Tim Pickup

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Timothy Alexander Pickup (6 October 1948 – 7 June 2021)^[3] was an Australian Rugby League footballer for the North Sydney Bears, Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, New South Wales and Australian national side in the 1970s, playing his First Test for Australia in 1972, only 12 games after his NSWRL First Grade debut.

In retirement Pickup was involved in boxing at Newtown PCYC and was Jeff Harding's manager when he won the WBC World Light-Heavyweight title in 1989. He was the foundation CEO of the Adelaide Rams franchise of the Australian Super League in 1995. In 2000 he was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for services to Australian sport. Pickup was named in the North Sydney Bears Team of the Century in 2006 and was a finalist for both the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 70th Anniversary team as well as Manly Rugby Union's Team of the Century.

Tim Pickup was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, as the second of three sons to Harrie and Mary Pickup. His father Harrie was a lower-grade player for St. George and Eastern Suburbs, and his brother, Laurie Pickup was a First Grade Rugby League player.^{[citation needed]}

Tim Pickup played with the junior team of the Enfield Federals from 1959 to 1965, very successful years for the club (managed by Pickup's father Harrie), who were such a dominant side that they went undefeated for seven years. That came to an end in the 1965 Grand Final, Pickup's last ever match for the club. During the Federals reign they quickly ran out of opponents, having to play up an age group to get a game and eventually had to shift to other Junior Leagues to be accommodated. In 1965, Western Suburbs Magpies RLFC called upon Pickup and teammate Neville Hornery to play in the 3rd grade open-age semi-finals, but Harrie Pickup deemed his son to be too young for this promotion at only 16 years of age.^{[citation needed]}

Pickup did his schooling at St. Patrick's Strathfield, and graduated from Christian Brothers Lewisham in 1965. He was offered a high school scholarship to storied Rugby Union nursery, St. Joseph's Hunter's Hill, but declined for at that time was not a fan of Rugby Union.^{[citation needed]} At the end of 1965 Harrie Pickup moved his family to the Northern Beaches, as all three brothers had discovered surfing and were regulars on the Peninsula. The Pickups settled in Curl Curl, New South Wales.^{[citation needed]}

Pickup's Rugby League career stalled when his family relocated to Sydney's Northern Beaches as the Western Suburbs RLFC did not grant a transfer/release for Tim to further his craft with any other club. Instead, Pickup tagged along with a work mate to the Manly Rugby Union Club, did well, and was named starting First Grade stand-off as a 17-year-old, in the first game of the 1966 season. He then played three straight years at five-eighth /stand-off uninterrupted, until the 1968 Grand Final which they lost to Sydney University, 23–6, a game in which Pickup broke his collarbone early but managed to finish the match.^{[citation needed]}

Frustrated with what he called Rugby Union elitism due to his Rugby League heritage, he set off to England on a working holiday, and did not return to Australia until 1972.^{[citation needed]}

With his passport full of stamps after exploring Europe and the Middle East, Pickup and friends eventually found their way to England. He was spotted playing touch football in a London park, and was invited for a trial by rugby league club St Helens. He debuted for the 'A' team in September 1969, but was not offered a contract and never made any first team appearances for the club.^[4]

He later signed for Blackpool Borough where he played fullback and was teammates with the legendary Billy Boston, in the twilight of his career, and Allan Bishop, the tenacious younger brother of the great Tommy Bishop. In 1969 Tim was deported to his last port of call, the US, for overstaying his visa.

During this period Tim was stuck in New York living at a homeless hostel and would hitch a ride to the Woodstock music festival with fellow residents. A lifelong boxing fanatic, Pickup also tracked down his boyhood hero Sugar Ray Robinson and would follow him and his entourage on their daily run through Central Park. He was accosted by Robinson's minders when they were alerted to his pattern of following their group. Tim talked his way out of a beating when he identified himself as a true fan and made Sugar Ray laugh. He then trained as part of the group until his visa was cleared and was able to return to England.^[5]

In 1971 Tim married his Australian wife and AMP colleague, Jan, with Allan Bishop as his Best Man. Jan flew over to join Tim once his visa status was sorted and he was readmitted to the UK. Pickup would be named Blackpool's player of the year for the consecutive 1970 and 1971 seasons, but again got itchy feet when unable to get a recall to St. Helens' first team. His stellar play for Blackpool Borough didn't go unnoticed and he began to generate massive interest in his native Australia and decided to return.

