George Thomas Bryan Palmer (1899–1990) was an Australian

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 ...

player who coached the

Wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and so ...

. He has been described as "one of the most colourful personalities in Australian rugby".

Early life

Palmer was born in

Dubbo Dubbo () is a city in the Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021. The city is located at the intersection of the Newell, Mitchell, and Gol ...

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 ...

, the son of T D Palmer, who had played Rugby for the Waratahs in 1899. He played his first Rugby in Dubbo before attending

Newington College , motto_translation = To Faith Add Knowledge , location = Inner West and Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = A ...

as a boarder (1915–1916).

War service

Palmer served with the

Australian Light Horse Australian Light Horse were mounted troops with characteristics of both cavalry and mounted infantry, who served in the Second Boer War and World War I. During the inter-war years, a number of regiments were raised as part of Australia's part-ti ...

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and was invalided home after a bout of near fatal

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

. As part of his recovery he joined the

Glebe Glebe (; also known as church furlong, rectory manor or parson's close(s))McGurk 1970, p. 17 is an area of land within an ecclesiastical parish used to support a parish priest. The land may be owned by the church, or its profits may be reserved ...

- Balmain Rugby Club to build up his strength and over the ensuing seven seasons played 93 games on the wing.

Representative rugby

His first of seven matches for NSW was played in 1927. Palmer was selected and toured with the

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in 1931 but didn't play a match.

Coach

Between 1963 and 1967 he was the coach of the national side, retiring at the age of 68.

Honours

* Palmer Shield - Played for by NSW Primary Schools * Bryan Palmer Shield - Played for each year by The King's School and Newington College since the centenary of rugby between the two schools in 1970

References

1899 births 1990 deaths Australian rugby union players Australian rugby union coaches People educated at Newington College {{Australia-rugbyunion-bio-stub