Peter Harold Boyne Burge (14 February 1884 – 15 July 1956) was an Australian

rugby football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union and rugby league. Canadian football and, to a lesser extent, American football were once considered forms of rugby football, but are seldom now referred to as such. The ...

er and coach. He represented his country in both

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 ...

and

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 it ...

. The eldest of the four Burge brothers, Peter was one of the first Australian

dual-code rugby internationals A dual-code rugby international is a rugby footballer who has played at the senior international level in both codes of rugby, 13-a-side rugby league and 15-a-side rugby union. Rugby league started as a breakaway version of rugby in Northern Eng ...

Rugby union career

Playing

with South Sydney in 1904 the twenty-year-old Burge was selected for the Metropolis (City) representative side against the Great Britain tourists. When the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

toured in 1905 Burge played against them firstly for Metropolis and then in a

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 ...

side. Burge, a

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

claimed a total of three international rugby caps for Australia. In two of these matches, he served as captain. His debut game was against New Zealand, at Sydney, on 20 July 1907. He made two

tours, to New Zealand in 1905 with the first full Australian team and later on the epic 1908–09 Australia rugby union tour of Britain under captain Paddy Moran. On both trips he only played one game due to injury. On the Wallaby tour of 1908 he broke his tibia in his first match against Devon. He took no further part in the tour and one of the replacements sent over to fill the touring squad was his brother Albert Burge.

Rugby league career

He was one of the fourteen 1908–09 Wallabies including

Chris McKivat Christopher Hobart McKivat (alternatively spelled McKivatt, pronounced ; 27 November 1880 − 4 May 1941) was an Australian rugby union and rugby league player – a dual-code rugby international. He represented the Wallabies in over 20 Tests ...

, Charles McMurtie, "Boxer" Russell and

Arthur McCabe Arthur John Michael "Mackker" McCabe (23 June 1887 – 30 July 1924) was an Australian rugby union and pioneer professional rugby league footballer. He represented for Australian in rugby union at the 1908 Summer Olympics. Rugby union career ...

who defected to

after their return from the Olympics and the epic tour. In Burge's case he joined his brother Alby in the 1909 "Wallabies v Kangaroos" promotional match which then disqualified him from the amateur code. He joined the

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional Australian rugby league club based in Redfern, a suburb of inner-southern Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and are one of nine existing tea ...

in 1910 but then the following year linked with Alby and

Frank Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curr ...

Glebe Glebe (; also known as church furlong, rectory manor or parson's close(s))McGurk 1970, p. 17 is an area of land within an ecclesiastical parish used to support a parish priest. The land may be owned by the church, or its profits may be reserved ...

. He toured Great Britain on the

1911–12 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain The 1911–12 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain was the second ever Kangaroo tour and was actually a tour by an " Australasian" squad that included four New Zealand players in addition to 24 Australian representatives. It took place over the British ...

, captained by his former Wallaby and then Glebe captain,

. He made four tour matches appearances for Australia. Along with McMurtie and Bob Stuart, Peter Burge made his international league debut in a tour match on that 1911 tour but did not play in any Tests. Collectively they were therefore Australia's 17th to 19th dual-code rugby internationals.

Coaching career

Like Frank Burge had done in 1927, Peter in 1937 coached the

St. George Dragons The St. George Dragons is an Australian rugby league football club from St George District in Sydney, New South Wales that played in the top level New South Wales competition and Australian Rugby League competitions from the 1921 until th ...

Death

Peter Burge died suddenly at his brother Frank's house in

Hurstville, New South Wales Hurstville is a suburb in Southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is 16 kilometres south of the Sydney CBD and is part of the St George area. Hurstville is the administrative centre of the local government area of the George ...

on 15 July 1956, age 72. He was buried at

Waverley Cemetery The Waverley Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery on top of the cliffs at Bronte in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Opened in 1877 and built by R. Watkins (cemetery lodge, 1878) and P. Beddie (cemetery office, 1915), ...

with his parents, Peter and Emily Burge.Sydney Morning Herald: Death Notice - 17 July 1956

References

* Andrews, Malcolm (2006) ''The ABC of Rugby League'', Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney * Whiticker, Alan (2004) ''Captaining the Kangaroos'', New Holland, Sydney * Whiticker, Alan & Hudson, Glen (2006) ''The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players'', Gavin Allen Publishing, Sydney * Whiticker, Alan & Collis, Ian (2006) ''The History of Rugby League Clubs'', New Holland, Sydney * Heads, Ian & Middleton, David (2008) ''A Centenary of Rugby League'', MacMillan, Sydney. * Howell, Max (2005) ''Born to Lead: Wallaby Test Captains'', Celebrity Books, Auckland, NZ. {{DEFAULTSORT:Burge, Peter 1884 births 1956 deaths Australasia rugby league team players Australia international rugby union players Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league coaches Australian rugby league players Australian rugby union captains Australian rugby union players

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

Dual-code rugby internationals Glebe rugby league players Rugby league players from Sydney South Sydney Rabbitohs players St. George Dragons coaches Rugby union locks Rugby union players from Sydney

Rugby union career

Rugby league career

Coaching career

Death

See also

References