When Tim Pickup returned to Sydney he resumed his career in finance with AMP, and with multiple clubs vying for his services, he resumed his career in Rugby League with the North Sydney (#691). Pickup explained that Norths were the team that had suffered the longest drought between premierships, and he wanted to make a difference.

His impact was felt immediately. Partnered with Keith 'Chicka' Outten in the halves, the tough but tiny pair made for a dynamic defensive duo, with Outten playing the organisational role in attack, where Pickup assumed the role of running back. With club stalwart Ross Warner, Keith Harris and the dynamic Bruce Walker in the forwards, and the rock hard playing surface itself, North Sydney Oval quickly became a formidable and dreaded place to visit.

Although Norths fortunes improved during Tim's short time as a Bear, they never made the final five playoff series and hovered around the middle of the ladder, when coached by the great Noel Kelly for the 1973 and 1974 seasons. Their best finish was 6th, worst was 9th in the 12 team NSWRL competition.^[6]

Personally Tim achieved instant success at representative level in 1972 and played for Australia after only 12 games for the Bears. Pickup was chosen for City Seconds then played two games for New South Wales (NSW #664), wearing no.15. Tim was a late inclusion to the starting side, replacing incumbent state and Australian pivot Denis Pittard. He made the most his opportunity and was chief architect in the 29-5 demolition of QLD. Pittard was given right of reply in the second game, but selectors decided go with the precocious 23 year old when Tim was named in the Australian team (#462) alongside Norths teammate George Ambrum.

When first chosen for the Australian team, Pickup gave his first jersey to his Bears halves partner Keith Outten in recognition of his contribution to achieving the sports highest honour and his childhood dream. Tim played two Tests against New Zealand in 1972 partnering Tommy Raudonikis in the halves, and 'Ímmortal' Bob Fulton in the centres, a combination which was regularly used by selectors over the next four seasons.

Tim Pickup was the only North Sydney Bears player chosen in the 26 man squad when he toured Europe with the 1973 Kangaroos, captain-coached by Graeme Langlands. Tim played in 14 out of a possible 19 tour games, equal second most with Fulton, behind Arthur Beetson with 15. He also played in four of the five test matches, including the 21–12 First Test defeat to Great Britain at Wembley and the series decider in game three.^[7]

Tim generally played at five-eighth, though he was selected at halfback in the 2nd Test against France. The 13th Kangaroo Tour was a huge success as the Australians retained the Ashes with a 2–1 series win over Great Britain, a 2–0 series win vs France, where Arthur Beetson became the first Indigenous Australian to captain an Australian team in any sport. The mighty Kangaroo's had an overall tally of 17 wins from 19 games. Their only other loss was against St. Helens. Tim's last Test Match for Australia as a North Sydney Bear was against the touring Great Britain side in 1974 series. He was named the Bears player of the year for the 1973 and 1974 seasons.

Frustrated at North Sydney's policy towards player retention and its lack of ambition in recruiting star-quality players, Pickup decided it was time to move on and signed a massive (for the day) five-year contract to captain Canterbury-Bankstown, (#406) who were known as the Berries at that time.

