REPRESENTATIVE PLAYERS

“In the intercolonial matches played against Queensland and New Zealand the club were well represented and the chosen ones acquitted themselves with much credit.”

Wallaroo Football Club served as the premier pipeline of elite talent for early representative Rugby, establishing an immense presence on the regional and international stage.

Right from the inaugural intercolonial fixtures against Queensland, New Zealand, Victoria, and Great Britain, Wallaroo men consistently earned selection for the New South Wales team.

The club holds the ultimate distinction of supplying both the historic first captain of NSW (now Waratahs), James Brodie in 1882, and the first captain of the combined Australian team (now Wallabies), Frank Row in 1899.

When the first official Australian international Test matches were played in 1899 against the British Lions, Wallaroo’s dominance was total, even providing the entire three-quarter line for the opening game.

This elite pedigree also extended to international imports, with the club’s ranks lightly sprinkled with players who had appeared for England, Great Britain, New Zealand and Ireland.

Through three decades of fierce competition, Wallaroo’s decorated players proved to be the ultimate benchmark of high-class football, leaving an indelible imprint on the birth of representative Rugby.

HONOURS
Many of the Wallaroo FC players won selection in the New South Wales (now Waratahs) representative side, right from its first games and decade vs Queensland (now Reds), New Zealand (now All Blacks), Victoria and Great Britain (now British Lions).

Wallaroo FC was represented in the first Australian (now Wallabies) teams in 1899 vs Great Britain. In the opening match the Wallabies three-player three-quarter line was all Wallaroos. Former Wallaroo FC players were in some of Australia’s teams of the early 1900s.

The Wallaroo FC has the unique distinction of supplying both the first Australian Wallabies captain (Frank Row in 1899) and the first NSW Waratahs captain (James Brodie in 1882).

There are also a small number of Wallaroo FC players who were in representative matches for international teams before their time with Wallaroo FC, and in one case during a period overseas away from the club.

“The Rugby Union should not undervalue these intercolonial matches, and I am glad to know they don’t. Players who devote a large amount of training and preparations for big matches, naturally look forward to something more than mere club contests, however interesting they may be. And quite right, too.”
— Australian Town and Country Journal, 17 June 1882

WALLAROOS & WALLAROO-HERITAGE PLAYERS SELECTED FOR AUSTRALIA (Now the Wallabies)
(AUSTRALIA 1899-1905)
The 1899 ‘tests’ against Great Britain (‘England’) were the first internationals played by Australia (combined NSW and Queensland), now known as the British Lions and the Wallabies respectively.

The list below includes current (1899) and former Wallaroo FC players who played ‘tests’ matches for Australia.

Opposition teams: E., English (British) team; N.Z., New Zealand.

— Cobb, Walter (Newcastle Centrals). E., 1899 (3rd & 4th tests).
— Kelly, Alfred (Wallaroo). E., 1899 (1st test).
— O’Donnell, Ignatius (Wallaroo). E., 1899 (3rd & 4th tests).
— O’Donnell, John (Wallaroo). E., 1899 (4th test).
— Row, Frank (Wallaroo). E., 1899 (1st, 3rd & 4th tests).
— Spragg, Stephen (Wallaroo). E., 1899 (all 4 tests).
— Swannell, Blair (North Sydney). N.Z., 1905 (one-off test).
— Webb, William (Wallaroo). E., 1899 (3rd & 4th tests).
— White, Charles (Wallaroo & North Sydney). E., 1899 (1st test); N.Z., 1903 (one-off test); E., 1904 (1st test).
— Wickham, Stanley (Western Suburbs). N.Z., 1903 (one-off test); E., 1904 (all 3 tests); N.Z., 1905 (one-off test).

In seven of Australia’s first nine Test matches, the captain was a current (Frank Row) or former (Stanley Wickham) Wallaroo FC player. Wickham (Wallaroo 1895-96) was the last Wallaroo FC-heritage player selected for the Australian team, going out as skipper in the 1905 Wallabies v New Zealand match in Dunedin. Newcastle favourite Walter Cobb and British Lions’ Blair Swannell are on the list as they each made a cameo appearance for Wallaroo FC in 1893 and 1899 respectively.

OTHER INTERNATIONALS WHO PLAYED FOR WALLAROO
(1875-1899)
The list below includes individuals who appeared for a now recognised international team before or after a stint with the Wallaroo FC.

— Barlow, Maurice. Ireland 1875 (vs England). Joined the Wallaroo FC for the 1875 season. Was still at the club in 1882 when chosen for NSW vs Queensland.

— Walsh, Henry Deane. Ireland 1875 & ’76 (vs England). Played for Wallaroo FC from August 1877 to the end of the 1878 season.

— Wade, Charles Gregory. England 1882 to ’86 (8 times in Home Nations). Played for Wallaroo FC 1879-80 & 1887-88, studying law at Oxford University in the intervening years. In 1888 was chosen for NSW against Great Britain and Queensland.

— O’Donnell, James. New Zealand 1884 tour to Australia, playing 7 games including 3 matches vs NSW. Remained in Sydney & played for Wallaroo FC in 1884-85. In both of his Wallaroo years he was selected for NSW against Queensland.

— Judkins, Walter. British Lions 1899 (3 Tests). At the start of the 1899 tour this Coventry forward guested for Wallaroo FC vs Sydney University at SCG.

