Frank Curran (1910-1985) 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 in the 1930s. An Australian international representative, he played club football for South Sydney in the

NSWRFL 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 Sou ...

as well as in country New South Wales.

Playing career

A star schoolboy footballer at De La Salle College in

Armidale Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale had a population of 24,504 as of June 2018. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands region. It ...

, Curran played for Ballina's Rovers club before moving to Sydney. He started playing first grade for Souths in the

1931 NSWRFL season The 1931 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the twenty-fourth season of Sydney’s top-level rugby league club competition, Australia’s first. During the season, which lasted from April until September, eight teams from acros ...

. At the end of the season he played in the premiership final-winning Souths team. It was back-to-back premierships for South Sydney, with Curran playing in the 1932 premiership final as well. In 1933 Curran was first selected to represent Australia, 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 (rugby league), Ashes series ...

becoming Kangaroo No. 182. That season he also played representative football for Sydney, and then New South Wales. The 1937 NSWRFL season was Curran's last with South Sydney. He was selected to go on the

Kangaroo tour Kangaroo Tour is the name given to Australian national rugby league team tours of Great Britain and France, tours to New Zealand and the one-off tour to Papua New Guinea (1991). The first Kangaroo Tour was in 1908. Traditionally, Kangaroo Tours to ...

of 1937–38. Curran became the first Australian player to score on French soil in a

Test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

in 1938. Frank's son,

Declan Curran Declan Curran (born 15 April 1952) was a rugby union player who represented Australia. Curran, a prop, was born in Ballina, New South Wales and claimed a total of 5 international rugby caps for Australia. His father, Frank Curran, played Rug ...

, played

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 ...

for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Curran, Frank 1910 births 1985 deaths Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league players Ballina Seagulls players City New South Wales rugby league team players Country New South Wales rugby league team players New South Wales rugby league team players Rugby league players from Armidale, New South Wales Rugby league props South Sydney Rabbitohs players