Dick Vest

The son of an Austrian immigrant, born Richard Veserema in Barmedman NSW, was sent to Westmead Boys home with his two elder brothers upon the death of his father in a mine accident. ‘Dick Vest’ thus became a P’matta junior and made his first grade debut for parent club, Western Suburbs, as a teenage winger in 1914. Vest represented NSW in 1919 and made his Test debut on the tour of NZ that year, scoring two tries in Australia's Fourth Test victory. Vest played in three Tests in Australia's Ashes victory over England in 1920 and toured with the ‘Australasian’ Kangaroos the following year. On tour he played in all three Tests against England and in 23 other matches. Vest was offered a £1200 contract to stay in England and play with Leeds but according to author Gary Lester (Clouds of Dust, Buckets of Blood, 1996) Vest’s mother wouldn’t allow him to stay in England. Vest also made two tours of NZ with a NSW rep side (1920 & 1922) but later returned to the Riverina area and captain-coached Barmedman in the Maher Cup. He was later a club selector and lower grade coach at Wests during the 1930s.