George William Smith (20 September 1874 – 7 December 1954) was a New Zealand sportsman who excelled at track and field as well as both codes of

rugby football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union and rugby league. Canadian football and, to a lesser extent, American football were once considered forms of rugby football, but are seldom now referred to as such. The ...

Early years

Smith was born in Auckland and educated at Wellesley Street School. He became a successful jockey and won the 1894

New Zealand Cup The New Zealand Cup is a thoroughbred horse race run at the Riccarton Park Racecourse in Christchurch. New Zealand Cup week The New Zealand Cup is raced on the final Saturday of Christchurch "Cup week" held each year in the second week of Novem ...

, riding Impulse. He had to abandon his racing career after gaining weight.

Athletics

As a track athlete, Smith was an outstanding sprinter and

hurdler Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

, winning 15 national championships between 1898 and 1904 (100 yards sprint and 440 yards hurdles five times each and the 120 yards hurdles four times plus the 250 yards once), as well as multiple Australasian championships and the 1902 British

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quarter-mile hurdles, in which event he had an unofficial world record of 58.5s. While in Britain in 1902

Manningham F.C. Manningham was an English rugby league football club based in Manningham, Bradford, the first champions of the Rugby Football League (then known as the Northern Rugby Football Union) in its first season. After seven seasons of rugby league, ...

tried to sign Smith to play

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 ...

. Smith turned down the £100 contract.Coffey and Wood ''The Kiwis: 100 Years of International Rugby League''

Rugby union

Smith began his rugby career in 1895 playing

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 the City Rugby Club in Auckland. He first represented his home province

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

in 1896 and, in the following year made, his début for the New Zealand national team against

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 ...

. However, in the following years, Smith played little rugby, instead preferring to concentrate on track. He made a comeback in 1901, gaining All Black selection, before disappearing again until he was enticed back to the game with the prospect of joining the ' Originals' tour to the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

and France in 1905. During the Originals tour, Smith was one of the outstanding players, especially in the early part of the tour, playing in 19 games, including the internationals against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, and scoring 19 tries. It was during this time in Britain that he first saw Northern Union being played. Altogether, Smith made 39 appearances for New Zealand in rugby union, 21 as a

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

and 18 at

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 eccentricity ...

, and scored 34 tries. Smith played for the City club and represented Auckland in 1906. City conducted a four-game tour of Sydney after the season had ended.Coffey, John and Bernie Wood ''Auckland, 100 years of rugby league, 1909–2009'', 2009. , p.3.

Rugby league

While in Sydney with the City club Smith met an Australian entrepreneur,

James Giltinan James Joseph Giltinan (1866–1950) was an Australian entrepreneur who helped to introduce the sport of rugby league football to Australia. The J. J. Giltinan Shield, which is awarded annually to the National Rugby League minor premiers, was na ...

, and discussed the potential of professional rugby in

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...

. Smith is reported to have told Giltinan "What about you gettings Rugby League going in Australia, and I'll do my best when I cross the Tasman home."John Haynes ''From All Blacks to All Golds: Rugby League's Pioneers'', Christchurch, Ryan and Haynes, 1996. He then met

Albert Baskiville Albert (Bert) Henry Baskerville (born as "Baskiville") (15 January 1883 – 20 May 1908) was a Wellington postal clerk, a rugby union forward, author of the book "''Modern Rugby Football: New Zealand Methods; Points for the Beginner, the Pla ...

in Wellington and played a leading part in the formation of the professional 1907-1908 New Zealand rugby tour of Great Britain, helping to select the touring party. At the time Smith was probably the best known athlete in New Zealand and his involvement in the tour lent it credibility and increased its ability to attract players. Smith was elected vice-captain and the tour was a success, both financially and on the field, with the team winning its three match series against

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

. Smith later described the tour as the happiest one he had ever been associated with. After touring with the professional All Blacks he stayed on in Britain to play professionally with the

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

club ( Heritage № 118), signing a £150 contract. This gave Smith the financial freedom he had been seeking and he bought his fiancée over from New Zealand to join him in Oldham. George William Smith played right-, i.e. number 3, in

's 9-10 defeat by

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 ...

in the

1908 Events January * January 1 – The British ''Nimrod'' Expedition led by Ernest Shackleton sets sail from New Zealand on the ''Nimrod'' for Antarctica. * January 3 – A total solar eclipse is visible in the Pacific Ocean, and is the 46 ...

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Final during the 1908–09 season at

Wheater's Field Wheater's Field was a rugby ground in Broughton, Salford, England. It was home to the Broughton Rangers rugby league club of the Northern Union. On 19 October 1907, the stadium hosted a match between Rangers and the New Zealand All Golds. It ...

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on Saturday 19 December 1908. Smith played , i.e. number 5, in Oldham's 3-7 defeat by

in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

Final during the 1908–09 season at

The Willows, Salford The Willows was a rugby league stadium in Weaste, Salford, England. It had a final capacity of 11,363 with 2,500 seats. History In 1900, Salford agreed a 14-year lease on of land belonging to the Willows Estate Company, named after the abunda ...

on Saturday 1 May 1909. By 1912 Smith had moved into the forwards and played at second row. Smith played for the club until 1916 when a broken leg ended his career.

After retirement

Smith then joined a textile firm but in 1932 returned to rugby league, being involved in the

coaching staff for three years. He often met touring New Zealand League and

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 ...

sides. He lived in Oldham until his death on 7 December 1954.

Legacy

Smith was posthumously inducted into the

New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame The New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame is an organisation commemorating New Zealand's greatest sporting triumphs. It was inaugurated as part of the New Zealand sesquicentenary celebrations in 1990. Some 160 members have been inducted into the Hall o ...

in 1995. For his role in the birth of international rugby league, the 'George Smith Medal' was minted in 2002 to be awarded to the player of Test series between Great Britain and New Zealand. That year Smith's 92-year-old daughter Edna Stansfield, who was living in Oldham, viewed the medal inspired by her father when she was visited by a director of the New Zealand Rugby League. His son, George Smith, played both rugby codes and died in a Japanese prisoner camp in 1943. Two of Smith's nephews (

Dick Dick, Dicks, or Dick's may refer to: Media * ''Dicks'' (album), a 2004 album by Fila Brazillia * Dicks (band), a musical group * ''Dick'' (film), a 1999 American comedy film * "Dick" (song), a 2019 song by Starboi3 featuring Doja Cat Names ...

and Jack), born to his brother Walton, played rugby league for New Zealand in the 1930s.

References

*McMillan, N. A. C. 'Smith, George William 1874 – 1954'. ''Dictionary of New Zealand Biography'', updated 7 April 2006

External links

Dictionary of New Zealand Biography
*

''Oldham Heritage Trust'', Accessed 13 August 2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, George William 1874 births 1954 deaths Auckland rugby union players Dual-code rugby internationals Hawke's Bay rugby league team players New Zealand male hurdlers New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand jockeys New Zealand national rugby league team captains New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand rugby league coaches New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand male sprinters Oldham R.L.F.C. players Rugby union players from Auckland Rugby league players from Auckland Rugby league centres Rugby league second-rows Rugby league wingers Athletes from Auckland