Nelson 'Bill' Hardy (1905–1993) was an Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1920s and 1930s. Hardy was playing first grade in the NSWRFL premiership for his side, the

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, at just 18 years of age. An accomplished or Hardy played 87 matches for Easts in the years 1925–30. In 1928, Hardy was a member of the Eastern Suburbs side that was defeated by South Sydney in that year's premiership decider. On 22 December 1928 Hardy took place in rugby league first night match, an exhibition match between that year's finalists Easts and Souths. Hardy played in three tests for the

Australia national rugby league team The Australian National Rugby League Team, the Kangaroos, have represented Australia in senior men's rugby league football competition since the establishment of Rugby league in Australia, the 'Northern Union game' in Australia in 1908. Admin ...

in the 1928 season against a touring Great Britain side and was a representative of New South Wales on 15 occasions throughout his career. Hardy played out his career in England with the Warrington Wolves club. However, when he returned to Australia, he played as captain coach of

Cessnock, New South Wales Cessnock is a city in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, about by road west of Newcastle, New South Wales, Newcastle. It is the administrative centre of the City of Cessnock Local government in Australia, LGA and was named after a ...

in 1935. He then came back to Sydney and moved to the St. George District and had one season at the St. George Dragons in 1936, but injuries ended his final season early. Hardy's sons Kevin and Don played first grade for

while his grandson,

Steve ''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen Notable people with the name include: steve jops * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people * Steve ...

, was an Australian schoolboy rugby league representative who played for both the Cronulla-Sutherland and Eastern Suburbs clubs. A glazier by trade Hardy was aged 87 at the time of his death in 1993.SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (Death Notice) Death Notice : 3 April 1993

References

Sources

* Whiticker, Alan & Hudson, Glen (2006) ''The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players'', Gavin Allen Publishing, Sydney * (David Middleton), ''Rugby League Yearbook'' 1905 births 1993 deaths Australian rugby league coaches Australian rugby league players New South Wales rugby league team players City New South Wales rugby league team players Sydney Roosters players St. George Dragons players Australia national rugby league team players Warrington Wolves players Rugby league centres Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Sydney {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1900s-stub