Dan Frawley
Encyclopedia
Dan Frawley was a pioneer Australian rugby league
footballer, a national 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. A fast and agile winger, with an ability to effortlessly 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.
parentage, Frawley grew up in the inner Sydney harbourside suburb of Woolloomooloo
. He served as a Trooper in the 3rd Battalion, Australian Commonwealth Horse
during the Second Boer War
in South Africa
. He first experienced rugby union during his time in South Africa and was chosen in a Commonwealth
Serviceman's team which competed against a representative Australian side.
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. In the 1908 NSWRFL season Frawley played in Easts' first match and was later selected to represent City New South Wales against Queensland. He missed his club's appearance in the final at the end of the season as he had been selected to go on the inaugural Kangaroo tour
of 1908-09 playing in two Tests and 22 tour matches. He scored 13 tries on the tour.
Frawley spent the Australian summer of 1909-10 playing in the 1909-10 Northern Rugby Football Union season
with English club Warrington
, 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
.
He played in East's first premiership-winning side of NSWRL season 1911. 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 Northern Rugby Football Union season
spell 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.
Frawley also won a second premiership with the Eastern Suburbs club the following year.
Frawley was also a member of the first NSW sides to tour New Zealand
in 1912 and 1913.
He 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
.
His penultimate Test match against England was the first Test to be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground
and his final Test match also in Sydney in 1914 was 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 a total of fifty-nine first grade matches for his club side Eastern Suburbs
and in seven Test match
es for Australia
, making two Kangaroo Tour
s.
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
'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. For many years he worked at the NSW Leagues Club in Sydney as Chief Steward.
In The First Kangaroos
, a 1988 British
–Australian
made for TV sports film, Frawley's role was played by Tony Martin
.
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.
On his death in 1967, the Rugby League News called Frawley 'one of rugby league's most colourful identities' and declared that 'he would have been an immortal in the code's history for any one of a number of just reasons."
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...
footballer, a national representative player. He played his career as a winger
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"....
with the 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 in Sydney and is considered one of the nation's finest footballers of the 20th century. A fast and agile winger, with an ability to effortlessly change direction, Frawley was at club and representative levels generally positioned on the outside of rugby league Immortal
The Immortals (rugby league)
A major Australian rugby league magazine Rugby League Week in 1981 selected an exclusive group of players dubbed "The Immortals". The group consisted of Clive Churchill, Bob Fulton, Reg Gasnier, and Johnny Raper...
Dally Messenger
Dally Messenger
Herbert Henry "Dally" Messenger was an Australian rugby union and rugby league footballer, recognised as one of the greatest ever players in either code. Messenger, or 'The Master' as he was dubbed, represented his country in both rugby football codes, playing two rugby union tests and seven...
, 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.
Biography
Of IrishIrish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
parentage, Frawley grew up in the inner Sydney harbourside suburb of Woolloomooloo
Woolloomooloo, New South Wales
Woolloomooloo is a harbourside, inner-city eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Woolloomooloo is located 1.5 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Sydney. The suburb is located in a low-lying, former...
. He served as a Trooper in the 3rd Battalion, Australian Commonwealth Horse
Australian Commonwealth Horse
The Australian Commonwealth Horse was a mounted infantry unit of the Australian Army formed for service during the Second Boer War in South Africa in 1902 and was the first expeditionary military unit established by the newly formed Commonwealth of Australia following Federation in 1901...
during the Second Boer War
Boer War
The Boer Wars were two wars fought between the British Empire and the two independent Boer republics, the Oranje Vrijstaat and the Republiek van Transvaal ....
in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. He first experienced rugby union during his time in South Africa and was chosen in a Commonwealth
Commonwealth
Commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has sometimes been synonymous with "republic."More recently it has been used for fraternal associations of some sovereign nations...
Serviceman's team which competed against a representative Australian side.
Playing career
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...
of 1908-09 playing in two Tests and 22 tour matches. He scored 13 tries on the tour.
1909-10 Northern Rugby Football Union season
-Challenge Cup:Leeds played Hull in the Challenge Cup Final at Huddersfield in front of a corwd of 19,413. The match ended in a 7-7 draw. The replay was also held at Huddersfield in front of a crowd of 11,608 which resulted in Leeds defeating Hull 26-12. This was Leeds' first Cup Final win in...
with English club Warrington
Warrington Wolves
Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league football club based in Warrington, England that competes in Super League. They play at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2003....
, after having signed with them during the previous year's 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...
. 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
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
team in their tour match against 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...
.
