Andy Norval was an Australian rugby league

Rugby league

Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

 player, a national and state

New South Wales Rugby League team

The New South Wales rugby league team has represented the Australian state of New South Wales in rugby league football since the sport's beginnings there in 1907. Administered by the New South Wales Rugby League, the team competes in the annual State of Origin series against arch-rivals, the...

 representative lock-forward whose club career was with Sydney's Eastern Suburbs

Sydney Roosters

The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League and is one of the oldest and most successful clubs in Australian rugby league history, having won twelve New South Wales Rugby League...

 club.

Born in South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

, where, as a youth, he played Australian Rules football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

, Norval began his rugby league career in the Newcastle

Newcastle, New South Wales

The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...

 competition before moving to Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

 where he played 105 matches with the Eastern Suburbs club in the years (1934–41). Norval a lock forward

Rugby league positions

A rugby league football team consists of thirteen players on the field, with four substitutes on the bench. Players are divided into two general categories: "forwards" and "backs"....

 played an integral role in an Eastern Suburbs sides that swept all before them during that period, winning four premierships as well as finishing runners-up on three other occasions. Norval formed part of East's international forward pack alongside Ray Stehr

Ray Stehr

Raymond Ernest Stehr was an Australian rugby league footballer, a state and national representative player whose club career was played at Sydney's Eastern Suburbs club. He has been named as one of the nation's finest footballers of the 20th century.-Early life:Stehr was born in the country New...

, Harry Pierce

Harry Pierce

Henry "Harry" Pierce was a rugby league footballer in Australia's leading competition the New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership. He played for both the St George Dragons and the Eastern Suburbs clubs....

 and Joe Pearce

Joe Pearce

Sid 'Joe' Pearce was an Australian rugby league footballer of the 1930s and 40s. An Australian international and New South Wales representative second-row forward, he played his club football for Eastern Suburbs with whom he won the NSWRFL Premiership in 1935, '36, 37 'and '40...

.

Norval played five matches for New South Wales

New South Wales Rugby League team

The New South Wales rugby league team has represented the Australian state of New South Wales in rugby league football since the sport's beginnings there in 1907. Administered by the New South Wales Rugby League, the team competes in the annual State of Origin series against arch-rivals, the...

. He was selected on the 1937-38 Kangaroo tour

Kangaroo Tour

Kangaroo Tour is the name given to Australian national rugby league team tours of Great Britain and France. The first Kangaroo Tour was in 1908. Traditionally, Kangaroo Tours took place every four years and involved a three-Test Ashes series against Great Britain and a number of tour matches...

 playing in three Tests and twelve touring matches. His international debut was on the wing in the third Test against Great Britain and he played in that position in both Tests on the French leg of the tour.

Team mate, Dick Dunn

Dick Dunn

Richard 'Dick' Dunn OAM was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach in the New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership .Dunn played 134 matches for the Eastern Suburbs club in the years...

, described Norval as the best player he had seen since beginning his first grade career in 1935. In February 2008, Norval was named in the list of Australia's 100 Greatest Players (1908–2007) which was commissioned by the NRL

National Rugby League

The National Rugby League is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. The NRL's main competition, called the Telstra Premiership , is contested by sixteen teams, fifteen of which are based in Australia with one based in New Zealand...

 and ARL

Australian Rugby League

The Australian Rugby League is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in Australia. It is made up of state bodies, including the New South Wales Rugby League and the Queensland Rugby League...

to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia. He has also been selected in Eastern Suburbs "Greatest-ever" team.

Footnotes