William James Mitchell (28 November 1890 – 2 June 1959) was a New Zealand

rugby football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union and rugby league. Canadian football and, to a lesser extent, American football were once considered forms of rugby football, but are seldom now referred to as such. The ...

er 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 ...

in both

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 ...

and

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 ...

Early years

Mitchell was born in

Melbourne, Australia Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metropol ...

before moving to New Zealand where he worked for the

New Zealand Railways Department The New Zealand Railways Department, NZR or NZGR (New Zealand Government Railways) and often known as the "Railways", was a government department charged with owning and maintaining New Zealand's railway infrastructure and operating the railway ...

Rugby union career

Mitchell played

for the Merivale club in Christchurch and represented

the province ''The Province'' is a daily newspaper published in tabloid format in British Columbia by Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, alongside the ''Vancouver Sun'' broadsheet newspaper. Together, they are British Columbia's only ...

nine times in 1909 and 1910. He was selected to be part of the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

tour of Australia in 1910 and played in five matches, including the second and third Test matches.Billy Mitchell
''allblacks.com''

Rugby league career

In 1911 Mitchell, along with three other players from the Merivale club, moved to Sydney and played for the

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 ...

.John Coffey and Bernie Wood, ''The Kiwis: 100 Years of International Rugby League'', Hodder Moa, Auckland, 2007, p. 43. He was then enticed north by the

Queensland Rugby League The Queensland Rugby Football League QRL Constitution, 2009: 3 (QRL QRL Constitution, 2009: 2) is the governing body for rugby league in Queensland. It is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission (ARL Commission) and selects the membe ...

. At the same time the

side was touring Australia and he was invited to join the touring party.Coffey, John. ''Canterbury XIII'', Christchurch, 1987. p.14 Mitchell played in four matches, becoming a

dual-code rugby international A dual-code rugby international is a rugby footballer who has played at the senior international level in both codes of rugby, 13-a-side rugby league and 15-a-side rugby union. Rugby league started as a breakaway version of rugby in Northern Eng ...

. Mitchell then returned to Christchurch and represented

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

in its first ever match in 1912. Mitchell toured Australia twice more with

, in 1913, and as captain in 1919. He played in his last match for New Zealand in 1920.MITCHELL, WILLIAM JAMES 1911, 1913, 1919 – 20 – KIWI #68
''nzleague.co.nz'' He played for the St Albans and Federal clubs in the

Canterbury Rugby League Canterbury Rugby League is the regional body that administers rugby league in Canterbury, New Zealand. CRL manages local competitions from senior level down to age group competitions. Canterbury Rugby League also manages the Canterbury rugby lea ...

competition.

Later years

Mitchell later served as a coach of the Canterbury side and a national selector.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Billy New Zealand rugby league administrators New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand national rugby league team players 1890 births New Zealand rugby union players 1959 deaths New Zealand international rugby union players Rugby union wings Rugby league wingers Canterbury rugby union players New Zealand people in rail transport Canterbury rugby league team players Canterbury rugby league team coaches New Zealand national rugby league team captains North Sydney Bears players Rugby union players from Melbourne Australian emigrants to New Zealand Rugby league players from Melbourne