Albert Bentley "Son" Burge (4 June 1889 – 4 January 1943)
was an Australian
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
lock who played with the Souths rugby union club in
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
and at the age of nineteen was selected for the
Australian national team in two Tests against
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
in 1907.
Rugby union career
He made the
Wallaby tour of Great Britain of 1908, called up as a squad replacement for his brother
Peter
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who broke his leg. Alby appeared in a Test match against
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
. He was sent off for kicking in that match and did not make another rugby international appearance. Despite his sending off, Burge continued to be selected for the invitational matches against club opposition during the tour. Two weeks after the Wales match, Burge was part of the Australian team that faced
Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
, and was again sent from the pitch by referee Gil Evans after 'brutally' kicking
Dai Westacott while the player was prone on the ground.
Rugby league career
'Alby' Burge switched to
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
football initially joining
South Sydney but then in 1911 he joined his brother Frank at
Glebe
Glebe (; also known as church furlong, rectory manor or parson's close(s))McGurk 1970, p. 17 is an area of land within an ecclesiastical parish used to support a parish priest. The land may be owned by the church, or its profits may be reserved ...
. Albert was the captain of the Glebe side that lost the
1911 New South Wales Rugby League premiership final to
Easts and captained the side.
He and his brother
Frank
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* Frank (given name)
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* Franks (surname)
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Curr ...
, continued to captain Glebe until his retirement after the
1919 NSWRFL season. He also had a brief stint with the
North Sydney Bears
The North Sydney Bears is an Australian rugby league football club based in North Sydney, New South Wales. The club competes in the New South Wales Cup, having exited the National Rugby League following the 1999 NRL season after 90 years in the ...
in 1913.
See also
*
Burge Family
References
Further reading
* Andrews, Malcolm (2006) ''The ABC of Rugby League'', Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney
*
Whiticker, Alan (2004) ''Captaining the Kangaroos'', New Holland, Sydney
*
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 & Middleton, David (2008) ''A Centenary of Rugby League'', MacMillan, Sydney.
*
Howell, Max (2005) ''Born to Lead: Wallaby Test Captains'', Celebrity Books, Auckland, NZ.
1889 births
Australian rugby union players
Australia international rugby union players
Australian rugby league players
Glebe rugby league players
1943 deaths
Albert
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* Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands
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* Albert Productions, a record label
* Alber ...
Rugby league players from Sydney
North Sydney Bears players
Burials at Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park
Rugby union players from Sydney
Rugby union locks
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