Benjamin Alfred Davidson (1902–1961) was a New Zealand

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 11 ...

footballer 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 ...

. His brother

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also represented New Zealand and another brother,

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, played for Auckland and competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics as a sprinter.

Playing career

Lord Bledsoe and Ben Davidson at Carlaw Park, 1930

Alongside his brothers, Davidson played for the

City Rovers The City Newton Dragons are a defunct New Zealand rugby league club that was based at Victoria Park, Auckland. The club was created in 1948 by a merger of two original clubs, the City Rovers and Newton Rangers. Both the Rovers and the Rangers pa ...

in the Auckland Rugby League competition. He played for Auckland City in 1923 against the touring

Great Britain Lions The Great Britain national rugby league team represents Great Britain in rugby league. Administered by the Rugby Football League (RFL), the team is nicknamed The Lions. For most of the 20th century, the Great Britain team toured overseas, ...

.Coffey, John and Bernie Wood ''Auckland, 100 years of rugby league, 1909-2009'', 2009. . He was selected for the

New Zealand national rugby league team 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 ...

on their 1926-27 tour of Great Britain. Along with

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and Len Mason, Davidson was signed by

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the 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 north-east and Warrington t ...

after the tour. Davidson played there for three seasons, scoring 31 tries in 69 games. NZ v England, 1932

He then returned to Auckland. Davidson again made the

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

side and in 1932 played for New Zealand against the

. He finished his test career having played in four matches.DAVIDSON, Benjamin Alfred (1925 - 27, 1932)
''nzleague.co.nz''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Ben 1902 births 1961 deaths New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand national rugby league team players Auckland rugby league team players City Rovers players Wigan Warriors players North Island rugby league team players Rugby league wingers Rugby league centres Place of birth missing Date of birth missing