An original NSW Pioneer player from 1907, who also ran professionally. Stuntz had already played for New South Wales and Australia before joining South Sydney, later in career.
Playing - Height / Weight
5ft 8in / 12st
Representative Qualification
NSW City
Date of Birth
Marrickville - 27th June 1885 (Died - 1917)
Previous Clubs First Grade
M T G FG Pt
Eastern Suburbs RU (1906-07)
Eastern Suburbs (1908-09) 6 7 - - 21
Warrington (1909-10) 19 13 - - 39
Previous Rep Honours M T G FG Pt
New South Wales (1907-09) 4 3 - - 9
Sydney Metropolis (1908) 1 1 - - -
Australia (1909) 3 5 - - 15
Playing Career at South Sydney
South Sydney First Grade Debut
1911 Rd01 v North Sydney (26y 306d)
First Grade
Premiership : Tour
M S R T G/A FG Pts : M S R T G/A FG Pts
1911 6 6 - 1 - - 3 : - - - - - - -
TOTAL 6 6 - 1 - - 3 : - - - - - - -
SS FG 6 6 - 1 - - 3
Captaincy Record at South Sydney
never
Suspension Record at South Sydney
Year Grade v Wk CHARGE never
Player Awards
Year Award 1908 - NSWRL Life Membership
Representative Honours at South Sydney
Domestic CvC / Interstate : Tourists : Other
M S R T G/A FG Pts : M S R T G/A FG Pts : M S R T G/A FG Pts
Sydney Metropolis 1911 : : 1 1 - - - - -
New South Wales 1911 1 1 - 1 - - 3 : :
TOTAL 2 2 - 1 - - 3
International
none
ALL REPS 2 2 - 1 - - 3
Year Pos Team Versus Match T G/A FG
1911 Wing Sydney Metropolis v Newcastle 1st Match - - -
1911 Wing New South Wales v Queensland 3rd Match 1 - -
After Leaving South Sydney
Subsequent Clubs First Grade
M T G FG Pt
Western Suburbs (1913) 4 3 1 - 11
Military Service (1916-17) AIF 17th Battalion (Died in action)
Stuntz did not however just play football. Before marrying his wife Celia, he joined the NSW Fire Brigade on the 22 January 1912 at Headquarters FS (now City of Sydney No 1 station)” as a 4th Class Fireman. His rise through the ranks was swift and by the 16th April 1912 he had moved to Kogarah Station. He was promoted to 1st Class Fireman in June 1914. With war clouds looming, Stuntz continued to play football and fight fires, but on the 10th of March 1916, at the age of 30, Stuntz resigned his position in the Fire Brigade and enlisted in the Army on the 17th of the same mouth before sailing to Plymouth on the 22nd August 1916 aboard the HMAT Wiltshire. Now ‘Private’ John Stuntz, the Rugby League Pioneer was destined to play a role in the Second Battle of Bullecourt.
The occasion is remembered as being a maturation point from a military perspective for Australia. Tom Iggulden, in his book Second Battle of Bullecourt Remembered, wrote: If the Anzac spirit was born on the beaches of Gallipoli, it matured on the Western front. Where Gallipoli proved the bravery of the Anzac's rank and file troops, in northern France it was Australia's military leadership that asserted itself for the first time. For years misguided military folly by British commanders had recklessly thrown away Australian lives. But by the end of the war, the diggers were recognised as not only some of the allies' toughest troops, but also some of the best led.
In the early hours of the 3rd May 1917, Australian forces were led into position under the guise of night for an attacking raid on the Hindenburg Line. By 3:00am, the battle was well under way. Among the men was Stuntz, serving in the 17th Battalion and by 4:16am, CEW Bean says that solid advancements were being made, however “on the nearing of the wire. . . the 4th Brigade, numbers of whose dead were still hanging in the entanglement – came under strong machine gun fire. . .The New South Welshmen had to wait in shell holes for the moment of attacking it and this halt was fatal.” It is during this time, that Private John ‘Johnno’ Stuntz, was killed in action by either machine gun fire or a shell near the German wire – his career as a soldier limited to one battle. Bullecourt took the lives of 2,250 Australian soldiers during two weeks of bitter trench fighting, and Stuntz’s death is one of nearly 11,000 commemorated at the Australian National Memorial at Villers Bretonneux.
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