Former Manly Sea Eagles and Australian halfback Dennis Ward has died aged 74. Ward passed away in a Gold Coast hospital on Saturday after a long battle with stomach cancer

He was a member of the Sea Eagles’ first premiership-winning side in 1972, in which he won man of the match for the grand final. He was also the first Canterbury junior to be selected for Australia for the 1969 tour of New Zealand.

Ward played a starring role in the ‘greatest try never awarded’ in the 1972 World Cup final against Great Britain. The clever No.7 put up a perfect chip kick for Kangaroos skipper Graeme Langlands who caught the ball mid-air but managed to force it over the line to score.

The referee did not award the try as he believed Langlands wasn’t on side — but TV replays proved it was indeed a try. Unfortunately there were not video referees at this stage to determine the outcome.

Ward played for Canterbury and Manly between 1965 and 1972 before heading up to Newcastle to play with the Western Suburbs Rosellas, whom he was a captain coach for, between 1973 and 1975.

He was selected from the Rosellas for the 1973 Kangaroos tour — the first player to be chosen directly from the club.

Ward was a speedy halfback who went on to coach Wynnum-Manly and also spent time as the coaching director for the Queensland Rugby League.

During his time with the QRL he tweaked the rules for juniors to allow halfbacks to run more with ball in hand.

Ward is the third member of Manly’s 1972 side to pass away this year after the deaths of Fred Jones and Bob Fulton in March and May respectively.

Ward is survived by his wife, Cheryl and three children. The No.7 fittingly had seven grandchildren too.