Neville Bussey Smith (13 December 1915 – 5 August 1997) 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 in the 1930s and 1940s. A Queensland

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 ...

, Smith became a premiership winning captain-coach with Sydney's St. George club. In seasons

1939 This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Third Reich *** Jews are forbidden to ...

1941 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar Eu ...

he was the NSWRFL premiership's top point scorer.

Career

After moving from Bathurst to Queensland in 1935, Smith played club football in the

Brisbane Rugby League premiership The Brisbane Rugby League is a rugby league football competition in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was first held in 1922 and for every year until 1997. The competition was reinstated in 2001, known as the FOGS premiership under the Quee ...

for three seasons with Fortitude Valley and represented for the

Maroons Maroons are descendants of African diaspora in the Americas, Africans in the Americas who escaped from slavery and formed their own settlements. They often mixed with indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous peoples, eventually ethnogenesi ...

on two occasions in 1938. In

he returned south to play 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 St. George club and was the league's top point-scorer that season. Smith was first selected to representative honours in the New South Wales rugby league team in 1940 as captain and made six appearances in 1940 & 41. National representative sides did not play during

WWII World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and Smith never represented his country. At

St George Saint George (Greek language, Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin language, Latin: Georgius, Arabic language, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christians, Christian who is venerated as a sa ...

in 1939 aged just 23, Neville Smith was appointed the youngest captain-coach in the club's history and in

he led the club to its inaugural premiership. In 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 ...

he was knocked unconscious in a heavy tackle but recovered to score 13 points (1 try and 5 goals). That season, he was again the league's highest point scorer. After winning the

premiership as captain-coach of St. George Dragons, he sat out the 1942 season. Smith returned for a final year as captain-coach of

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 ...

in the

1943 NSWRFL season The 1943 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the thirty-sixth season of Sydney's top-level rugby league competition, Australia's first. Eight teams from across the city contested during the season which lasted from April unti ...

. He played 59 first grade games for St. George Dragons during his time at the club, and scored a total of 281 points. St_George_DRLFC_Premiers_1941

Accolades

On 20 July 2022, Smith was named in the St. George Dragons District Rugby League Clubs team of the century.

References

External links

Neville Smith at yesterdayshero.com.auQueensland representatives at qrl.com.auNeville Smith 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 1915 births 1997 deaths Australian rugby league coaches Australian rugby league players Fortitude Valley Diehards players New South Wales rugby league team players Queensland rugby league team players Rugby league players from Orange, New South Wales Rugby league second-rows South Sydney Rabbitohs players St. George Dragons captains St. George Dragons coaches St. George Dragons players {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-stub