comers who would later star for the club, state and country such as Wayne Pearce, Benny Elias and Jack's fellow Wests Illwarra junior Steve "Blocker" Roach.
His association with English rugby league began at the end of the 1986 Kangaroo Tour when he stayed on to play for Salford before returning to the Tigers. He was member of the consecutive Balmain sides which fell at the final hurdle to firstly Canterbury in the 1988 Grand Final and then to Canberra in 1989.
1991 saw the departure of Warren Ryan as Balmain coach and the arrival of former Wallaby coach, Alan Jones. The years playing under Jones at Balmain were unhappy ones for Jack and eventually after he had left the club in 1992 took the extraordinary step of writing a letter to Rugby league Week expressing anti-Jones sentiment and alleging favouritism played and the existence of a Jones 'inner circle' in the club.
His final Balmain game at Leichhardt Oval in 1992 saw 18,000 Tiger fans come out to pay homage to him and other retirees Steve Roach and David Brooks. When his Australian club career ended having surpassed Keith Barnes' club record for first grade matches he returned to England to play his final season with the Sheffield Eagles in England.
After accepting a manager-coach position with Salford, Jack was relieved from the coaching duties before being sacked as club manager in early 1995. This saw him return to Australia that year to help out the struggling Sydney Tigers side. He was somehat slower and according to some critics, past his prime but unquestionably a Tigers man through and through, who aided the club in a difficult period.
Read more about this topic: Garry Jack
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