He played in East's first premiership-winning side of NSWRL season 1911. 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 Northern Rugby Football Union season
1909-10 Northern Rugby Football Union season
-Challenge Cup:Leeds played Hull in the Challenge Cup Final at Huddersfield in front of a corwd of 19,413. The match ended in a 7-7 draw. The replay was also held at Huddersfield in front of a crowd of 11,608 which resulted in Leeds defeating Hull 26-12. This was Leeds' first Cup Final win in...
spell 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.
Frawley was also a member of the first NSW sides to tour New Zealand
New Zealand national rugby league team
The New Zealand national rugby league team has represented New Zealand in rugby league football since intercontinental competition began for the sport in 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the native bird of that name...
in 1912 and 1913.
He took out a third consecutive premiership in NSWRL season 1913. This gave the club permanent ownership of the New South Wales Rugby League
New South Wales Rugby League
The New South Wales Rugby League is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and is a member of the Australian Rugby League. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was known as the New South Wales Rugby Football League until 1984 when forward thinking marketing managers decided...
's first trophy, the Royal Agricultural Society Shield
Royal Agricultural Society Shield
The Royal Agricultural Society of New South Wales Challenge Shield, or RAS Shield was the New South Wales Rugby Football League's first premiership trophy. It was presented to each year's premiership winning rugby league team and was won by South Sydney, Newtown and Eastern Suburbs. The first club...
. Frawley captained the side in his final season 1914, the year the club won its first City Cup
City Cup
The City Cup was a rugby league competition involving Australian premiership teams. The post season tournament was a regular feature in the years 1912 - 1925. City Cups were also played in 1937, 1942 and 1959....
.
His penultimate Test match against England was the first Test to be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground
Sydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
and his final Test match also in Sydney in 1914 was 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 a total of fifty-nine first grade matches for his club side 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...
and in seven Test match
Test match (rugby league)
A Test match in rugby league football is a representative match between teams representing members of the Rugby League International Federation.The definition of a Test match differs from that of an international match...
es for Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, making two 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...
s.
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 offsideOffside-Sport:* Offside , a rule in a number of field team sports designed to help ensure players move together as a team** Offside ** Offside ** Offside ** Offside ** Offside...
position, he jawed at him, 'so you're so-and-so, the great internationalInternational----International mostly means something that involves more than one country. The term international as a word means involvement of, interaction between or encompassing more than one nation, or generally beyond national boundaries...
winger. Well, I got you that time. I don't think you're so hot'."
Post-playing
Frawley, who had been an emergency for the rebel series against the New ZealandNew Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
'All Golds', was later made a life member of the New South Wales Rugby League
New South Wales Rugby League
The New South Wales Rugby League is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and is a member of the Australian Rugby League. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was known as the New South Wales Rugby Football League until 1984 when forward thinking marketing managers decided...
for his role in the series that helped to establish rugby league in this country. For many years he worked at the NSW Leagues Club in Sydney as Chief Steward.
In The First Kangaroos
The First Kangaroos
The First Kangaroos is a 1988 British–Australian made for TV sports film directed by Frank Cvitanovich and starring Dennis Waterman, Chris Haywood and Dominic Sweeney. It depicts the first-ever rugby league tour of England by the Australian national team, the 1908-09 Kangaroos...
, a 1988 British
Cinema of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has had a major influence on modern cinema. The first moving pictures developed on celluloid film were made in Hyde Park, London in 1889 by William Friese Greene, a British inventor, who patented the process in 1890. It is generally regarded that the British film industry...
–Australian
Cinema of Australia
Cinema of Australia, more commonly referred to as the Australian film industry, refers to the system of production, distribution, and exhibition of films in Australia. Film production commenced in Australia in 1906 with the production of The Story of the Kelly Gang, the earliest feature film made...
made for TV sports film, Frawley's role was played by Tony Martin
Tony Martin (actor)
Tony Martin is an Australian actor. He married Rachael Blake on 21 December 2003. His son, Justin, is also an actor, with appearances in Somersault and Blue Water High to his credit....
.
In February 2008, Frawley 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.
On his death in 1967, the Rugby League News called Frawley 'one of rugby league's most colourful identities' and declared that 'he would have been an immortal in the code's history for any one of a number of just reasons."
Sources
- Whiticker, AlanAlan WhitickerAlan J. Whiticker is an Australian non-fiction author with currently over 30 published books.Whiticker writes primarily on matters pertaining to the history of the sport of rugby league in Australia, but has also published works on subjects as diverse as the Wanda Beach Murders and an adaptation...
& 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
- Heads, Ian and Middleton, David (2008) A Centenary of Rugby League, MacMillan Sydney