Pickup's tenure with Canterbury-Bankstown^[8] started in 1975. He led the team as captain after the club's loss in the 1974 NSWRFL season's grand final. However, he severely injured his knee, tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in a World Cup match against England in June of that season. Canterbury were in third place at that time and eventually were knocked out in the major semi-final; Pickup did not play again that season, and missed the entire 1976 season after knee reconstructions.^[9]

During his rehabilitation Souths legends' Bob McCarthy joined in 1976 and Gary Stevens in 1977, after Pickup initially recruited them to Norths. When Tim switched to Belmore, both Rabbitohs eventually followed him. After 18 months out Tim returned to the field in 1977. For the first time in his career, in Australian Rugby League or Rugby Union, Tim played Reserve Grade for a few games while proving his fitness on his way back into the First Grade squad. Upon his return to the top squad it was apparent Pickup's speed and quickness was neutralized, and he was forced to adapt to a different style of play to the one that built his reputation. Paired in the halves with the brilliant Steve Mortimer for the first time, Tim assumed the organisational role to Mortimer's wildly unorthodox, running halfback. Tim would share captain duties with Bob McCarthy and George Peponis for the rest of the season and the team would finish out of final five contention in 7th place.^[10]

In 1978 McCarthy would return to South Sydney, and Peponis and Pickup would share captaincy of the newly monikered Bulldogs. Canterbury had a dangerous combination in Mortimer and Pickup and had a very good season, making the finals in fifth place. Personally Pickup was named KB Player of the week across the entire competition in May, and learned to play effectively within his enforced physical limitations. Canterbury were bitterly disappointed to go out in the first week of the finals to Parramatta 22–15. The Eels would lose to eventual premiership winners Manly 17–11 in a mid week replay, just three days after playing a 13–13 draw, exactly a week after their victory over the Bulldogs. This was Pickup's last full season of First Grade that ended with the horrible feeling of what might have been?

Pickup was talked out of retirement by Canterbury patriarch Peter Moore, he played on in Reserve Grade as insurance for any potential first team injuries. Tim would play one further First Grade game in the 1979 season, he was devastated at the demotion but would excel in his mentoring role of the next generation of pups who graduated to be Bulldog superstars over the next decade. Players such as Chris Anderson, Steve Folkes, George Peponis, Greg Brentnall and the Mortimer brothers, Steve, Peter and Chris, all served their apprenticeships alongside Pickup during their formative years. Steve Mortimer states as much in his biography "Top Dog", devoting a chapter to the issue, with the title 'Toughened by Tim (Pickup) Tom (Raudonikis) and Terry (Lamb).'^[11]

Tim Pickup finished his career at Belmore as captain of the 2nd Grade side in a Grand Final loss to Parramatta. He was named Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Clubman of the Year in 1979.

Tim Pickup worked for AMP from the mid-1960s to the mid-1990s as a financial planner. He also owned a successful chain of donut stores in three Sydney locations, Chatswood, Birkenhead Point and Hurstville. He also managed boxer Jeff 'Hitman' Harding when he won the WBC Light-Heavyweight world title in 1989.

Upon Tim Pickup's retirement as a player from the Bulldogs at the end of the 1979 season, Peter "Bullfrog" Moore convinced Pickup to move into team administration and he made a seamless transition to Director of the Football Club. Tim served in this capacity until the end of the 1995 season, and again from 2002 to 2004. In 1985 Tim awarded Life Membership at Canterbury-Bankstown for his 10 years of continuous service with the team, from player to Front Office.

Scouting was also one of his duties, his most notable discovery being devastating defender and Australian representative David Gillespie in 1982, brokered the deal with his old club Norths during the recruitment of Daryl Halligan in 1994 and in 2004 Willie Tonga signed from Parramatta Reserve Grade to have one of the greatest individual seasons in NRL history.^[12]

After a 1995 detour to Super League as CEO of the now defunct Adelaide Rams, Pickup, propelled by a Rupert Murdoch 'golden handshake,' never worked another day and went on safari in Africa for 1997.

Tim resumed his relationship with the Bulldogs as a member of their Ambassadors Club, a role that he maintained well into the mid-2010s, until his health declined and he moved into a retirement home. During this period he would rejoin their Board in an official capacity after their 2002 Salary Cap Scandal and would stand down after the club won their last title in 2004. Pickup's connection to the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs lasted nearly 50 years until his death in 2021.

