Larry 'Jersey' O'Malley (1883–1967) was a pioneer 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 11 ...

player for the

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club. He was the fifth

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captain and the second from the Eastern Suburbs Club. Before switching codes and joining the Eastern Suburbs club in rugby league's foundation year, 1908, O'Malley played rugby union firstly for the East Borough and then the Sydney Rugby Union Clubs in 1906-07

Rugby league career

Born in Ireland in 1883, he arrived in Australia with his parents and older brother the following year aboard the ''Selkirkshire '' as assisted immigrants. The family settled in Paddington, and Larry played rugby with the local juniors. He gained his nickname of 'Jersey' because of his red hair. Larry 'Jersey' O'Malley played with

for six seasons: 1908, 1909 and 1911–1914, and played over 50 first grade games. He had a reputation as a tough 'no nonsense' forward.Whiticker pp31-32

Representative career

He made his representative début for

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in rugby league's inaugural

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match in 1908. Later that year he was selected for Australia's first ' Kangaroo Tour'. He played in 34 matches including all three Tests and was sent off twice in matches on the tour. His 34-game effort stands as the record for the most matches played on a Kangaroo tour. The following season he captained Australia in two Test Matches against New Zealand. During the 1908 ' Kangaroo Tour' O'Malley signed with the

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club,

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for the 1910 English season. He returned to Australia and enjoying successive premierships with the

club in

1911 A notable ongoing event was the Comparison of the Amundsen and Scott Expeditions, race for the South Pole. Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory ...

, 1912 and

1913 Events January * January 5 – First Balkan War: Battle of Lemnos – Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it will not venture for the rest of the ...

. He was also a member of the Eastern Suburbs side that won the

City Cup The City Cup was a rugby league competition involving Australian premiership teams. The post season tournament was a regular feature in the years 1912–1925. City Cups were also played in 1937, 1942 and 1959. The inaugural city cup was contested ...

in 1914.

Referee

O'Malley retired from playing the game at the end of the 1914 season but went on to become a first grade referee.

Playing record

* ''Club:''

1908-09 and 1911–14) 62 games, 4 tries * ''Representative:'' Australia (1908–09) 5 Tests, and New South Wales (1908–13) 9 appearances.

References

Sources

* Whiticker, Alan (2004) ''Captaining the Kangaroos'', New Holland, Sydney {{DEFAULTSORT:Omalley, Larry 1883 births 1967 deaths Australian rugby league players Australian rugby league referees Australia national rugby league team captains Australia national rugby league team players New South Wales rugby league team players Rugby league second-rows Sydney Roosters players Warrington Wolves players Irish emigrants to Australia (before 1923)