Peter Moir (1882-1921) was an Australian rugby footballer of the early 1900s who was a key figure in the foundation of

rugby league in Australia Rugby league in Australia has been one of Australia's most popular sports since it started being played there in 1908. It is the dominant winter football code in the states of New South Wales and Queensland. In 2009, it was the most watched spor ...

. He was one of Australia's first national representative players appearing in the inaugural professional series against New Zealand in 1907 and making the

1908–09 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain The 1908–09 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain was the first ever such tour for the newly-formed Australia national rugby league team (or 'The Kangaroos'). The tour was to England and Wales and coincided with the first Wallabies Rugby Union tour of ...

. In 1907 he played 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 ...

in the very first rugby match run by the newly created '

New South Wales Rugby Football 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 ...

' which had just split away from the established

New South Wales Rugby Football Union The New South Wales Rugby Union, or NSWRU, is the Sports governing body, governing body for the sport of rugby union within most of the state of New South Wales in Australia. It is a member and founding union of Rugby Australia. Within Austr ...

Union career and dissent

Moir played rugby for Bathurst and Glebe, gaining selection for the

New South Wales rugby union team The New South Wales Waratahs ( or ;), referred to as the Waratahs, are an Australian professional rugby union team representing the majority of New South Wales in the Super Rugby competition. The Riverina and other southern parts of the state ...

in 1903. At the time concerns were starting to be raised over rugby football and cricket administrations' treatment of their players, Moir was a frequent visitor to Australian international cricketer

Victor Trumper Victor Thomas Trumper (2 November 1877 – 28 June 1915) was an Australian cricketer known as the most stylish and versatile batsman of the Golden Age of cricket, capable of playing match-winning innings on wet wickets his contemporaries found ...

's sporting goods store at

Market Street, Sydney Market Street is a street in the city centre of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. It runs from Sussex Street near Darling Harbour in the west, to Elizabeth Street at St. James railway station in the east. Market Street is located in t ...

. Moir and Trumper, along with

Alec Burdon Alexander Burdon (31 March 1879 – 13 December 1943) was an Australian rugby union and pioneer professional rugby league footballer - a dual-code rugby international. He was one of the founding fathers of rugby league in Australia, representi ...

J J Giltinan James Joseph Giltinan (1866–1950) was an Australian entrepreneur who helped to introduce the sport of rugby league football to Australia. The J. J. Giltinan Shield, which is awarded annually to the National Rugby League minor premiers, was na ...

and

Henry Hoyle Henry "Harry" Clement Hoyle (20 November 1852 – 20 July 1926) was an Australian politician and rugby league football administrator of the 1890s and 1900s. A life member of the New South Wales Rugby League, Hoyle is credited with helping t ...

attended one such meeting in 1907 to form a new governing body for rugby football in New South Wales and organise a team to host

Albert Baskiville Albert (Bert) Henry Baskerville (born as "Baskiville") (15 January 1883 – 20 May 1908) was a Wellington postal clerk, a rugby union forward, author of the book "''Modern Rugby Football: New Zealand Methods; Points for the Beginner, the Pla ...

's similarly rebellious touring New Zealand rugby team.

Professional career

When the Australian leg of the

1907–1908 New Zealand rugby tour of Australia and Great Britain Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Mus ...

commenced, Moir played for the first ever

New South Wales rugby league team The New South Wales rugby league team has represented the Australian state of New South Wales in rugby league football since the sport's beginnings there in 1907. Also known as the Blues due to their sky blue jerseys, the team competes in the ann ...

at second-row forward against the "All Golds". Although played under rugby union rules, this match was professional (all players received £1) and was the first rugby match not sanctioned by the

and thus was essentially Australia's first rugby league match. The following year, the 1908 NSWRFL season, the first of the

, commenced and Moir played for

Glebe RLFC The Glebe Dirty Reds are an Australian rugby league foundation club which played in the New South Wales Rugby Football League's Sydney premiership, the major competition for the sport in Sydney, from 1908 until their exit at the end of 1929. Th ...

. He made two state representative appearances for

against

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

that year and at season's end he was selected to tour with the inaugural

Kangaroos Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...

on the 1908-09 tour. He played in only four matches of the tour none of them Test matches. Following the Kangaroo tour he retired and took on an administrative role with the Glebe club. He was only 39 years old when he died at the Coast Hospital, Malabar on the 10 June 1921 after contracting blood poisoning. Peter Moir was awarded Life Membership of 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 ...

in 1914.Referee, Sydney-''Life Members of the NSW Rugby League''- 13 May 1914. (page 12)

References

Bibliography

* Whiticker, Alan & Hudson, Glen (2006) ''The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players'', Gavin Allen Publishing, Sydney
The All Golds

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moir, Peter 1882 births Australian rugby union players New South Wales Waratahs players Australian rugby league players New South Wales rugby league team players Glebe rugby league players Australia national rugby league team players 1921 deaths Date of birth missing