Leonard John "Len" Diett (1939-2018) was a cross code player who represented Australia in Rugby Union and also played rugby league for North Sydney in the NSWRL competition.

Len Diett
Personal information
Full nameLeonard John Diett
Born27 August 1939
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Died13 January 2018
Playing information
Rugby league
PositionFive-eighth
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1962–66 North Sydney 46 7 0 0 21
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1964 New South Wales 1 0 0 0 0
Rugby union
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1959 Australia 2 0 0 0 0
Source: [1]

Early life edit

Diett was born in Sydney and grew up in the Northern Beaches of the city. He played his junior rugby union with Manly-Warringah. Diett became captain of his local club at the age of 19.

Playing career edit

In 1959, Diett was selected to play for the Australian rugby union side and became the second youngest person to achieve this honor. In 1962, Diett decided to switch codes and joined NSWRL team North Sydney. In 1964, Diett was selected to play for New South Wales and featured in one game. In 1965, North Sydney had one of their best seasons in a number of years finishing second on the table. In the finals series, Diett featured in both games against South Sydney and St George which both ended in defeat. Diett played one more season with Norths before retiring at the end of 1966. He died at Ballina on the New South Wales north coast on 13 January 2018.[2][3]

References edit

  1. ^ "Len Diett - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. 27 August 1939. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  2. ^ "Vale: NRL in Memoriam 2018, deaths of rugby league luminaries". NRL. 29 December 2018. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  3. ^ Little, Steve (16 January 2018). "Vale - North Sydney Centre & Union International Len Diett". North Sydney Bears. Retrieved 19 May 2022.