Arnott John 'Arnold' Traynor (1896-1976) was an Australian

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 ...

player who played in the 1920s and 1930s. He was a foundation player in the formative years of the

St. George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

club and later captained St George's first grade premiership team.

Background

Traynor was born in

Bathurst, New South Wales Bathurst () is a city in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. Bathurst is about 200 kilometres (120 mi) west-northwest of Sydney and is the seat of the Bathurst Regional Council. Bathurst is the oldest inland settlement in ...

to parents John and Rose Traynor in 1896. The family moved 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 ...

when Arnold was a young boy and he learned to play rugby league in the

St Peters, New South Wales St Peters is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 7 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Inner West Council, with a small section in the sou ...

area. He played his junior football in the St. George area for Bexley Waratahs and made his first grade premiership debut for the newly formed St. George DRLFC during the 1922 NSWRFL season. Married at 19 to Lillian Freebody.

Playing career

He played eight seasons for St. George between 1922-1928 and 1930. He is remembered as one of the early members of the St George team, playing in the club's formative years with others such as

Herb Gilbert Herbert R. Gilbert (18 September 1888 – 5 January 1972) was an Australian rugby league and rugby union player – a dual-code international. He represented the Wallabies in three Tests in 1910 and the Kangaroos in seven Tests from 1911 to 19 ...

and Clarrie Tye. Traynor was captain of the team during the mid 1920s and right up until the 1930 final series in Snowy Justice's absence He played in the infamous match known as the Earl Park Riot on 11 August 1928 as well as St George's 1930 Grand Final loss to Western Suburbs on 4 Oct 1930.

Death

Traynor died at his

Pagewood, New South Wales Pagewood is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 8 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district. It is part of the Bayside Council. Pagewood has a mixture of residential and industrial areas. Hist ...

home on 29 July 1976, aged 80.Sydney Morning Herald - Death Notice 05/08/1976

References

St. George Dragons players 1896 births 1976 deaths Australian rugby league players Rugby league players from Sydney Rugby league five-eighths {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1890s-stub