— Swannell, Blair. British Lions 1899 & 1904 (7 Tests). At the start of the 1899 tour this Northampton back-rower guested for Wallaroo FC vs Sydney University at SCG. Became resident in Australia and played for Wallabies in 1905.

— Glenn, Billy. New Zealand 1904 & ’05 (3 Tests), including the “Original All Blacks” tour (Sydney, UK & France). Joined Wallaroo FC from Taranaki, a forward in club’s last premiership in 1899.

WALLAROOS WHO PLAYED FOR NSW (Now the Waratahs)
(NSW 1882-1899)
The list below was first compiled from a table published in The Sunday Sun, 22 July 1906. Any known errors or omissions identified have been adjusted. This list is intended to only include NSW matches that occurred when the individual was a current Wallaroo FC player.

While the present day NSW side are known as the ‘Waratahs’, this was not the case during the time of the Wallaroos. Until the 1990s the first and only NSW team to be called ‘Waratahs’ was the 1927-28 team to tour to Britain, France and Canada.

Opposition teams: C.Q., Central Queensland; E., English (British) team; N.Z., New Zealand; N.Z.N., New Zealand Native (Maori) team; Q., Queensland; V., Victoria.
[Listings for tours to C.Q., N.Z., Q. & V. confirm a place in the touring squad, not selection in particular matches.]

— Alcock, T. – N.Z., 1894; Q., 1894; V., 1895.
— Allport, R. – N.Z., 1893.
— Barlow, Maurice – Q., 1882.
— Baylis, F.A. – Q., 1886; V., 1899.
— Baylis, F.C. – N.Z., 1884; Q., 1884.
— Bowman, E. M. – Q., 1891, 1892, 1893; C.Q., 1891.
— Brodie, James A. – Q., 1882, 1883.
— Caird, C. Y. – N.Z., 1886; Q., 1886, 1888; E., 1888.
— Cameron, R. – E., 1888; Q., 1888.
— Cheeseman, F. T. – Q., 1885.
— Cobb, Walter. – Q., 1893.
— Davie, J. – Q., 1891; C.Q., 1891.
— De Lauret, J. – N.Z., 1886.
— Dibbs, R. C. – N.Z., 1894.
— Firth, O. – Q., 1885.
— Fligg, F. W. – Q., 1882, 1883.
— Fligg, Henry B. – N.Z., 1882, 1884; Q., 1882, 1884, 1885.
— Gardner, A. G. H. – Q., 1896, 1897; N.Z., 1897.
— Graham, George W. – N.Z., 1882, 1884; Q., 1885.
— Harpin, H. – Q., 1883.
— Hungerford, E. – Q., 1886, 1887, 1889.
— Ireland, W. – Q., 1896, 1898.
— Kelly, A. J. – Q., 1898, 1899; E., 1899.
— Lane, P. M. ‘Paddy’ – Q., 1893, 1894, 1895, 1896, 1897, 1898; N.Z., 1894, 1897.
— Logan, A. C. – Q., 1883.
— Lyons, W. – Q., 1891.
— McArthur, G. W. – N.Z., 1886; Q., 1886.
— McCormack, J. – Q., 1899.
— McMurdo, C. H. – Q., 1891; C.Q., 1891; N.Z., 1893.
— Manchee, A. F. – Q., 1894; V., 1895.
— Meagher, J. – N.Z.N., 1889; Q., 1889, 1890.
— Moore, G. – Q., 1893, 1894; V., 1894.
— O’Donnell, James – Q., 1884, 1885.
— O’Donnell, Ignatius – Q., 1898, 1899; E., 1899.
— Osborne, H. M. – N.Z., 1884; Q., 1884.
— Phillips, A. – Q., 1892.
— Radcliffe, A. – Q., 1885.
— Rand, W. A. – Q., 1893.
— Rice, E. – E., 1888; Q., 1889.
— Richmond, George S. – N.Z., 1882.
— Roberts, E. A. ‘Nulla’ – Q., 1890, 1892, 1893; N.Z., 1893; V., 1894.
— Row, Frank – Q., 1896, 1898, 1899; E., 1899.
— Scott, Arthur T. – V., 1894; N.Z., 1894; C.Q., 1895; Q., 1895, 1896, 1898.
— Shappere, A. E. – Q., 1892.
— Smith, E. – C.Q., 1891.
— Smith, H. A. I. – V., 1894.
— Spragg, Stephen – Q., 1898, 1899; E., 1899.
— Tiley, S. A. – Q., 1885; E., 1888.
— Wade, Charles Gregory – E., 1888; Q., 1888.
— Wade, J. – Q., 1887.
— Wade, L. – Q., 1883, 1888; E., 1888.
— Weaver, F. E. – N.Z., 1886.
— Webb, William – Q., 1896, 1898, 1899, 1900; V., 1894, 1895; E., 1899.
— Wheeler, G. – Q., 1899; E., 1899.
— White, Charles – Q., 1894, 1899; E., 1899.
— Wickham, Stanley – C.Q., 1895; Q., 1895, 1896.
— Woods, H. D. L. – C.Q., 1891.

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“They say that he would pick fifteen Wallaroos to represent the colony if he had his own way.”
— The Bird O’ Freedom, 28 July 1894 commenting on Wallaroo FC & NSWRU official Monty Arnold