Alfred Bert Gray (1890–1967) 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 for

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 ...

in the NSWRL competition in the 1910s and 1920s. He represented

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 ...

and .

Background

Born in

Glebe, New South Wales Glebe is an inner-western suburb of Sydney. Glebe is located southwest of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney, in the Inner West region. Glebe is surrounded by Blackwattle Bay ...

to parents Ernest and Jane Gray, Gray learnt the game of rugby in the Glebe rugby union juniors before switching to rugby league. His younger brothers Paddy and

Frank Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curr ...

were also first-grade rugby league players. Another brother, Tom, played reserve grade for Glebe.

Playing career

Gray played in twelve first grade seasons for

between 1912 and 1926. Following a three season absence while serving in

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 ...

, Gray returned to first grade in 1919. Gray was selected to represent during the 1920 Ashes series against . He was selected again for Australia for their tour of Great Britain in 1921–22. He played just five matches during this tour after suffering a knee injury. This knee injury hampered the remainder of his career, and was ultimately the cause of his retirement in May 1925. Gray came out of retirement for the 1926 season after the twelve month break afforded him a chance to rest and recover. He played in the 1922 Grand Final for the Glebe team that was defeated by

North Sydney Bears The North Sydney Bears is an Australian rugby league football club based in North Sydney, New South Wales. The club competes in the New South Wales Cup, having exited the National Rugby League following the 1999 NRL season after 90 years in the ...

35–3.

Post-playing career

Gray was a selector for Australia, New South Wales, and Metropolis for a total of 20 years until retiring in 1952.

Death

Gray died on 17 December 1967, aged 77.Sydney Morning Herald: Death Notice .- 18/12/1967

References

1890 births 1967 deaths Australian rugby league players Glebe rugby league players New South Wales rugby league team players Australia national rugby league team players Rugby league players from Sydney {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1890s-stub