Major Player: Ken “Poker” Ausburn

Ernest Kenneth “Poker” Ausburn

Foundation Member, Chairman and Long-time Penrith Clubman

Ken “Poker” Ausburn was one of the foundational figures of Penrith Rugby League Club and among the generation of local volunteers who helped transform Panthers from a small district football organisation into a major community institution.

A lifelong Penrith resident, Ausburn served the club across many years as a committee member, director and eventually chairman. Remembered for his humour, warmth and strong community spirit, he became one of the best-known personalities associated with Panthers’ formative decades.

Though he died in 1976 before the club’s later expansion into the entertainment giant it would become, Ausburn remained widely respected within Panthers history as one of the men who helped establish the culture and identity of the early club.

Role in the Narrative

Ken Ausburn appears within the early development period of the Panthers, Passion and Politics narrative — the years in which Panthers evolved from modest local beginnings into an increasingly ambitious football and licensed club organisation.

He represents the generation of volunteers and local administrators who laid the foundations upon which later Panthers success would be built.

Ausburn is closely connected to Panthers’ long campaign for admission to the NSW Rugby League first grade competition, and to the club culture that developed during the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s. His involvement reflects an era when Panthers depended heavily upon local personalities willing to contribute time, energy and leadership to both football and licensed club activities.

His life and reputation also provide insight into the strong community identity that surrounded Panthers during its formative decades.

Background

Born: 9 February, 1921, Penrith
Died: 6 May, 1976, Penrith

Profession: Boilermaker; long-time employee at the St Marys Munitions Factory

Panthers Roles:
• Foundation member
• Director
• Chairman
• Hon. Secretary Penrith Rugby League Golf Club

Community Involvement:
• Supporter of local sporting and youth activities
• Associate with support for Police Boys Club initiatives.
• Long-time Penrith community volunteer

Recognition by Panthers:
• Life Membership, Penrith Panthers (1964)
• Poker Ausburn Award – for most improved Panthers player (now discontinued).

In 2017 Penrith City Council named Ausburn Reserve — between Nepean St and Annett St, Emu Plains — to honour the contributions to the Penrith region from the Austbun family and specifically “Poker” and his brother, Bob.

Known As: “Poker” — a nickname reportedly derived from the poker face he adopted while telling stories, joking with friends or “spinning a yarn”.

Relevance to Events Described

Ausburn belonged to the generation that guided Panthers through its difficult formative years.

He witnessed — and helped contribute to — the club’s evolution from football played at very basic local facilities to the construction of larger licensed club premises and ultimately the development ambitions that would reshape Panthers in later decades.

Bruce Turner’s Footprints on the Banks of the Nepean reproduces the cover of Ausburn’s copy of the proposal supporting Penrith’s elevation to first grade competition in 1967. Although the full submission itself does not appear to have survived publicly, the surviving cover reflects the determination among local administrators to secure top-level rugby league representation for the growing Penrith district.

Contemporaries consistently remembered Ausburn not simply as an administrator, but as a personality. Family members and friends recalled his humour, generosity and capacity to engage people socially. Those qualities appear repeatedly in recollections of early Panthers culture.

His life was also marked by resilience. Following a serious motor vehicle accident, Ausburn endured long-term injuries and health complications, yet continued working and remained active in club affairs.

When he died unexpectedly in 1976 at the age of 55, Panthers tributes described him as one of the “small band of men who pushed the club onto its feet in the very beginning.”

Legacy

Ken “Poker” Ausburn is remembered as one of the local figures who helped give early Panthers its personality and community identity.

He represented an era when the club relied heavily upon volunteers, local businessmen, tradesmen and sporting enthusiasts whose commitment extended well beyond formal administrative duties.

Although later Panthers history would become associated with major commercial development, political influence and large-scale expansion, figures like Ausburn reflected the grassroots community culture from which the organisation originally emerged.

His reputation for humour, sincerity and loyalty ensured that his contribution remained warmly remembered long after his death.

Related Material

Editorial Note

This profile is presented as contextual background.
Additional material may be introduced as the narrative progresses.

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