Sinon Bernard "Sine" Boland (12 July 1875 – 1954), born Toowoomba, Queensland, was an Australian soldier, rower and rugby union player and one of the founders of

Queensland Rugby League The Queensland Rugby Football League QRL Constitution, 2009: 3 (QRL QRL Constitution, 2009: 2) is the governing body for rugby league in Queensland. It is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission (ARL Commission) and selects the membe ...

. In rugby union, he played for the Queensland and Australian team as a

flanker Flanker may refer to: * Flanker (perfume), a newly created perfume sharing attributes of an existing one * Flanker (rugby union), a position in rugby union (not found in rugby league) * ''Su-27 Flanker'' (video game), a 1996 computer game modelin ...

and appeared in the inaugural series of Tests matches played by Australia in 1899. A Boer War and

Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles ...

veteran, he once stood for the Queensland Parliament.

Personal life and career

Boland was born in Toowoomba, near Brisbane in Queensland. He was the son of Edmund and Catherine (née Stapleton) Boland. His father, a butcher, had been born in Ireland, and was

Mayor of Toowoomba This is a list of mayors of the City of Toowoomba and the Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. In March 2008 the City of Toowoomba was amalgamated with the Shires of Crows Nest, Rosalie, Jondaryan, Cambooya, Clifton, Millmerran, and P ...

in 1889 and 1897.Stronger as One - Classic Wallaby Profiles
www.aru.com.au; online 31 August 2016 Sinon was a member of the Brisbane Rowing Club and rowed for Queensland in intercolonial competition. He married Mary Kathleen Phillips in Brisbane in 1904, with whom he had three children: Bernard, Dudley and Paula. He worked as a clerk and fettler for Queensland Railways, starting as a 15-year-old apprentice clerk in 1891 and working his way up to be employed at Railway Commissioner’s Office in Brisbane. After serving in the Boer War and in World War One, Boland ran as an independent nationalist candidate for the seat of Inner Brisbane in 1919, but was not elected. Boland died on 3 August 1954.

Rugby Union

Boland played for the Past Grammar Schools Football Club in Brisbane, and went on to claim a total of 3 international rugby caps for Australia, playing in the first ever home Tests against the British Lions and the first ever Test Match against New Zealand. In 1899 he had his international debut in the 3rd Test of

1899 British Lions tour to Australia The 1899 British Isles tour to Australia was the fourth rugby union tour by a British Isles team and the second to Australia; though the first tour in 1888 was a private venture, making the 1899 tour the first official undertaking of Australi ...

against Matthew Mullineux's British side in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, on 5 August 1899. A week later he would play again in the 4th test. He had earlier made an appearance for Queensland against those same tourists. In Queensland Rugby Union’s 1932 Jubilee, Boland was named in the "Gallery of Great Players" for representing QLD on more than 10 occasions. He had played 15 matches for the state: 13 against NSW, one against Great Britain and one against New Zealand.

Foundation of Rugby League

Boland was among the group of Brisbane rugby union players credited with starting Rugby League in Queensland. The group used to meet at the old 'Courier Corner' (the northern corner of Brisbane’s Queen and Edward Streets) to talk about football, and decided that the (English) 'Northern Rules' version of rugby should be started up in Queensland. According to the Queensland Rugby League history: "Upon returning to work one afternoon in February 1908, one of the group Sinan 'sic'''Siney' Boland, borrowed five pence from a workmate, so he could mail letters to six football colleagues – E.L. 'Buck' Buchanan, 'Mickey' J. Dore, John 'Jack' A. O’Connor, George W. Watson, Alf Faulkner, and Jack A. Fihelly. He invited them to attend a meeting to form a new football body, the Queensland Rugby Association (later to become the Qld Amateur Rugby League on 8 March 1909), on 28 February 1908, at the Railway Hotel in Roma Street, Brisbane." Boland was appointed as the first Secretary of the Executive Committee, with Alf Faulkner as Chairman/Treasurer.

Military Service

Boland was awarded the Distinguished Service Order, ‘

Mentioned in Despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

’ Award, and the Queen's South Africa Medal for his Boer War Service. In 1915, Boland enlisted in the Australian Army in the 2nd Light Horse and was appointed as a Captain. His regiment landed at Gallipoli in October, fighting a largely defensive campaign around Sari Bair and Sulva, and withdrawing with the evacuation of the Peninsular on 18 December, whereafter Boland returned to Egypt and was hospitalised before being returned to Australia as medically unfit.ANZAC Rugby Remembers - Player Profile Sinon Boland
www.aru.com.au; online 31 August 2016

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boland, Sine Australian rugby union players Australia international rugby union players 1875 births 1954 deaths Australian Army soldiers Gallipoli campaign Rugby union flankers Rugby union players from Brisbane