David Michael Brown (4 April 1913 – 23 February 1974) was one of Australia's greatest
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 11 ...
footballers.
Brown in his distinctive
headgear was said to be one of the most admired sights in the game during the 1930s. He won two premierships with
Easts and scored so many points,
tries and
goals
A goal is an objective that a person or a system plans or intends to achieve.
Goal may also refer to:
Sport
* Goal (sports), a method of scoring in many sports, or the physical structure or area where scoring occurs
** Goals, the goal frame in ...
and established so many records (some may never be bettered) that he is referred to as "the
Bradman of league". In 2003 Brown was inducted into the
Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame
The Australian Rugby LeaguHall of Fame'' honours players who have shown exceptional skill at rugby league, all-time great coaches and referees, and other major contributors to the game who are Australian.
It was officially established in 2002, ...
and in 2008 he was named in the
New South Wales rugby league team
The New South Wales rugby league team has represented the Australian state of New South Wales in rugby league football since the sport's beginnings there in 1907. Also known as the Blues due to their sky blue jerseys, the team competes in the an ...
of the century. In 2018, Brown joined Rugby League's elite by being inducted as a
Rugby League Immortal.
Background
Brown was born
Sydney,
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 ...
, Australia.
As a child Brown lost the top of his thumb in a lawn-mowing accident. While playing football at school he badly broke an arm, dislocating the elbow and causing severe nerve damage which cost him the use of two fingers on his right hand. Despite these setbacks Brown was an all-round sportsman – an A-grade tennis player, champion junior
surfer and a representative
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...
er. Brown attended Sydney's
Waverley College
, motto_translation = Virtue alone ennobles
, location = 131 Birrell Street
, city = Waverley, New South Wales
, country = Australia
, coordinates =
, type = Independent early learn ...
under the tuition of
Arthur Hennessy
Arthur Stephen "Ash" Hennessy (24 September 1876 – 19 September 1959) was an Australian pioneer rugby league identity. He was a seminal figure in the creation of the South Sydney Rabbitohs for whom he played and later coached. He was a state an ...
, Australia's first ever rugby league test captain, who was the school sporting coach at the time.
Stellar early career
The powerfully built
centre
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
* Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...
joined the
Eastern Suburbs club straight out of school. After just a handful of lower grade games Brown was promoted to the top grade. The following year aged just eighteen Brown was selected to represent his state –
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 3 interstate matches against Queensland. Soon after the teenager lost all his
hair, after contracting a
virus
A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea.
Since Dmitri Ivanovsk ...
while
swimming
Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...
and took to wearing a
hairpiece to cover his baldness.
At the beginning of the 1932 season, aged just nineteen years and twelve days, Brown was named captain of the Eastern Suburbs club. The following year he was selected for the
1933–34 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain
The 1933–34 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain was the fifth Kangaroo tour, and took the Australia national rugby league team around the north of England, to London and Paris. The tour also featured the 11th Ashes series which comprised three Tes ...
. On the boat trip over one of his teammates, unable to stand the sight of Brown's hairpiece any longer, tossed it out one of the ship's
porthole
A porthole, sometimes called bull's-eye window or bull's-eye, is a generally circular window used on the hull of ships to admit light and air. Though the term is of maritime origin, it is also used to describe round windows on armored vehicle ...
s, causing him to begin wearing his trademark headgear. On the tour he played in 32 matches, including all 3 Tests, scoring 285 points, at the time the greatest number ever attained by an Australian player on tour from 19
tries and 114 goals. In an exhibition match played in on a snow-covered ground between England and Australia, (the first rugby league game played on French soil) Brown scored 6 tries and kicked 9 goals for a total of 36 points.
Record breaking years
Once home in Sydney, Brown led a star-studded
Easts side to the 1934 minor premiership, losing to
Western Suburbs in the
premiership decider. In the following season – 1935,
Easts lost just 1 match and captured their fifth premiership,
That 1935 season was Brown's best. In just fifteen club matches he scored 244 points (38
tries, 65 goals). His 1935 record try tally still stands: indeed
Newtown winger Ray Preston remains the only other player to score more than 30 tries in a season, totaling 34 during
the 1954 season. In the first round match against
Canterbury-Bankstown
Canterbury-Bankstown is a customary region of Sydney, Australia, in the south-western suburbs. The area is located around the Bankstown railway line, to the west of the St George region and to the south of the Inner West region. The suburbs ...
Brown scored a premiership record 45 points (5 tries, 15 goals), with the 15 goal tally also standing as the record for goals in a match. In the second round match against Canterbury-Bankstown he scored a further 38 points (6 tries, 10 goals), which stands as the equal record for the second-most points in a premiership match. He recorded further records in round 16 when he scored 26 (4 tries, 7 goals) against
North Sydney then in round 18 against
Balmain he notched up a further 32 points, from 6 tries and 7 goals. The pointscoring wizard amassed 385 points that year (incorporating all Eastern Suburbs and representative matches). What make his records all the more impressive is that during the 1934, 1935 and 1936 seasons Brown was not the only goalkicker at the club, with teammate
Jack Beaton taking many of the easier shots for goal.
