Ed Fry
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| Birth name | Edward Fry | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 2 September 1879 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 27 March 1968 (aged 88) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Rockdale, New South Wales, Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Rugby league career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Centre | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Edward "Son" Fry (1879–1968) was an Australian
New South Wales Rugby Football Union
.
Rugby union career
Fry was one of the New South Wales rugby union players who matched up against the first professional New Zealand team,
Royal Agricultural Society Ground to a sell-out crowd of 20,000. Played under rugby union rules, the All Blacks led 6–0 at halftime and closed out the match, winning 12–8.[2] The game was deemed to be a great success, as the organisers had not expected more than 12,000 people.[2]
The second game, a mid-week game, was held in front of a crowd of 3,000. The All Golds, who had made several changes, defeated the "All Blues" 19–5. They then won the third match of the series 5–3 in front of a crowd of 8,000.
Ed Fry played in all three matches and along with the other Australian rebel players was promptly blacklisted by the New South Wales Rugby Union for breaching its fundamental principle of amateurism.
Rugby league career
Along with
Birchgrove Oval against North Sydney.[5] He played nine games at centre that season, scoring two tries and was a member of the club's first premiership winning team, playing in the August 1908 final against Eastern Suburbs.[6]
In 1908 Fry was also selected in the first
Queensland side. The New Zealand AtoZ website reports that in the first ever interstate clash a particular Queensland tackle rendered one NSW player – Ed Fry – completely naked from the waist down although it did not stop him from scoring a try.[7]
In the 1910 season, Fry turned out for North Sydney making just one first grade appearance. In retirement he remained actively involved with the South Sydney club through till his death in 1968.[8]
Ed Fry was awarded Life Membership of the New South Wales Rugby League in 1914.
Sources
- Whiticker, Alan & Hudson, Glen (2006) The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players, Gavin Allen Publishing, Sydney
- Whiticker, Alan & Collis, Ian (2006) The History of Rugby League Clubs, New Holland, Sydney
- Heads, Ian and Middleton, David (2008) A Centenary of Rugby League, MacMillan Sydney
External links
References
- ^ Clarkson, Alan (2 July 1963). "Now the South Africans". The Sydney Morning Herald. Australia. p. 19. Archived from the original on 26 May 2020. Retrieved 6 October 2010.
- ^ ISBN 0-473-03864-1.
- ISBN 9780646050980.
- ^ W 'Son' Fry[permanent dead link] at rabbitohs.com.au
- ^ Whiticker/Collis p. 12
- ISBN 1875169571
- ^ Lost his pants
- ^ Whiticker/Hudson p. 174