William Gregor George

A “brilliant young Rugby Union footballer”, Gregor George was built on very slight lines however there was no doubting his attacking nous. In addition to possessing a very safe pair of hands he was fast off the mark and developed a disconcerting swerve. Possibly his greatest asset on the football field was his sense of anticipation and an extraordinary ability to accept passes from any angle. Despite a lack of weight, he tackled gamely and thoroughly earned his place at representative level. In fact, George was the first Australian to make three consecutive touring sides of New Zealand (1923, 25 & 28).

Oddly there is no mention of George playing rugby during his years at Sydney Grammar School (1917-20) although he did win the U16 880 yards race at the 1919 Athletics Meeting. George first came to prominence as a member of the YMCA team which was promoted into the First Grade competition of 1923. He went on to be the club’s first and only captain over their seven seasons in the top grade.

George was still a teenager when first selected into the 1923 New South Wales side for the first of three fixtures against the touring Maori. Although he did not know it at the time that match was also George’s official Test debut after an ARU decision in 1994 elevated the remaining 34 New South Wales matches played against international opposition in the 1920-28 period to Test status (the five 1927/28 Waratahs’ internationals were given Test status in 1986). From that debut, George started eight of the next 17 Tests at fly-half amid intense competition from Billy Sheehan and later Tom Lawton upon his return from a Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford.

Controversially, George missed a spot on the great 1927-28 Waratahs tour of Britain, France and North America. The Daily Telegraph wrote of George’s exclusion from the side: “If any Union player were asked to pick the unluckiest man in the game, he would probably point to Gregor George. Day in and day out he is the life and soul of the YMCA side. Rarely does he play a poor game, and nearly always he is one of the outstanding men on the field. Yet he missed the trip to England simply because there happened to be Lawton and Sheehan in the way. Great players they are, and it is safe to say that in no other position is the Union so well served. George was distinctly unfortunate that he should have been up against such a tough proposition.”

George made his third tour of New Zealand in 1928, notable in that 13 Waratahs had either retired or declared themselves unavailable having been away for the best part of nine months in the northern hemisphere. As such few pundits gave the 1928 team any chance in New Zealand despite the top 29 All Blacks being on tour in South Africa. However, the visitors proved themselves something of a surprise packet. The unheralded New South Welshmen gave the locals a hard time across the three-match series, before the home side grafted out a 2-1 victory.

Sadly, George was still a young man when he died from tuberculosis in 1932. The Sydney Morning Herald opined: “George was very popular with players and onlookers and leaves behind a splendid name for clean and courageous play”. In 1933, the YMCA Club presented the New South Wales Rugby Union with the Gregor George Memorial Shield for perpetual competition and to be won by the club bearing the title of club champions for the season. Manly were the first to hold the Shield, dedicated to one, who, as the inscription states, was “a sportsman and a friend.”

Gregor George played 12 Tests for Australia in a six year international career.

Highlights

1923 George won his first Test cap at fly half in the 1st Test against the Maori in Sydney. He collected a second cap when Billy Sheehan, who took his place for the second fixture, was ruled out of the third international with an injured left knee. George was capped in the first two away Tests against New Zealand however a 6-34 thumping in the second of those matches saw Sheehan shifted to fly half for the third amid seven personal and / or positional changes.

1924 Sheehan played in each of the first two home Tests against the All Blacks but was dropped, in favour of George, for the final match of the series.

1925 He won a further two caps in the second and third Tests of the home series against New Zealand after wholesale changes were made to “a back division that quite plainly did not know its business” in the 3-26, 1st Test loss.

1926 Sheehan started each of the three home Tests with the All Blacks before George was chosen for what was a hastily arranged 4th Test, played just three days after the third. The local selectors made nine changes for that game, one that appeared to be treated by them as an unofficial trial ahead of the Waratahs tour the following year.

1928 George was capped in all four internationals played on the tour to New Zealand, three against the All Blacks and the fourth against the Maori.