Eugene Sylvester 'Owen' McCarthy (1882-1940) was an Australian professional

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 1910s. He played for South Sydney and Balmain in 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 ...

(NSWRL) competition. He later became the coach of the club in the mid-1920s.

Background

McCarthy was born in

Eden, New South Wales Eden is a coastal town in the South Coast (New South Wales), South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The town is south of the States and territories of Australia, state capital Sydney and is the most southerly town in New South Wales ...

and 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 Surry Hills and South Sydney in his early years. McCarthy also played for Alexandria in the South Sydney district rugby league competition.

Playing career

Despite being a Souths junior, McCarthy made his first grade debut for Balmain in Round 1 1911 against Newtown at the

Sydney Sports Ground The Sydney Sports Ground No. 1 was a Stadium and Dirt track racing venue in Sydney, New South Wales. The ground was located where the car park of the Sydney Football Stadium (SFS) currently sits. The ground had two main grandstands and was surro ...

. Balmain would go on to finish last in 1911, one of only 4 times the club would finish last in its entire history. In 1912, McCarthy joined South Sydney. In 1914, McCarthy played 13 games as Souths won the premiership losing only 2 games all year. In 1916, South Sydney reached the grand final against Balmain. The final was required to be played due to both clubs finishing on equal points. Balmain went into the halftime break with a 5–0 lead. In the second half, Souths crossed over for a try to make the score 5–3. Despite repeated attacks at the Balmain line, Souths were unable to score another try and lost the grand final which was played in front of a low crowd of 7,000 at the

Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in Sydney, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australian rules football and occasionally for rugby league, rugby union and as ...

. McCarthy retired at the end of the 1917 season as a player. McCarthy amazingly went his whole first grade career without scoring a try. In total, McCarthy played 82 games for Souths across all grades.

Coaching career

In 1924, McCarthy became the head coach at South Sydney. He guided Souths to the 1924 NSWRL grand final which was against Balmain. Souths lost the match 3–0 at the

in the lowest scoring grand final in the game's history. Following the grand final defeat, McCarthy stepped down as coach and was replaced by club legend

Howard Hallett Howard Hallett (1890–1970) was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach for South Sydney of the New South Wales Rugby League premiership. Hallett primarily played at . He represented for New South Wales and Australia and is considered ...

References

1882 births 1940 deaths Australian rugby league coaches Australian rugby league players Balmain Tigers players Rugby league hookers Rugby league locks Rugby league players from New South Wales Rugby league second-rows South Sydney Rabbitohs coaches South Sydney Rabbitohs players {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-stub