Herbert Michael Gilbert (4 May 1917 – 31 October 1983) was a three-time premiership winning and

State representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

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 and 1940s. A who played with the

St. George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

and Balmain clubs, he won premierships and made state representative appearances, both before and after active service in World War II.

Early years

Son of

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 ...

great

Herb Gilbert Herbert R. Gilbert (18 September 1888 – 5 January 1972) was an Australian rugby league and rugby union player – a dual-code international. He represented the Wallabies in three Tests in 1910 and the Kangaroos in seven Tests from 1911 to 19 ...

, Herb Gilbert Jr started playing first grade in the

New South Wales Rugby Football 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 ...

with the

club in 1938. In 1940 he began representative playing duties 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 ...

appearing in games III and IV in Brisbane of that year's series against

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

Gilbert played alongside his brother Jack in the St. George Dragons 1941 Grand Final winning team. The following season he again made representative appearances in Brisbane for games III and IV of the interstate series. Gilbert then played in the 1942 Grand Final loss to Canterbury-Bankstown. The outbreak of war then interrupted his football career.

War service

Gilbert's football career was interrupted due to his enlistment in the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...

in 1942. He served in the 54 Anti-Aircraft regiment as a gunner and was not discharged from active service until the war was over in November 1945. Both his younger brothers

Jack Gilbert Jack Gilbert (February 18, 1925 – November 13, 2012) was an American poet. Gilbert was acquainted with Jack Spicer and Allen Ginsberg, both prominent figureheads of the Beat Movement, but is not considered a Beat Poet; he described himself as ...

and

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

also saw active service. James, like Herb was in the 54th Anti-Aircraft Regiment and was stationed in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

Post-war career

After discharge Gilbert returned to football, moving to the Balmain club for the 1946 season. In 1946 he represented New South Wales against England during the first post-war Lions tour and made another appearance for the Blues in the inter-state series. That year Balmain reached 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. Sy ...

against his former club St. George. Gilbert played in a close game, won by Balmain 13–12. Tensions of the encounter overflowed after full-time and the match concluded on an ugly note when Saints forward,

Jim Hale James Alfred Hale (1916-1992) was an Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s. Career Hale was graded with the South Sydney club in 1940 and switched mid-season to join St. George with whom he played seven seasons between 19 ...

went toe-to-toe with Gilbert. Hale was then attacked by a spectator and an all-in brawl followed. Gilbert won another premiership with Balmain Tigers in season 1947 when his team defeated Canterbury-Bankstown in the

. He retired after the

1948 NSWRFL season The 1948 NSWRFL season was the forty-first New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership season, Sydney’s top-level rugby league football competition, and Australia’s first. The teams remained unchanged from the previous season, with ten ...

. Gilbert was a member of the New South Wales rugby league team on eight occasions between 1940 and 1946. Herbert Michael Gilbert died on 31 October 1983, aged 66. Sydney Morning Herlad (Death Notice) 1/11/1983

References

On-line sources

Herb Gilbert Jr. at yetsredayshero.com.au

Herb Gilbert Jr. at nrlstats.com

Published sources

* Whiticker, Alan & Hudson, Glen (2006) ''The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players'', Gavin Allen Publishing, Sydney * Haddan, Steve (2007) ''The Finals - 100 Years of National Rugby League Finals'', Steve Haddan Publishing, Brisbane 1917 births 1983 deaths Rugby league players from Sydney Australian rugby league players Balmain Tigers players St. George Dragons players New South Wales rugby league team players City New South Wales rugby league team players Australian Army personnel of World War II Rugby league hookers Australian Army soldiers {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-stub