Dan Frawley
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- For the hockey player, see Dan Frawley (ice hockey)
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Dan Frawley | |
| Date of birth | 1882 | |
| Date of death | 1967 | |
| Senior clubs* | ||
| Years | Club | Apps (points) |
| 1908-1914 1909-1910 |
Eastern Suburbs Warrington |
70 (200) 19 (24) |
| Representative teams | ||
| 1908-1913 1908 - 1914 |
New South Wales Australia |
20 (97) 7 (16) |
|
* Professional club appearances and points |
||
Dan Frawley (1882-1967) was a pioneer Australian rugby league footballer, a national and state representative player. He played his career as a winger with the Eastern Suburbs club in Sydney and is considered one of the nation's finest footballers of the 20th century. [1]
Contents |
[edit] Early life and war service
Frawley grew up in the inner Sydney harbourside suburb of Woolloomooloo. He was trooper in the 3rd Battalion Australian Commonwealth Horse during the Second Boer War in South Africa. He first experienced rugby union in South Africa and was chosen in a Commonwealth Serviceman's team which competed against a representative Australian side.
[edit] Club career
In 1908 back in Sydney, Frawley turned to the new professional code and in rugby league's early years he was one of the game's most exciting players. He went on to play a total of fifty-nine first grade matches for his club side Eastern Suburbs in the years 1908-1914. Frawley played in Easts' first match and their first premiership winning side of NSWRL season 1911. Frawley also won a second premiership with the club the following year and took out a third consecutive premiership in NSWRL season 1913. This gave the club permanent ownership of the New South Wales Rugby League's first trophy, the Royal Agricultural Society Shield. Frawley captained the side in his final season 1914, the year the club won its first City Cup.
Frawley spent the 1909-10 off-season with the Warrington club in England, after having signed with them during the previous year's Kangaroo Tour. His sign-on fee was 125 pounds and a further 3 pounds, 5 shillings a week during the season. Frawley played in 19 matches for Warrington club scoring 8 tries. After returning to Australia in 1910 Frawley made a guest appearance for the English team in their tour match against Newcastle.
[edit] Representative career
He made the inaugural Kangaroo tour of 1908-09 playing in two Tests and 22 tour matches. He scored 13 tries on the tour. Frawley was also a member of the first NSW sides to tour New Zealand in 1912 and 1913.
When he toured England a second time, with the 1911-12 Kangaroos a dispute broke out over his playing eligibility due to an outstanding contractual matter from his 1909-10 season with Warrington. The dispute saw him miss the first part of the tour, but after eventually being granted a clearance Frawley scored 18 tries in the remaining 12 matches.
His final Test match was played in Sydney in 1914, the famous 'Rorke's Drift' Test in which England, reduced to just 10 men, held out to win the match 14-6 and with it the series.
All up he played in seven test matches for Australia making two Kangaroo Tours.
[edit] The man and his playing style
A fast and agile winger, with an ability to effotlessly change direction, Frawley was at club and representative levels generally positioned on the outside of rugby league Immortal Dally Messenger, creating a formidable combination. He was a noted speedster who on the 1908-09 Kangaroo tour was acclaimed as the "100 yards champion" of the squad.
Of Irish parentage, Frawley was said to be quick-witted and extremely competitive in nature. He appears to have been one of the game's earliest sledgers. Former teammate Horrie Miller, many years later, recalled
"I remember Dan walking onto the field one day against a champion winger. The first thing he did was to go up to him and say 'I saw your dad this morning. He asked me not to dump you too hard.' then later in the game, having dumped his rival hard, possibly from an offside position, he jawed at him, 'so you're so-and-so, the great international winger. Well, I got you that time. I don't think you're so hot'."
[edit] Accolades
Frawley, who had been an emergency for the rebel series against the New Zealand 'All Golds', was later made a life member of the New South Wales Rugby League for his role in the series that helped to establish rugby league in this country.
In February 2008, Frawley was named in the list of Australia's 100 Greatest Players (1908–2007) which was commissioned by the NRL and ARL to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia. [2]
[edit] Sources
- Whiticker, Alan & Hudson, Glen (2006) The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players, Gavin Allen Publishing, Sydney
- Andrews, Malcolm (2006) The ABC of Rugby League Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney
[edit] References
- ^ Century's Top 100 Players
- ^ Centenary of Rugby League - The Players. NRL & ARL (2008-02-23). Retrieved on 2008-02-23.
