Andrew McLaren Norval (26 April 1912 – 16 May 1999) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer, a

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and state representative lock-forward whose club career was with Sydney's

Eastern Suburbs Eastern Suburbs may refer to: Places *Eastern Suburbs (Mumbai), India *Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Australia **Eastern Suburbs railway line, Sydney, Australia Sports clubs ;Association football *Eastern Suburbs AFC, Auckland, New Zealand * Eastern ...

club.

Career

Born in South Australia, where, as a youth, he played

Australian Rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

, Norval began his rugby league career in the Newcastle competition before moving to

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 ...

where he played 106 matches with the

club in the years (1934–41). Norval a played an integral role in an Eastern Suburbs sides that swept all before them during that period, winning 4 premierships as well as finishing runners-up on three other occasions. Norval formed part of East's international forward pack alongside Ray Stehr,

Harry Pierce Henry Theodore Pierce (1913-1975) was a professional rugby league footballer who played for the Australia national team and the New South Wales team. He played his club football in the NSWRFL Premiership for Sydney clubs St. George and Easter ...

and Joe Pearce.

Representative career

Norval played five matches for New South Wales. He was selected on the 1937-38

Kangaroo tour Kangaroo Tour is the name given to Australian national rugby league team tours of Great Britain and France, tours to New Zealand and the one-off tour to Papua New Guinea (1991). The first Kangaroo Tour was in 1908. Traditionally, Kangaroo Tours to ...

playing in three Tests and twelve touring matches. His international debut was on the wing in the third Test against Great Britain and he played in that position in both Tests on the French leg of the tour. He is listed on the Australian Players Register as Kangaroo No. 215. Norval is to date the only person to have been born in South Australia to play Test match rugby league.

Accolades

Team mate, Dick Dunn, described Norval as the best player he had seen since beginning his first grade career in 1935. In February 2008, Norval was named in the list of Australia's ''100 Greatest Players'' (1908–2007) which was commissioned by the

NRL The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

and ARL to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia. He has also been selected in Eastern Suburbs "Greatest-ever" team. In 2010 Norval was named in a South Newcastle team of the century.

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norval, Andy 1912 births Australian rugby league players Sydney Roosters players New South Wales rugby league team players City New South Wales rugby league team players Australia national rugby league team players 1999 deaths Rugby league locks