Charles Lawrence "Chicka" Cahill (28 January 1916 – 14 July 2007) was an Australian premiership-winning

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. He played in the forwards for the Newtown club in the

New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia and contributor to today's National Rugby League. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League (initially named the New Sout ...

from 1941 to 1947.

Playing career

Born in

Wickham, New South Wales Wickham is an inner suburb of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, located from Newcastle's central business district. History The Aboriginal people, in this area, the Awabakal, were the first people of this land. Wickham which was a Missp ...

, Cahill's first senior football was played in the

Newcastle Rugby League The Newcastle Rugby League is a local rugby league football competition in Newcastle, Australia. It is one of the oldest rugby league competitions in Australia, founded in 1910. A Newcastle representative team was also assembled from players in ...

with the Northern Suburbs club. He came to Sydney during WWII joining Newtown from the 1941 season. Cahill first enjoyed premiership success in the 1943 season with Newtown. His good form continued in the 1944 season, as he helped Newtown become minor premiers and runners-up. In the 1945 season Cahill was the competition's top try-scorer. He also 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 ...

in the 1940s and was probably denied international representative honours due to the war.

Coaching and Administrative career

He took up coaching with the

Thirlmere Thirlmere is a reservoir in the Allerdale, Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria and the English Lake District National Park, Lake District. The Helvellyn ridge lies to the east of Thirlmere. To the west of Thirlmere are a number of fells; for inst ...

club in the Wollongong competition from 1948 to 1950. He then coached Newtown from 1959 to 1961, later becoming an administrator at the club, holding the positions of selector, vice-president, secretary and president in the 1960s and 1970s. He was awarded life membership of the NSWRFL in 1966 for his contribution to rugby league. Cahill was voted as President of

Newtown Jets The Newtown Jets are an Australian rugby league football club based in Newtown, a suburb of Sydney's inner west. They currently compete in the NSW Cup competition, having left the top grade after the 1983 NSWRFL season. The Jets' home ground ...

in 1978, getting in by one vote when club millionaire backer,

John Singleton John Daniel Singleton (January 6, 1968 April 28, 2019) was an American director, screenwriter, and producer. He made his feature film debut writing and directing ''Boyz n the Hood'' (1991), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for B ...

, stated he would pull his support for the club if Chicka Cahill lost the vote. Cahill died on 14 July 2007 at Hillview House, an aged care facility at Ashmore, Queensland, age 91.Sydney Morning Herald: ''Death Notice'' 18 July 2007

References

Sources

External links

Charles Cahill at rl1908.comCharles Cahill at newtownjets.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cahill, Charles 1916 births 2007 deaths Australian rugby league administrators Australian rugby league coaches Australian rugby league players New South Wales rugby league team players Newtown Jets captains Newtown Jets coaches Newtown Jets players Rugby league players from Newcastle, New South Wales