Sad to hear this great player has died aged 79. I well remember seeing him play ! He was exceptional, skill full, exceptionally strong in tackling & breaking tackles, side step left & right brave a fair pace on him. The only man I saw keep Billy boston quiet. His semi final two tries at headingley when we beat Huddersfield 1968 he side stepped three players within 25 yards with a fantastic photo in the Yorkshire post of players on the floor watching him going to put the ball down. He would now be very hot property with no player like him. Retired injured @ 27 ! A great loss to us then. Rest in peace Gert, certainly not forgotten by me !

RIP Gert. Enjoyed seeing him play, he was one of a kind. A strong, skillful and athletic winger.

Very sad to hear of the passing of another great from Trinity’s glory era.

RIP

I remember my godfather, Stan Milner, who was on the Wakefield committee at the time we signed Gert, told me about a week before the signing that Trinity had signed a South African winger, but to keep it quiet until it was announced. I was about 11 at the time and kept it quiet until Stan left our house and then told everybody !
Gert was a great winger, one of my favourites, always gave total commitment and scored some wonderful tries. RIP Gert.

How many are left now?

Fox and Brook? Any more? Even the boy Topliss who wasn’t really part of that era has gone.

Lesson to the current squad SUCCESS is now long overdue, please start the season with that in mind

Gert was one of the great South Africans to play forTrinity in the 60's when I started watching them as a young boy.
Alan Skene, Colin Greenwood and Jan Prinsloo were others that I queued for autographs after the game.
RIP "Oupa".

one of my favourite all time Trinity players. Came as a winger but also played centre.

Yes there are not many left from the golden era of the 60's.

Privileged to have seen Gert 'Oupa''. Others have said it all.
RIP Gert.

Saw him score 2 tries in the 1963 CC Final win against Wigan and remember him as a member of a South African team that toured Australia in 1963. Think he was injured in the first match and didn't play anymore tour games. Also I believe he was in the Wakefield team that played a few matches in South Africa in 1962.

RIP "Oupa"

Was born half a dozen years too late to appreciate the early 60s great team and success, had to settle for Toppo and crew and my personal favourite Lampowski, I have seen the 60s cup wins courtesy of Trin Tv and have to admire the skill on display, especially the pace of Skene, so RIP Gert thanks for the memories.

Sad,sad day! A Wakefield Trinity GREAT!! RIP Gert.


Probably not as high profile during that era as Brookey, Foxy etc, but Tony Thomas is still knocking about and looking well.

Gert Coetzer in my all time top 3 wingers to play for Wakey.1968 sums him up Neil Fox out of cup semi final injured v Huddersfield Gert moved to number 4 got man of match also think is son had been taken poorly that night but played . RIP Gert and thanks for so many great memories

Bob Haigh?

Before my time by some distance but have had the pleasure of watching him play like BLM via Trinity TV along with all the other greats.

RIP Gert.

remember reading green,un (Yorkshire evening paper)of his signing,great elusive player,R.I.P.gert oupa coetzer,i remember tony Thomas another good threequarter,i think he went to cas,also I remember ken battye,another good versatile player,think he went to down under,dont know whether he is still with us.

Our South African recruits Prinsloo,Skene,Coetzer and Greenwood were some of the best players to ever wear a Trinity shirt.I wonder why clubs no longer recruit players from this country.Is it because of visa problems ? There must be some young talented backs or half backs playing RU who would be up for the chance to play in the superior code and they would probably be a lot cheaper than the Australian option !
RU forwards are an altogether different option.

Seen pics on facebook, it was his funeral today.

Who remembers Ivor Dorrington who, if I'm not mistaken, was the first of the influx of South Africans to Wakefield Trinity, in 1958? I can picture him now.

Its because RU is pro now as opposed to shamatuer as it was then. Now there is loads more money in SA RU than there is in RL and loads more international opportunities.

It’s hard to imagine any half decent SA RU player heading north these days. Sad but true.

As well as your SA recruits in the 50's/60's there were others who graced the English game back then. Van Vollenhoven and Len Killeen were the wingers at St Helens with another Wilf Rosenburg at Leeds. Fred Griffith was a fullback at Wigan.

Rugby League in SA crashed and burned in the early sixties and when I was there from 1966-1968 there were no games played in the areas I lived at any level. When I moved to Aus in 1968 a winger banging goals over for Balmain Tigers was Len Killeen and he was in the side that won the Grand Final a year later.

Remember selling these (or pink'uns?) round the streets of Lupset on a Saturday evening. Nice bit of pocket money.

Talking of wingers, here's one to test the memory of the older fans on here, can anyone remember a South African winger called Jan Lotriet who played one season for the club in 1958?

Yes I remember the name Lotriet.
Also sold green ‘uns around Durkar area in 60s.
Used to buy them from YEP office on Wood St.
Then from Unity Hall when office moved . Started off with couple of dozen , shouting ‘green uns’ in street , then built up a regular round selling 10 dozen or so.
Good earner for teenager and did it right up to going to university in 1970.

A bit off topic, the manager was called Pete Imrie from Crofton his assistant was George Horncastle from Kirkthorpe who lived across the road from me, I was the office boy there and funnily enough Pete sent me round Durker on a Sat night to establish the sale of the paper as it relied upon advertising, not a big area to cover and didn't take long to establish a couple of dozen regulars, the good thing was I was allowed to keep the money on top of the pittance they paid me.

Gert 'Oupa' Coetzer was one of the true greats to have played for Trinity and a gentleman by all accounts. I feel very privileged to have seen him play in the number 5 shirt which he made his own. One of those few players who got you really excited whenever he touched the ball. RIP Gert and thanks for some wonderful tries.