Charles Russell (rugby)
Birth name | Charles Joseph Russell[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Date of birth | [1] | 5 December 1884||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | St Peters, New South Wales[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Date of death | 15 May 1957 | (aged 72)||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of death | Tempe, New South Wales | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby league career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Charles "Boxer" Joseph Russell (5 December 1884 – 15 May 1957) was a pioneer Australian rugby union and rugby league footballer and coach. He represented his country in both sports and was one Australia's early dual-code rugby internationals. He was a gold medallist at the 1908 Summer Olympics.[2]
Rugby union career
Russell was a centre/winger whose club rugby was played with the Newtown RUFC in Sydney. He played three Tests for the
Rugby league career
On his return to Australia he joined the fledgling code of rugby league along with 13 of his Olympic teammates. He played at full-back in the first Test against Great Britain in 1910 when Australia hosted the tourists. He was selected in 1911 for the 2nd Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and played in 24 tour matches scoring 9 tries. He played on the wing in the victorious 1st and 2nd Tests of 1911.
During the
His club football was with Newtown, where he played for 7 seasons. He was captain-coach of the Newtown premiership-winning side of 1910, landing two goals to tie the final against South Sydney 4-4, thus enabling Newtown to win the premiership.
Russell was also selected for the 1911–12 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain.
Post playing
Russell coached Newtown for a number of years including the premiership winning team of
Charles Russell was awarded Life Membership of the New South Wales Rugby League in 1944.[3] In 2008, the centenary year of rugby league in Australia, Russell was named in the Newtown Jets 18-man team of the century.
See also
Footnotes
- ^ a b c d e "Scrum.com player profile of Charles Russell". Scrum.com. Retrieved 12 July 2010.
- ^ "Charles Russell". Olympedia. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
- ^ Sydney Morning Herald- 19 Dec 1944,(page 8)
References
- Andrews, Malcolm (2006) The ABC of Rugby League, Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney
- Collective essays (1995) Gordon Bray presents The Spirit of Rugby, Harper Collins Publishers Sydney
- Whiticker, Alan & Hudson, Glen (2006) The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players, Gavin Allen Publishing, Sydney
- Whiticker, Alan (2004) Captaining the Kangaroos, New Holland, Sydney
External links
- profile at the Wayback Machine (archived 2007-09-29)