When Peter Moore decided to stand down from his post as Chief Executive of Canterbury in the mid-1990s, he offered the CEO position to Tim Pickup, who in turn declined for personal reasons. With the advent of Super League the following year in 1995, Moore campaigned heavily for Pickup to become Foundation CEO of the ill-fated Adelaide Rams Franchise, a position he accepted and held for just under a year.^[13]

Pickup was present for the entire Super League court proceedings as chief of the Rams. He moved on from that position into retirement after the ARL injunction prevented Super League from kicking off in the 1996 season and was delayed indefinitely. After traveling to Africa for a year in 1997, Tim spent 1998 in Russia and Mongolia before returning to Australia and the Bulldogs in 1999, in an official capacity as a Director in 2002.

In the wake of Canterbury's 2002 Salary Cap scandal, Tim Pickup was recruited by then CEO Steve Mortimer to a place on his hand-picked Board. He was one of a host of former Bulldogs players such as Clive Gartner, George Peponis and Terry Lamb among others, assembled to restore pride in the jersey after the former regime nearly crippled the club. Unprecedented NRL penalties included a record fine ($500K) and deduction of competition points (37) that sent the team from first to last place, claiming the wooden spoon on the back of 17 straight victories. Pickup stayed on until the club got back on its feet, even through the Coffs Harbour scandal that followed two years later.^[14]

Unhappy with the unfair dismissal of former teammate Garry Hughes in that incident's aftermath, Pickup strongly disagreed with the scapegoat sacking of Hughes and left quietly, along with Gartner after the Bulldogs won the 2004 NRL Premiership the same season.

Tim Pickup was involved with Johnny Lewis and the Newtown Police Boys PCYC during Australian boxing's golden age, from the early 1980s. He ran a 40-minute circuit class twice a week that was attended by future boxing World Champions Jeff Fenech, Jeff Harding and Joe Bugner, as well as top level Rugby League players Steve Mortimer, Billy Johnstone, Pat Jarvis and Geordie Peats.^{[citation needed]}

Pickup became Harding's manager after the boxer was selected in the Australian team for the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, Scotland.^[15] All members needed to raise $5,000 to get on the plane, so Pickup appealed to Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs boss Peter Moore, who agreed to the request. In return for the assistance, Harding walked into the ring for the gold medal bout wearing a Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs jersey, rather than the required Australian tracksuit. After Harding lost the bout and took the silver medal, he was informed by officials that he had disrespected the Australian team by wearing the Bulldogs jersey, and could no longer fight as an amateur, and should turn professional.

With Johnny Lewis as his trainer, Harding approached Pickup to be his manager as a professional fighter following the assistance that he provided in getting the boxer to Edinburgh. Tim originally declined but was eventually talked into it by his good friend Lewis. Harding scaled the ranks quickly, for his style was much more suited to the professional ranks as opposed to the amateur criteria. Harding quickly went into world title calculations after leaving behind him a trail of battered foes. He was undefeated when he was called upon as a last minute replacement to fight WBC Light-Heavyweight champion Dennis Andries in Atlantic City, USA in 1989.

After initially declining the WBC invitation due to inexperience, Lewis and Pickup reconsidered, fearing Harding may never get another such opportunity. Harding came from behind on points to win, knocking Andries down three times in the 12th and final round before the referee stopped the contest. Harding v Andries was named the World Boxing Council's Fight of the Year for 1989. Jeff Harding received the award from Mike Tyson at the 1990 WBC convention. The Ring magazine "The Bible of Boxing" listed the fight as no.58 in their 100 Greatest Title Fights of All-Time.^[16]

Pickup managed Harding for almost a decade, throughout eight world title fights. Harding won it twice, defended it four times and lost it twice.

Pickup was awarded the Australian Sporting Medal in 2000 for services to Australian sport.

In August 2006 Pickup was named at five-eighth in the North Sydney Bears' Team of the Century.

