Braith Anasta is obviously an above average golfer, while we know the four Test veteran can play rugby league better than most. But how does he rate compared to other rugby league golfers. Braith is on scratch which says plenty and while he didn't set the world on fire in the recent NSW PGA championship, he was good enough to compete with some of Australia's top players. The Roosters star birdied two holes in windy conditions during his second round at the Wollongong course. The tournament was won by Matthew Guyatt, while the well known Peter O'Malley finished one behind in equal second place and the evergreen, Craig Parry, was back in the middle of the field.
Back in 1947 a young fullback joined Braith's club. He was 19 year old Vic Bulgin. He had three seasons at Bondi Junction with Eastern Suburbs, playing 33 first grade matches and scoring 76 points from four tries and 32 goals. He was an excellent attacking player and was selected for the 1948/49 Kangaroo tour as back up to Clive Churchill. The team sailed off to an England that was still recovering from World War Two, on 4 August 1948 and didn't return home until early March 1949. Because of the war, it had been 11 years since the previous Kangaroo tour and so every team member was making his first tour. Vic played 16 of the 37 games, scoring a try and two goals for Australia. His best games were against Whitehaven and Languedoc Province in France.
In 1949, Vic was chosen for the Australian tour of New Zealand, where he played seven of the 10 games, scoring three tries and four goals. Altogether, Vic played 23 games for his country, scoring 24 points from four tries and six goals. He played a handful of games for Easts early in 1949 but then moved to the NSW Country, from where he represented Country Firsts against City in the 23-2 loss at the Sydney Showground on 4 June. He did well in this match and so won a place on the New Zealand tour.
He was signed as Canterbury captain/coach in 1951, but after only 10 games with the club, he retired from Rugby League to take up a career in golf.
As a golfer, Vic was outstanding and he is still the only person to represent Australia at Rugby League and golf. As a golfer, Vic toured South Africa (1959) and Canada (1967) with Australian amateur teams. In 1959, he was runner-up to Kel Nagle, who won the British Open in 1960, in the Australian Open. Born in 1927, Vic passed away in 2006.