George Watson (rugby)

George W Watson (6 January 1885 – 1961) was an Australian rugby union and pioneer professional rugby league footballer and was one of the first Australian dual code rugby international representatives. He was also one of the pioneer Queensland executives behind the new code in 1908.

George Watson
Birth nameGeorge W. Watson[1]
Date of birth(1885-01-06)6 January 1885[1]
Place of birthBrisbane, Queensland[1]
Date of death1961 (aged 75–76)
Rugby league career
Position(s) Centre
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1908 Australia[2] 1 ()
Rugby union career
Position(s) wing[1]
Provincial / State sides
Years Team Apps (Points)
1905–07 Queensland 13 ()
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1907[1] Australia 1 (0)

Rugby union career

Watson represented for the Wallabies as a winger in the 1907 Test against the touring All Blacks in a team captained by Peter Burge.

Rugby league career

A foundation player at the establishment of the professional code in Sydney in 1908 he played one game only for the Kangaroos, the 2nd Test against New Zealand in Brisbane in May 1908. This was the 2nd international rugby league appearance by an Australian side. Watson played that day in the centres outside of the legendary Dally Messenger.

Five former Wallabies had debuted for the Kangaroos in the inaugural Test three weeks earlier, Watson's league Test debut that day with Bill Hardcastle made them the 6th and 7th Australian dual code internationals.

Since his sole rugby league Test appearance was made as a 1908 rebel[3] before a Brisbane club competition began in 1909,[4] Watson like Doug McLean, Snr. was a Kangaroo with no rugby league club career.

References
  1. "Scrum.com player profile of George Watson". Scrum.com. Retrieved 12 July 2010.
  2. "Queensland Representatives". Queensland Rugby League. Archived from the original on 19 April 2010. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
  3. "Queensland Representative Players". Archived from the original on 1 December 2011. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  4. Pollard, Jack (1965). Gregory's Guide to Rugby League. Australia: Grenville Publishing. p197.
  • Andrews, Malcolm (2006) The ABC of Rugby League, Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney
  • Whiticker, Alan (2004) Captaining the Kangaroos, New Holland, Sydney


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