Pickup was originally named in the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 70th Anniversary Team in 2004, (named one of the club's 20 greatest players, on the bench-not the starting line-up) but was omitted due to a technicality, when it was revealed he had only played 47 1st grade games and was three games short of the 50 game minimum.

Pickup was nominated as one of the final four five-eighths/stand-offs for Manly Rugby Union's Team of the Century in 2005.

Tim was named Halfback and Captain of the Enfield Federals team of the Century in 2019.

Pickup was also named halfback on Roy Slaven and H.G. Nelson's 'All-time Mustachioed Rugby League Team' on their nationally syndicated program 'This Sporting Life' on radio station Triple J in 1998.

Pickup died on 7 June 2021 after a long battle with dementia.^[17]

This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: A long list of inconsistently formatted "sources", some of which do not have corresponding in-line citations in the article. Please help improve this section if you can. (March 2026) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

• Bob Fulton's Rugby League By Peter Muszkat & Bob Fulton, Pot Still Press 1978
• Rugby League Week, April 1978 Front Cover 'Two Bulldogs KO'd...Doctor warns: Brain Damage Danger!' By Brad Boxall
• Berries to Bulldogs : Fifty years of Canterbury-Bankstown R.L.F.C. By Gary Lester, Lester-Townsend Publishing 1985.
• The story of Australian Rugby league. Page 257. By Gary Lester, lester-Townsend Publishing 1988.
• Sterlo! The story of a Champion – Peter Sterling. Page 43. By Ian Heads, Lester-Townsend Publishing 1989.
• Fatty and Chook: Laughing at League Paul Vautin and Johnny Raper tell football's funniest stories' Taking the plunge, pages 32,33. By Ian Heads, Lester-Townsend Publishing 1990.
• Jeff Fenech : I love youse all! By Terry Smith, Modern Publishing Group 1993.
• Straight between the posts: The legendary Frank Hyde and his stories By Ian Heads, Ironbark Pan MacMillan Publishing 1995.
• Rugby League Week - 25 Sensational Years. Page 82. By David Middleton, Harper Collins Publishers 1995.
• The mighty Bears - a social history of North Sydney Rugby league. Page 236. By Andrew Moore, Pan Macmillan Publishing 1996.
• The Encyclopedia of Rugby league Players' Tim Pickup, page 474. By Alan Whittaker & Glen Hudson, Gary Allen Publishing 2002.
• Big Artie – The autobiography of Arthur Beetson. Page 132 - Tim Pickup (The Grub). With Ian Heads, ABC Books 2004.
• Captaining the Kangaroos – Rugby League Test and World Cup Captains By Alan 126,,12, New Holland Publishing 2004.
• A Centenary of Rugby League 1908-2008 Pages 379 - (1972) and 464 (The 100 Greatest - Steve Rogers). By Ian heads & David Middleton, Pan Macmillan Publishing 2008.
• Rugby League - 100 years in pictures. Pages 234,235. By Ian Collis & Allan Whiticker, New Holland Publishing 2008.
• Dogs at War – Triumph, Treachery, Truth Pages 45,53,58,61,65,67,102,168,171,174,177,197,254,282. Graeme Hughes with Larry Writer, Allen & Unwin 2010.
• Macca : Bob McCarthy – My life in Rugby League New Holland Publishing 2012.
• Mud Blood and Beer : Rugby League in the 1970s By Alan Whiticker, New Holland Publishing 2014
• The Great Grand Final Heist : A mysterious tale of Tigers, Rabbitohs and an unlikely coaching hero By Ian Heads, Stoke Hill Press 2017.
• Men of League Foundation. 'Tim Pickup- A modest sporting legend' Story by Ken Vessey, November 2017. https://menofleague.com/2017/11/29/tim-pickup-oam-modest-sporting-legend/
• Sydney Morning Herald, Aus.'Federals set to nail down Pickup as all time fibro legend' By Roy Masters, February 26, 2019. https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/federals-set-to-nail-down-pickup-as-an-all-time-fibro-legend-20190226-p510br.html

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