Massa Johnston

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Massa Johnston
Personal information
Full nameWilliam Johnston
Born(1881-09-13)13 September 1881
Back row, Lock
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1902 Alhambra 1
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1903–04
Otago
 6
1904–07 South Island 3
1905–07 New Zealand 3 4 0 0 12
Rugby league
PositionSecond-row
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1908–10 Wigan 39 15 0 0 45
1910–12 Warrington 38 8 0 0 24
1920 Grafton Athletic 1 0 0 0 0
Total 78 23 0 0 69
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1907–08 New Zealand 41 9 1 0 29
Source: [1] Scrum.com

William "Massa" Johnston (13 September 1881 – 9 January 1951) was a New Zealand

1907-1908 New Zealand rugby tour of Great Britain
.

Early years

Johnston was an Iron worker by trade.[2]

Rugby Football

According to the book "All Blacks to All Golds" Johnston first played senior

Wellington
. He played for the South Island in 1904, 1905 and 1907.

Johnston was first chosen for the All Blacks as part of their first tour of Great Britain. This team became known as the "Originals" and was hugely successful. However, Johnston was sickly on the tour and played in only thirteen matches, missing all of the test matches. Johnston returned to the All Blacks for their 1907 tests against Australia, playing in all three matches in the series.

Rugby League

Johnston joined the

1907–08 tour of Australia and Great Britain, returning to the two countries he had played in as an All Black. At the time of the tour Johnston was at the peak of his career and had earned respect as a forward with a clean style of play.[2] Johnston had helped select the side and was part of the Management committee while on tour. Along with Wright, Johnston was in charge of coaching the forwards while on tour. He was also an integral part of the forward pack and played in all eight test matches. He scored tries in the second and third tests against the Northern Union but was then wrongly sent off in the first test match against Australia
. However, he returned to play in the second and third test matches. In all games on tour, Johnston scored a total of five tries.

After returning to New Zealand with the touring party,

1908 Lancashire County Cup Final during the 1908–09 season at Wheater's Field, Broughton, on Saturday 19 December 1908.[9] In mid December 1910 he moved to Warrington (Heritage No. 173), he was Warrington's first player from New Zealand, and as of 2016, he is the only former All Black
to play for Warrington.

Later years

After retirement Johnston moved to Australia where he was a

Royal Sydney Agricultural Showgrounds
. He died 9 January 1951 in Sydney.

References

  1. ^ "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". Rugby League Project. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  2. ^
    ISBN 0-473-03864-1
  3. ^ "Tomorrow's Fixtures". Otago Daily Times, Issue 12342. 2 May 1902. p. 3. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  4. ^ "Notes By Fullback". Otago Witness, Issue 2516. 4 June 1903. p. 54. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  5. ^ "Junior Representative Team". Evening Star, Issue 11665. 25 August 1902. p. 3. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  6. ^ "Alhambra Football Club". Evening Star, Issue 11829. 7 March 1903. p. 2. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  7. ^ "Football". Evening Star, Issue 11861. 15 March 1903. p. 7. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  8. ^ "The All Golds". Archived from the original on 10 October 2017. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  9. ^ "1908–1909 Lancashire Cup Final". wigan.rlfans.com. 31 December 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2012.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Massa_Johnston&oldid=1219518661"