Frank O'Rourke (1906 - 1994) was an Australian professional

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 1920s and 1930s. He played at representative level for

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 ...

City A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

and

Other Nationalities The Other Nationalities rugby league team are a rugby league representative team that usually consists of non-English players. They have also played under the name The Exiles and more recently Combined Nations All Stars. They competed in the first ...

, and at club level for

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

(whom he also

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

ed) and

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

, as a or .

Background

O'Rourke was born in Hinton, near Morpeth, New South Wales, Australia in 1906, he was the cousin of the boxer;

Les Darcy James Leslie Darcy (28 October 189524 May 1917) was an Australian boxer. He was a middleweight, but held the Australian Heavyweight Championship title at the same time. Les Darcy was the 2003 Inductee for the Australian National Boxing Hall o ...

, he learned

football while attending Marist Brothers High School in West Maitland.

Playing career

O'Rourke continued with football whilst attending the

in the early 1920s. He usually played on the wing, and was highly regarded as a future representative player. He went on to

the club during 1926 and 1927. O'Rourke represented

and

, while at University of Sydney. O'Rourke played in

's 5-11 defeat by South Sydney in the

1926 Events January * January 3 – Theodoros Pangalos declares himself dictator in Greece. * January 8 **Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Hejaz. ** Crown Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thuy ascends the throne, the last monarch of V ...

New South Wales Rugby 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 ...

Final at Royal Agricultural Society Grounds,

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

on 18 September 1926. He played first grade for the 'varsity team' for four seasons between 1924-1927. Following the lifting of the twenty-three year international rugby league transfer ban Frank O'Rourke moved to the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

in England to secure his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

, and he along with fellow Australian;

Jeff Moores Jeff Moores ( – 17 Jul 1989) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1920s and 1930s. He played at representative level for Queensland Firsts, Rugby League XIII and Dominion XIII, and at club level for Wes ...

, and New Zealander;

Wally Desmond Walter Leslie Desmond (born 6 January 1906) was a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1920s and 1930s. He played at representative level for New Zealand ( Heritage № 184), and Wellington, and at club level for Le ...

, immediately joined the Leeds rugby league club where he had huge success. During his three years at Leeds University, he and his wife depended entirely on his rugby league earnings from the Leeds club to survive. After obtaining his university degree, he stayed at Leeds for a further three seasons. O'Rourke made his début for Leeds in the defeat by

Bradford Northern The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is predomi ...

, Leeds' first defeat by Bradford Northern in 19-years, and scored his first

try Try or TRY may refer to: Music Albums * ''Try!'', an album by the John Mayer Trio * ''Try'' (Bebo Norman album) (2014) Songs * "Try" (Blue Rodeo song) (1987) * "Try" (Colbie Caillat song) (2014) * "Try" (Nelly Furtado song) (2004) * " Try (Ju ...

for Leeds in the defeat by St. Helens Recreation, with 20-tries he was Leeds' top

-scorer in the 1927-28 season, with 26-tries he was Leeds' top

-scorer in the 1928-29 season, and with 27-tries he was Leeds' top

-scorer in the 1929-30 season, that included; four-tries against

Batley Batley is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. Batley lies south-west of Leeds, north-west of Wakefield and Dewsbury, south-east of Bradford and north-east of Huddersfield. Batley is part of the ...

, three-tries (a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

) in the next match against Halifax, four-tries against

Keighley Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parish in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford. Keighley is north-west of Bradford city centre, north-west of Bi ...

, and five-tries against Bradford Northern. O'Rourke played , and scored a

' 5-0 victory over Featherstone Rovers in the

1928–29 Yorkshire Cup The 1928–29 Yorkshire Cup was the 21st occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition had been held. Leeds won the trophy by beating Featherstone Rovers in the final by the score of 5-0. The match was played at Belle Vue, in the City of Wakef ...

Final at Belle Vue,

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

on Saturday 24 November 1928. O'Rourke won caps for

while at

, in the 20-27 defeat by

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

at Headingley Rugby Stadium,

on Wednesday 20 March 1929 in front of a crowd of 5,000, and the 18-31 defeat by England at

Knowsley Road Knowsley Road in Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside, was the home ground of St. Helens from 1890 until its closure in 2010. St Helens Town FC played their home fixtures at Knowsley Road from 2002 until 2010. For a period, the venue also hosted ...

, St. Helens on Wednesday 1 October 1930, in front of a crowd of 10,000. He played in the 10-2 victory over

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

in the

1930–31 Yorkshire Cup The 1930–31 Yorkshire Cup was the twenty-third occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition had been held. Leeds won the trophy by beating Huddersfield in the final by the score of 10–2. This was Leeds' second of six victories in a period ...

Final at Thrum Hall, Halifax on Saturday 22 November 1930. O'Rourke went on to play in

' 11-8 victory over Swinton in the

1931–32 Challenge Cup The 1931–32 Challenge Cup was the 32nd staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. First round Second round Quarterfinals Semifinals Final References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1931-32 Challenge Cup Challeng ...

Final at

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, 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 nor ...

. He played in the 8-0 victory over

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the c ...

in the

1932–33 Yorkshire Cup The 1932–33 Yorkshire Cup was the fifteenth occasion on which Rugby Football League's (RFL) Yorkshire Cup competition had been held. Leeds won the trophy by beating Wakefield Trinity by the score of 8-0 The match was played at Fartown, Hu ...

Final at Fartown Ground,

on Saturday 19 November 1932. O'Rourke returned to Australia to take up an educational role. After he returned from England, he played one last season for University in 1934.

Post-playing

O'Rourke coached at Sydney Boys High School in the 1940s, mentoring players such as Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks player

George Taylforth George Henry Taylforth (born 25 January 1941) is a British-born Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s and 1970s. He played for Canterbury-Bankstown and Cronulla-Sutherland, notable for his long-range go ...

, St. George Dragons premiership winning halfback

George Evans George Evans may refer to: Arts and entertainment * George "Honey Boy" Evans (1870–1915), American songwriter and entertainer * George Evans (bandleader) (1915–1993), English jazz bandleader, arranger and tenor saxophonist * George Evans (si ...

(1962, 1963, 1964, 1965) and 1991 World Cup Winning Australia rugby union coach

Bob Dwyer Bob Dwyer AM (born 29 November 1940) is an Australian rugby union coach. Early life Educated at Sydney Boys High School, graduating in 1957, where he played 2nd XV for the school where he played alongside former Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs a ...

, and was

Keith McLellan Keith McLellan (born 14 July 1929) is a former Australian athlete, and rugby union, and rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s. He played club level rugby union for Eastern Suburbs RUFC, 1948-1951 and was named in the club team of the ...

's contract adviser when signing for

. O'Rourke died at the Stella Maris Nursing Home,

Cronulla, New South Wales Cronulla is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdiv ...

on 24 November 1994, aged 88.Sydney Morning Herald - death Notice 26 November 1994

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Orourke, Frank 1906 births 1994 deaths Australian rugby league players Balmain Tigers players City New South Wales rugby league team players Date of birth missing Leeds Rhinos players New South Wales rugby league team players Other Nationalities rugby league team players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Maitland, New South Wales Rugby league wingers Sydney University rugby league team players