Wiliam A. Cann (1882–1958) 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 ...

footballer who played in the 1900s who later wrote for ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

''. A New South Wales state and Australia national representative lock forward, he has been named as one of the nation's finest footballers of the 20th century. Cann played his club football for South Sydney with whom he won the 1914 NSWRFL Premiership. In 1907 he played for

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

in the very first rugby match run by the newly created '

New South Wales Rugby Football League The New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was ...

' which had just split away from the established

New South Wales Rugby Football Union The New South Wales Rugby Union, or NSWRU, is the Sports governing body, governing body for the sport of rugby union within most of the state of New South Wales in Australia. It is a member and founding union of Rugby Australia. Within Austr ...

. Cann was also a long-term administrator at Souths and a football journalist.

Playing career

Cann, a contemporary of

Dally Messenger Herbert Henry Messenger, nicknamed "Dally" and sometimes "The Master" (12 April 1883 – 24 November 1959) was one of Australasia's first professional rugby footballers, recognised as one of the greatest-ever players in either code. He played f ...

and

Albert Rosenfeld Albert Aaron Rosenfeld (28 July 1885 – 7 September 1970), also known by the nickname of "Rozzy", was a pioneer Australian rugby league footballer, a national representative whose club career was played in Sydney and in England. He played f ...

, began his playing career as a

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 ...

three-quarter at Souths. Frustrated at being ignored by rugby union selectors, he joined the rebel

New South Wales rugby league team The New South Wales rugby league team has represented the Australian state of New South Wales in rugby league football since the sport's beginnings there in 1907. Also known as the Blues due to their sky blue jerseys, the team competes in the ann ...

which played the New Zealand All Golds in 1907. Cann joined

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional 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 pla ...

in 1908. Cann was also selected to play for

in their first ever rugby league game against Queensland, scoring a

try Try or TRY may refer to: Music Albums * ''Try!'', an album by the John Mayer Trio * ''Try'' (Bebo Norman album) (2014) Songs * "Try" (Blue Rodeo song) (1987) * "Try" (Colbie Caillat song) (2014) * "Try" (Nelly Furtado song) (2004) * " Try (Ju ...

in the 43–0 victory, which was the first in a clean sweep of all three of the

1908 interstate series The 1908 Interstate rugby league series was the first series of matches between the then newly formed New South Wales and Queensland rugby league football teams. In what was rugby league in Australia's first year, three matches were played in July ...

' games. Butler was then selected to tour England with the

Kangaroos Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...

in the 1908–09 so was unable to play in Souths' first premiership win in 1908. Cann is listed on the Australian Players Register as Kangaroo No. 20. Cann was a member of the premiership-winning Souths teams of

1909 Events January–February * January 4 – Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escaped death by fleeing across ice floes. * January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama. * Januar ...

. As Canns family history is now lost forever Cann also represented

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...

in 1910. Cann was selected to go on the

1911–12 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain The 1911–12 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain was the second ever Kangaroo tour and was actually a tour by an " Australasian" squad that included four New Zealand players in addition to 24 Australian representatives. It took place over the British ...

as well as two tours to New Zealand with the New South Wales team. Cann was a member of the premiership-winning Souths teams of

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...

. He had played 9 seasons with the club.

Administrative career

Cann was a member of Souths' committee from 1908 as well as a delegate to the

(NSWRFL). In 1921–1922, Cann was co-manager of the

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 ...

along with Souths' secretary, S. G. "George" Ball. During the 1940s and 1950s, Cann was a vice-president of the NSWRFL. He also wrote for ''

''.

Accolades

Cann is credited with shaping the role of the lock in the new code. John Quinlan (1911–1912 tour co-manager) said of Cann: "It was he who introduced the typical Australian style of fast forward play in which the backs and forwards combine so effectively and spectacularly. It is no reflection on his successors to say the original model remains the greatest gem." He was awarded Life Membership of the

New South Wales Rugby League The New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was ...

in 1914. In February 2008, Cann 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 ARL may refer to: Military * US Navy hull classification symbol for repair ship * Admiralty Research Laboratory, UK * United States Army Research Laboratory * ARL 44, a WWII French tank Organizations * Aero Research Limited, a UK adhesives compan ...

to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia.

References

Sources

* *

External links

Billy Cann at ''NRL Stats''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cann, Billy 1882 births 1958 deaths Australasia rugby league team players New South Wales rugby league team players Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league administrators Australian rugby league players Australian rugby league journalists South Sydney Rabbitohs players Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Sydney South Sydney Rabbitohs captains