John Cuthbert Morley (28 July 1909 – 7 March 1972) was a Welsh international

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

wing who 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

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay Europe Ireland *Newport, County Mayo, a town on the ...

and

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 ...

with

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 won 14 caps for

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

in union, and five caps for Wales in rugby league, and was the first player to tour Australia and New Zealand for both union, and league British teams. Morley, although mainly a wing player was often used as a utility back, and was known for his incredible pace and ability to change direction at speed. He was an intelligent but unorthodox player.

Club career

Morley first represented Wales as a schoolboy, and after leaving Newport Municipal Secondary School he joined Newport. In his first season with the club he scored 29 tries, and by 1931 was captain of the senior Newport team, at the age of 21 he was the youngest player to be given the honour.Billot (1974), p. 136. He captained Newport against the touring South Africans at

Rodney Parade Rodney Parade is a stadium in the city of Newport, South Wales, owned and operated by the Welsh Rugby Union. It is located on the east bank of the River Usk in Newport city centre. The ground is on Rodney Road, a short walk from the city's cen ...

on 8 October 1931, and set up Ken Richards for a try after a typical zigzag run. The South Africans took note of Morley and attempted to ensure he wasn't given the space to run at them for the rest of the game.Billot (1974), p. 137. In August 1932 he switched to rugby league, leaving Newport for Wigan.

Championship final appearances

Jack Morley played , i.e. number 2, and scored a

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 ...

's 15–3 victory over Salford in the Championship Final during the 1933–34 season at Wilderspool Stadium,

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 ...

on Saturday 28 April 1934 .

County Cup Final appearances

Jack Morley played , i.e. number 2, in

's 10–7 victory over Salford in the 1938–39

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 Lancashi ...

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 1938–39 season at

Station Road, Swinton Station Road was a stadium in Pendlebury, near Manchester, England. It was the home of Swinton Rugby League Club between 1929 and 1992 and was widely recognised as one of the finest grounds in the Rugby League. Swinton moved to Station Road w ...

on Saturday 22 October 1938.

Notable tour matches

Jack Morley played , i.e. number 2, and scored 2- tries in

's 30–27 victory over

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

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 ...

, on Saturday 10 March 1934.

International career

Morley was first capped for Wales against England on 19 January 1929 and although he finished on the losing side he did manage to score a try on his début, when he received the ball forty yards out, broke infield and crossed wide, after cutting back inside to score.Godwin (1984), p. 173. He retained his place and played in the remaining three games of the Championship. After playing in two matches of the 1930 tournament, he played in all four matches of Wales's Championship winning 1932 campaign. Morley scored in all but one of the matches, surprisingly the game he failed to score was against France, when Wales were rampant and his team mates scored seven tries. Morley was capped 14 times for Wales and his final game was against Ireland at the Cardiff Arms Park in 1932. He would probably have been chosen for future teams as he was still a young exciting player, but his decision to join a professional league side made him ineligible for future Welsh games.

International matches played under union code

WalesSmith (1980), p. 469. * 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932 * 1929, 1931 * 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932 * 1929, 1931, 1932 * 1931 British Lions *

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

1930, 1930, 1930

International matches played under league code

Great Britain * 1936, 1937 Wales * 1932, 1936 * 1935, 1935 * 1933

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

Statistics at wigan.rlfans.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morley, Jack 1909 births 1972 deaths British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Wales Crawshays RFC players Dual-code rugby internationals England national rugby league team players Great Britain national rugby league team players Newport RFC players Rugby union players from Newport, Wales Rugby league wingers Rugby union centres Wales international rugby union players Wales national rugby league team players Welsh rugby league players Welsh rugby union players Wigan Warriors players Rugby league players from Newport, Wales