Charles "Boxer" Joseph Russell (5 December 1884 – 15 May 1957) was a pioneer 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 ...
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 ...
footballer and coach. He represented his country in both sports and was one Australia's early
dual-code rugby internationals
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 ...
. He was a gold medallist at the
1908 Summer Olympics
The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, United Kingdom, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were ori ...
.
Rugby union career
![Olympic Rugby 1908](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Olympic_Rugby_1908.jpg)
Russell was a centre/winger whose club rugby was played with the Newtown RUFC in Sydney. He played three Tests for 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 ...
in 1907 against 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 ...
before being selected for the
first Wallaby tour of Britain in 1908. He played in both Tests of the tour scoring tries in each. His 24 tries in all games of that tour still stands as Wallaby record. He was a member of the Australian
Olympic
Olympic or Olympics may refer to
Sports
Competitions
* Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896
** Summer Olympic Games
** Winter Olympic Games
* Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...
team who won Gold in London in 1908 in the team captained by
Chris McKivat
Christopher Hobart McKivat (alternatively spelled McKivatt, pronounced ; 27 November 1880 − 4 May 1941) was an Australian rugby union and rugby league player – a dual-code rugby international. He represented the Wallabies in over 20 Tests ...
.
Rugby league career
On his return to Australia he joined the fledgling code of rugby league along with 13 of his Olympic teammates. He played at full-back in the first Test against Great Britain in 1910 when Australia hosted the tourists. He was selected in 1911 for the 2nd
Kangaroo
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 ...
tour of Great Britain and played in 24 tour matches scoring 9 tries. He played on the wing in the victorious 1st and 2nd Tests of 1911.
During the
1910 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand
The 1910 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand was the first international tour of the Great Britain national rugby league team, "The Lions". They played the second ever Ashes series against Australia, and their first as the visiti ...
, the first ever, Russell made his international league début in the first Test in Sydney on 18 June. Four of his former
Wallaby
A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized Macropodidae, 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 Taxonomy (biology), taxon ...
teammates also debuted that day
John Barnett
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second ...
,
Bob Craig,
Jack Hickey and
Chris McKivat
Christopher Hobart McKivat (alternatively spelled McKivatt, pronounced ; 27 November 1880 − 4 May 1941) was an Australian rugby union and rugby league player – a dual-code rugby international. He represented the Wallabies in over 20 Tests ...
- making them collectively Australia's 11th to 15th dual code internationals. This repeated a similar occurrence two years earlier when five former Wallabies in
Micky Dore
Michael Joseph Dore (1 July 1883 – 13 August 1910) was an Australian representative rugby union and rugby league footballer - a dual-code international. He was one of the founding fathers of rugby league in Queensland. Along with Dally Messe ...
,
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 ...
,
Denis Lutge
Denis "Dinny" Lutge (26 November 1879 – 18 February 1953) was a pioneer Australian rugby league and rugby union player, a dual-code international. He was the second ever captain of the Australian national rugby league team and the first to le ...
,
Doug McLean snr
Douglas James McLean Sr. (15 April 1880 – December 1947) was a pioneer Australian representative rugby union and rugby league footballer, a dual-code international. He also represented Queensland in rugby league.
Rugby union career
Born in Br ...
and
John Rosewell
John S. H. Rosewell (1 July 1882 – 20 November 1931) was an Australian rugby union and pioneer professional rugby league footballer and represented his country at both sports – a List of dual-code rugby internationals, dual-code internati ...
all debuted for 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 first ever Test against
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 ...
.
His club football was with
Newtown, where he played for 7 seasons. He was captain-coach of the Newtown premiership-winning side of
1910, landing two goals to tie the final against
South Sydney 4-4, thus enabling Newtown to win the premiership.
Russell was also selected for 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 ...
.
Post playing
Russell coached Newtown for a number of years including the premiership winning team of
1933
Events
January
* January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand.
* January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wis ...
.He was a graded referee and served as an Australian rugby league selector for a number of years.
Charles Russell 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 1944.
[Sydney Morning Herald- 19 Dec 1944,(page 8)] In 2008, the centenary year of rugby league in Australia, Russell was named in the Newtown Jets 18-man team of the century.
See also
*
Rugby union at the 1908 Summer Olympics
Rugby union at the 1908 Summer Olympics. The event was summarised under the "Football" heading along with association football. The host Great Britain was represented by Cornwall, the 1908 county champion. Defending Olympic champions France wi ...
Footnotes
References
* Andrews, Malcolm (2006) ''The ABC of Rugby League'', Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney
* Collective essays (1995) ''Gordon Bray presents The Spirit of Rugby'', Harper Collins Publishers Sydney
*
Whiticker, Alan & Hudson, Glen (2006) ''The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players'', Gavin Allen Publishing, Sydney
* Whiticker, Alan (2004) ''Captaining the Kangaroos'', New Holland, Sydney
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Charles
1884 births
1957 deaths
Australasia rugby league team players
Australia international rugby union players
Australia national rugby league team players
Australian rugby league administrators
Australian rugby league coaches
Australian rugby league players
Australian rugby league referees
Australian rugby union players
Dual-code rugby internationals
Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics
Newtown Jets captains
Newtown Jets coaches
Newtown Jets players
Olympic gold medalists for Australasia
Olympic rugby union players of Australasia
Rugby league players from Sydney
Rugby union players at the 1908 Summer Olympics
Rugby union players from Sydney
Rugby union wings