Alphonsus "Fonse" John Carroll (20 April 1895 in

Mataura Mataura is a town in the Southland region of the South Island of New Zealand. Mataura has a meat processing plant, and until 2000 it was the site of a large pulp and paper mill. Geography Mataura is situated on and the Main South Line railwa ...

– 1 December 1974 in

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

) was a New Zealand dual-code international

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 ...

and

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 ...

footballer who played in the 1920s, who represented

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 both codes. He played at both Prop and Hooker.

Early years

Carroll was born in Mataura on 20 April 1895 before moving to the Manawatu with his family. He was the youngest of five brothers who represented Manawatu in

. Carroll was a

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. In his early years Carroll was a race horse trainer, however one of his best horses broke down following the New Zealand Grand National in 1916.

Rugby union career

Carroll began playing

aged 22 in 1917 for the Jackeytown club and first represented Manawatu in 1919. Carroll was also selected for the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

in 1919. Carroll played in 8 games for the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

, being a part of the 1920 tour of Australia, but never played in a Test match. Carroll scored 3 tries and 2 conversions for the All Blacks, totaling 13 points.Phonse Carroll
''allblacks.com'' He played for the combined Manawatu-Horowhenua team against the touring South African side in 1921. Carroll continued to play for Manawatu until 1924.

Rugby league career

On September 13, just 2 weeks after playing in Manawatu's first ever Ranfurly Shield Challenge against Hawke's Bay Carroll switched codes and played for Manawatu against Wellington at Foxton. Carroll scored a try in the match which was drawn 14-14. Interviewed after the game he said "there was no loafing in the lineout, but one had to be going all the time" and "intimated the code had come to stay in Manawatu so far as he was concerned". In 1925 Carroll 'moved' to

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

, representing

the province ''The Province'' is a daily newspaper published in tabloid format in British Columbia by Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, alongside the ''Vancouver Sun'' broadsheet newspaper. Together, they are British Columbia's only ...

. Carroll was in fact driving to Wellington from

each weekend to play for Newtown. During the season he was selected to play for the North Island team against the South Island. The North won 27-9 in front of 4,000 at

Carlaw Park Carlaw Park was a multi-purpose stadium in Parnell, New Zealand, Parnell, a central suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It neighboured the Auckland Domain's Northern end. It was primarily used for rugby league and had a peak spectator capacity of aro ...

. From this match he was selected to play for New Zealand on their tour of Australia where he played 9 matches and scored 2 tries. His one and only match for the full Wellington side (he played in 3 trial matches across his 2 seasons), was against Auckland B at Newtown Park. Wellington were thrashed 68 to 9. Carroll played in two Tests for the

New Zealand Kiwis The New Zealand national rugby league team (Māori: Tīma rīki motu Aotearoa) has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the native bird of ...

, touring Australia in 1926 and being part of the 1926–27 tour of Great Britain where he played against England at

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

on 2 October 1926. The tour was marred by strike action by the forwards and Carroll was one of the seven players sent home. As a result, he was banned for life by the

New Zealand Rugby League The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in New Zealand. SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a tour of Great Britain that same year.Coffey and Wood ''T ...

– a ban which was lifted in 1962.

Later years

Carroll attempted to return to rugby union but his application was refused by the

New Zealand Rugby Union New Zealand Rugby (NZR) is the governing body of rugby union in New Zealand. It was founded in 1892 as the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU), 12 years after the first provincial unions in New Zealand. In 1949 it became an affiliate to t ...

in 1930. He participated in some "low level" coaching and was eventually reinstated in 1967, at the time of the NZRFU's 75th jubilee. Carroll owned a dairy farm in and was an active member of the Labour Party. His farm was the venue for the local Snake Valley

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

team for 40 years. Two of Carroll's sons, Joe and Jim, represented Manawatu between 1965–68 and 1972–83 respectively.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Carroll, Alphonsus 1895 births 1974 deaths Dual-code rugby internationals New Zealand conscientious objectors New Zealand farmers New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand Labour Party politicians New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand rugby union coaches New Zealand rugby union players North Island rugby union players People from Mataura Rugby league hookers Rugby league props Rugby union hookers Rugby union props Wellington rugby league team players 20th-century New Zealand politicians