Doug McRitchie
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Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Douglas Allan McRitchie | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 31 July 1923[1] Marrickville, New South Wales, Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 30 July 1998 (aged 74) Milton, New South Wales, Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Centre | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Coaching information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Douglas Allan McRitchie (1923–1998) was an Australian rugby league player who played in the 1940s and 1950s. A New South Wales state and Australia national representative centre, he played his club football in Sydney for the St. George club.
St. George Dragons career
McRitchie was a
His career was disrupted during by
Representative career
McRitchie represented New South Wales on six occasions between 1948 and 1950. He was named in the 1948-49 Kangaroo Tour squad and played two Tests against Great Britain, two Tests against France and a further ten tour matches during that series. He is listed on the Australian Players Register as Kangaroo No. 261[5]
1950 Ashes win
He played a further two tests in 1950 against Great Britain, the last being of major significance.
Doug McRitchie will always be remembered as the player who clinched the Ashes for Australia in 1950. He made the initial opening and overlap that gave Ron Roberts the try in the Sydney Cricket Ground mud heap on the 22 Jul 1950 Third Test. The Kangaroos won the Test 5–2. McRitchie had hit the English Captain Ernest Ward so hard that the visiting star developed an aversion to tackling that resulted in a split-second hesitancy that gave McRitchie the opening that proved so vital.[6]
Later career
He was signed to captain-coach
Doug's brother
Death
McRitchie died at Milton, New South Wales on 30 July 1998 on the eve of his 75th birthday.[10]
Accolades
On 20 July 2022, McRitchie was named in the St. George Dragons District Rugby League Clubs team of the century.[11]
References
- ^ "McRitchie at WWII Roll". Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
- ^ "Doug McRitchie - Career Stats & Summary - Rugby League Project". Rugbyleagueproject.org.
- ISBN 9780732908164
- ^ "McRitchie at WWII Roll". Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
- ^ ARL Annual Report
- ^ Rugby League News. 14 Aug 1954 "Immortals - Doug McRitchie" https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-631853959/view?sectionId=nla.obj-642595337&partId=nla.obj-631854458#page/n3/mode/1up
- ^ "Doug McRitchie - Career Stats & Summary - Rugby League Project".
- ^ "The Ear Bite Incident" Canberra Times. 31 July 1945. (p4)
- ^ "Dragons - Our Proud History - St George and Illawarra Rugby League".
- ^ Daily Telegraph - Death Notice 04/08/1998
- ^ "Gasnier joins Immortals in St George Dragons 'Team of the Century'". www.nrl.com. 20 July 2022.