Keith Froome
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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | George Keith Froome | |
| Date of birth | August 20, 1921 | |
| Place of birth | Armidale, New South Wales, | |
| Date of death | 1978 | |
| Place of death | Bellingen, New South Wales, | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| Years | Club | |
| Wests Newcastle | ||
| Senior clubs* | ||
| Years | Club | Apps (points) |
| 1943 & 46-50 |
Newtown Bluebags | 72 (288) |
| Representative teams | ||
| 1941–1949 1948-49 |
New South Wales Australia |
7 (14) 8 (30) |
|
* Professional club appearances and points |
||
George Keith Froome (1920 - 1978) was an Australian rugby league player. He was a halfback for the Australian national team. He played in 8 Tests between 1948 and 1949 as captain on 2 occasions.
Contents |
[edit] Early life and wartime
Known as Keith, he was born in Armidale but grew up in Newcastle, New South Wales and played his junior football with Wests Newcastle. He was a talented soccer player as a youngster and also played first grade and district representative cricket in Newcastle.
During WWII he was required to continue working as a boilermaker it being an essential service. He joined the AIF in 1944 and served with the 2/43 Australian Infantry Battalion. He was stationed at Goulburn and though restricted in availability signed to play with Sydney's Newtown club in 1943 and played two first grade games that year. He served overseas from 1944-45.
[edit] Club career
He returned to Newtown after the war and played all of his first grade football with the club from 1946-50 scoring 288 points as a goalkicking half-back in 72 first grade games.
[edit] Representative career
He had first represented for New South Wales in 1941 and after the war made State appearances regularly against Queensland from 1946 to 1948 and against a touring New Zealand side in 1948.
He made his Australian Test debut in 1948 in the domestic series against New Zealand and played in both Tests kicking five goals in all.
He was selected on the 1948-49 Kangaroo Tour of England and appeared in four Tests and 12 minor tour matches. He was the tour's leading goalkicker finishing with 39 goals (and 3 tries) in his 16 appearances ahead of John Graves's 35 goals.
In 1949 he was named by a local newspaper [1]. as New South Wales' Player of Year after captaining NSW to a 4-0 whitewash against Queensland in the interstate series.
At the end of the 1949 season he was selected to lead an Australian side on a 10 match tour of New Zealand. He captained Australia in both Tests of the series to a loss and a win and played in three additional tour matches scoring 2 tries and 11 goals in all.
[edit] Post playing
At the tail end of his playing career Froome coached a country side in Gunnedah. He had a career in the club industry and as a liquor sales representative. He succumbed to cancer aged 58 on the 28th of January 1978.
[edit] Matches played
| Team | Matches | Years | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newtown | 72 | 1943 & 1946-50 | 288 |
| New South Wales | 7 | 1941 - 1949 | 14 |
| Australia (Tests) | 8 | 1948 - 1949 | 30 |
[edit] Sources & Footnotes
- Whiticker, Alan (2004) Captaining the Kangaroos, New Holland, Sydney
- Andrews, Malcolm (2006) The ABC of Rugby League Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney
- ^ Sun Herald (Sydney)
