Ronald James Lisle (19 September 1939 – 1 March 2003) was an Australian

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 ...

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 ...

player and a dual code rugby international. He represented the

Wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and so ...

in 4 tests in 1961 and the

Australia national rugby league team The Australian National Rugby League Team, the Kangaroos, have represented Australia in senior men's rugby league football competition since the establishment of Rugby league in Australia, the 'Northern Union game' in Australia in 1908. Admin ...

in 13 matches on the 1963 Kangaroo tour.

Union career

A champion schoolboy athlete Lisle broke into first grade in 1959 with the Sydney suburban club, Drummoyne DRFC (the "Dirty Reds"). He debuted for NSW in 1960 forming a successful halves combination with

Ken Catchpole Kenneth William Catchpole (21 June 1939 – 21 December 2017) was an Australian rugby union footballer. A New South Wales Waratahs, state and Australia national rugby union team, national representative half-back, he played twenty-seven matche ...

. In 1961 he made his national rugby union debut as a

Wallaby A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized Macropodidae, macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same Taxonomy (biology), taxon ...

playing three test matches against Fiji. Later that year he made an appearance against South Africa playing inside

Mike Cleary Mike Cleary (May 19, 1858 in County Laois, Ireland – September 5, 1893 in Belfast, New York) was an Irish-American boxer. Cleary was born in County Laois, and emigrated to the United States. He was known as a quick and "scrappy" fight ...

. He played rugby union at fly half or centre.

League career

Along with Cleary, following the South African Wallaby tour he made the code switch and joined the

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional 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 pla ...

in 1962 . He played 106 grade games with the club till 1968. After just one appearance in the professional code in 1961 he was selected 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 ...

. Three weeks later with still only one club appearance under his belt Lisle made his international rugby league debut in the third test in Sydney against the visiting

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 ...

. This stands as the fastest rise to international representative status in Australian rugby league history. At season end after just five club appearances he was selected in the all conquering 1963

Kangaroo tour Kangaroo Tour is the name given to Australian national rugby league team tours of Great Britain and France, tours to New Zealand and the one-off tour to Papua New Guinea (1991). The first Kangaroo Tour was in 1908. Traditionally, Kangaroo Tours to ...

of England and France though he did not play in any Tests on the tour. He was Australia's 30th dual code rugby international following Michael Cleary and preceding

Dick Thornett Richard Norman Thornett (23 September 1940 – 12 October 2011) was one of five Australians to have represented their country in three sports. He was an Olympic water polo player before becoming a rugby league and rugby union player – a dual ...

. Lisle played in the premiership winning Souths side of 1967. He played his rugby league at five-eighth. Post football Lisle studied for a Masters of Education at the University of Oregon in the USA. He died in 2003. Outside of Rugby League duties he was a Physical Education Teacher at Bass and Randwick Boys High, and Wyong Technology High School. PE teacher Orara High School, Coffs Harbour. He also taught at Homebush Boys High between 1961 and 1963. I was a student there then and he was one of two PE teachers there at that time. In 2004 he was named by the Souths in their ''South Sydney Dream Team'',South Sydney Dream Team
from the official South Sydney website. consisting of 17 players and a coach representing the club from

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 ...

through to

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

League playing record

* ''Club:''

106 games, 35 tries * ''Representative:'' Australia 6 Tests.

Footnotes

References

* Alan Whiticker, Whiticker, Alan & Hudson, Glen (2006) ''The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players'', Gavin Allen Publishing, Sydney * Andrews, Malcolm (2006) ''The ABC of Rugby League'' Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney * Haddan, Steve (2007) ''The Finals – 100 Years of National Rugby League Finals'', Steve Haddan Publishing, Brisbane {{DEFAULTSORT:Lisle, Jimmy 1939 births 2003 deaths Dual-code rugby internationals Australian rugby league players Australian rugby union players South Sydney Rabbitohs players Australia national rugby league team players Australia international rugby union players South Sydney Rabbitohs captains Rugby league players from Grafton, New South Wales Rugby union centres Rugby union players from New South Wales