James Maskell Abercrombie (born James Maskell; 31 December 1880 – 29 October 1948) 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 for Western Suburbs in the

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 ...

competition. He also 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 North Sydney and Glebe. His position of choice was at though his versatility meant he could play anywhere in the forwards and he often goal kicked.

Family

Abercrombie was born as James Maskell on New Year's Eve 1880 in

Curramulka Curramulka is a town in the Australian state of South Australia on the Yorke Peninsula. Curramulka is within easy driving distance of the coastal resort towns of Port Victoria and Port Vincent and is north-east of Minlaton. At the , Curramu ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. His parents were Thomas Meskel and Lucy Hickman. The family changed their name to Maskell Abercrombie before Jim's marriage in 1906 to Grace Johnson, and his son was baptised in 1907 as William Joseph Maskell Abercrombie.

Career

Abercrombie originally played rugby union prior to the formation of the New South Wales Rugby League premiership in 1908 and was one of the original players to make the switch to the newly formed code. He attended the founding meeting of the Western Suburbs rugby league club and was elected to the inaugural committee. Abercrombie played in Wests' very first match against Balmain and scored Wests' very first goals in 1st grade in the following match against Souths. He played all nine matches of the inaugural season and was selected the first national representative side that played against the visiting New Zealand All Golds. He was also controversially a member of the

1908–09 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain The 1908–09 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain was the first ever such tour for the newly-formed Australia national rugby league team (or 'The Kangaroos'). The tour was to England and Wales and coincided with the first Wallabies Rugby Union tour of ...

after he was originally left out of the squad though after a public outcry over his omission he was called in, thus making him the first international player to come from the Western Suburbs club. He played in two Tests and 30 tour matches of the long campaign. Abercrombie was awarded Life Membership of the

New South Wales Rugby League The New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was ...

in 1914. In 2008, the Western Suburbs Magpies celebrated their centenary by inducting six inaugural members into the club's Hall of Fame. These six included Jim Abercrombie.

References

External links

Wests Tigers Team of the Century Nominations
1880 births 1948 deaths Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league players Australian rugby union players New South Wales rugby league team players Rugby league locks Rugby league players from South Australia Western Suburbs Magpies players {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1880s-stub