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Bob Craig (rugby footballer)
Encyclopedia
Robert Robertson 'Bob' Craig (1 September 1885 – 5 March 1935) was a pioneer Australia
n rugby union
and rugby league
footballer who represented his country at both sports. He was one of Australia's early dual-code rugby internationals. He was a member of the Australian rugby union team, which won the gold medal at the 1908 Summer Olympics
.
and at the end of that tour won Olympic Gold medal in London in the team captained by Chris McKivat
.
On his return to Australia he joined the fledgling code of rugby league along with 13 of his Olympic teammates.
whom he helped to four premierships between 1915 and 1919.
Craig made his international league debut in the First Test in Sydney on 18 June 1910. Four of his former Wallaby
team mates also debuted that day John Barnett
, Jack Hickey, Charles Russell
and Chris McKivat
- making them collectively Australia's 11th to 15th dual code internationals. This repeated a similar occurrence two years earlier when five former Wallabies in Micky Dore
, Dally Messenger
, Denis Lutge
, Doug McLean snr and
Johnny Rosewell all debuted for the Kangaroos
in the first ever Test against New Zealand
, he also represented Australasia
.
He played in both rugby league Tests against Great Britain in Australia in 1910 and was selected on the 1911-12 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain
. He played 31 tour matches and scored 7 tries. He played at second row in all three victorious Tests of the tour.
He returned to representative honors in 1914 playing two Tests when Australia hosted the Great Britain tourists. All up Craig played in 7 rugby league Tests and 35 times 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...
n rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
and 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...
footballer who represented his country at both sports. He was one of Australia's early dual-code rugby internationals. He was a member of the Australian rugby union team, which won the gold medal at the 1908 Summer Olympics
1908 Summer Olympics
The 1908 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the IV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in 1908 in London, England, United Kingdom. These games were originally scheduled to be held in Rome. At the time they were the fifth modern Olympic games...
.
All round sportsman
Prior to his rugby careers Craig was one of Australia's greatest all-round sportsmen. He won eight consecutive State swimming championships between 1899 and 1906; he appeared in four Sydney premiership winning water polo sides and in 1905 he was a member of the Balmain soccer club which that year won the State premiership.Rugby union career
Craig toured Britain and North America with the 1908-09 WallabiesAustralia national rugby union team
The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...
and at the end of that tour won Olympic Gold medal in London in the team captained by Chris McKivat
Chris McKivat
Christopher Hobart McKivat was an Australian rugby union and rugby league player – a dual-code rugby international. He represented the Wallabies in over 20 Tests and tour matches from 1907 to 1909 and the Kangaroos in 5 Tests from 1910 to 1912...
.
On his return to Australia he joined the fledgling code of rugby league along with 13 of his Olympic teammates.
Rugby league career
His club football was played with the Balmain TigersBalmain Tigers
The Balmain Tigers are a rugby league football club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and one of the most successful in the history of the premiership, with eleven titles...
whom he helped to four premierships between 1915 and 1919.
Craig made his international league debut in the First Test in Sydney on 18 June 1910. Four of his former Wallaby
Australia national rugby union team
The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...
team mates also debuted that day John Barnett
John Barnett (rugby)
John Thomas "Jumbo" Barnett was a pioneer Australian rugby union and rugby league player and won an Olympic gold medal winning in rugby at the 1908 Summer Olympics...
, Jack Hickey, Charles Russell
and Chris McKivat
Chris McKivat
Christopher Hobart McKivat was an Australian rugby union and rugby league player – a dual-code rugby international. He represented the Wallabies in over 20 Tests and tour matches from 1907 to 1909 and the Kangaroos in 5 Tests from 1910 to 1912...
- making them collectively Australia's 11th to 15th dual code internationals. This repeated a similar occurrence two years earlier when five former Wallabies in Micky Dore
Micky Dore
Michael Joseph "Micky" Dore , was an Australian representative rugby union and rugby league player - a dual-code international. He was one of the founding fathers of rugby league in Queensland...
, 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...
, Denis Lutge
Denis Lutge
Denis "Dinny" Lutge was a pioneer Australian rugby league and rugby union player, a dual-code international...
, Doug McLean snr and
Johnny Rosewell all debuted for the Kangaroos
Australian national rugby league team
The Australian national rugby league team have represented Australia in senior men's rugby league football competition since the establishment of the game in Australia in 1908. Administered by the Australian Rugby League, the Kangaroos' are ranked number one in the RLIF World Rankings...
in the first ever Test against 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...
, he also represented Australasia
Australasia rugby league team
-1911-12:Following individual tours by New Zealand and Australia in 1907-08 and 1908-09 respectively, the Northern Rugby Football Union invited an 'Australasian' team to tour Great Britain during the 1911-12 season...
.
He played in both rugby league Tests against Great Britain in Australia in 1910 and was selected on the 1911-12 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain
1911-12 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain
The 1911-12 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain was the second ever Kangaroo tour and was actually a tour by an "Australasia" team, which included four New Zealand players, rather than the Australian team alone...
. He played 31 tour matches and scored 7 tries. He played at second row in all three victorious Tests of the tour.
He returned to representative honors in 1914 playing two Tests when Australia hosted the Great Britain tourists. All up Craig played in 7 rugby league Tests and 35 times for Australia.
After football
Bob Craig took up hotel-keeping after retiring. In the financial crises of the 1930s he suffered losses and saw a bleak future ahead. He committed suicide, hanging himself from a tree at age 49.Sources
- Whiticker, Alan (2004) Captaining the Kangaroos, New Holland, Sydney
- Andrews, Malcolm (2006) The ABC of Rugby League, Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney
- Collection (1995) Gordon Bray presents The Spirit of Rugby, Harper Collins Publishers Sydney
- Moran, Herbert (1939) Viewless Winds - the recollections and digressions of an Australian surgeon P Davies, London