On 28 September 1935, at just 22 years and 177 days Brown was named as the youngest ever Australian captain, and led his country to a series victory over New Zealand. In 1936 Easts again took out the
NSWRL season title, this time finishing undefeated.
Warrington and final playing years
At the end of the 1936 season Brown accepted an offer from English rugby league club,
Warrington
Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...
, a four-year deal worth 1,000 pounds for the first season (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £161,800 in 2013).
Brown played right-, i.e. number 3, and scored 2-
tries in
Warrington
Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...
's 8–4 victory over
Barrow in the
1937–38 Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...
County Cup
The county football associations are the local governing bodies of association football in England and the Crown dependencies. County FAs exist to govern all aspects of football in England. They are responsible for administering club and player ...
Final during the
1937–38 season at
Central Park
Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated ...
,
Wigan
Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington t ...
on Saturday 23 October 1937.
Brown played 93 matches for the Warrington Wolves, scoring 326 points – 48 tries and 91 goals. In a cup semi final against St Helens Brown kicked what he considers to be his finest goal, it is recounted this way.
"with the scores locked at 2-all in the dying moments Warrington were awarded a penalty near the touch-line
The touch-line is the line on either side of the playing area of a game of rugby league, rugby union and association football. In many other sports it is called a side-line.
The continuation of the touch-line beyond the goal line ending at the ...
and five-yards on their own side of half-way, Brown took the shot, guiding it between the posts to give Warrington a 4–2 win and a spot in the Cup final."
But Brown never enjoyed quite the same level of success in England; he bought out the final year of his contract and returned home.
Once home Brown rejoined the Eastern Suburbs club, playing in the remaining matches of the 1939 season. In 1940 with Dave Brown appointed as captain and coach of the side,
Easts finished the year at the top of the league ladder and despite losing Brown with a leg injury, managed to capture another
premiership. 1941 was to be Brown's last season. Easts again finished first at the end of the regular season but went down to
St George in the
premiership decider. Brown at twenty-nine years old announced his retirement following the match.
Post-football
After his retirement from the game Brown took up a position as the games liaison officer, promoting rugby league in schools. He also spent time coaching and promoting the game in South Africa
Dave Brown 'The Bradman of League' died from cancer in 1974, 40 days before his 61st birthday. He was survived by two sisters, nephews, nieces, and his records.
Accolades
In 2003 he was admitted into the
Australian Rugby League
The Australian Rugby League Commission (ARL), formerly the Australian Rugby Football League known as the Australian Rugby League is an Australian rugby league football competition operator. It was founded in 1986 as the Australian Rugby Footbal ...
Hall of Fame. Up until 1986 the award for the best player in the
Grand Final
Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. S ...
each year was known as the Dave Brown Medal. Dave Brown was also named in the centres, alongside
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 ...
in the Eastern Suburbs club's greatest team. Additionally, a plaque in the Walk of Honour at the
Sydney Cricket Ground commemorates his career.
In February 2008, Brown was named in the list of Australia's
''100 Greatest Players'' (1908–2007) which was commissioned by the
NRL
The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...
and
ARL
ARL may refer to:
Military
* US Navy hull classification symbol for repair ship
* Admiralty Research Laboratory, UK
* United States Army Research Laboratory
* ARL 44, a WWII French tank
Organizations
* Aero Research Limited, a UK adhesives comp ...
to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia. In 2008 Brown was also named in New South Wales' rugby league team of the century.
Joining fellow pre-WWII greats
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 ...
and
Frank Burge
Frank Burge (14 August 1894 – 5 July 1958) was one of the greatest Rugby league positions#Forwards, forwards in the history of rugby league in Australia. Later Burge became one of the game’s finest coaches. His club career was with Glebe (ru ...
, Brown was inducted as a
Rugby League Immortal in 2018, along with recent greats
Norm Provan
Norman Douglas Somerville Provan (18 December 1932 – 13 October 2021) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer and coach. Also nicknamed "Sticks", he was a second-row forward with the St George Dragons during the first ten of t ...
and
Mal Meninga
Malcolm Norman Meninga (; born 8 July 1960) is an Australian professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of the Australian national team and a former professional rugby league footballer. Meninga is widely regarded as one of the fin ...
.
References
External links
*
David Brown at the Online Dictionary of Australian BiographiesStatistics at wolvesplayers.thisiswarrington.co.uk*
*
Sydney Roosters 100 Year Celebrations profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Dave
1913 births
1974 deaths
Australia national rugby league team captains
Australia national rugby league team players
Australian rugby league coaches
Australian rugby league players
Dominion XIII rugby league team players
Rugby league centres
Rugby league players from Sydney
Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees
Sydney Roosters coaches
Sydney Roosters players
Sydney Roosters captains
Warrington Wolves players