Syd Malcolm (1902–1987) was an Australian

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 ...

player, a state and

national National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

representative half-back who captained the Wallabies' on seventeen occasions between 1928 and 1933.

Youth and representative debut

Malcolm left

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle ( ; Awabakal: ) is a metropolitan area and the second most populated city in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie local government areas, and is the hub of the Greater Newcastle area, w ...

in his teens to seek work and found it at

Ipswich, Queensland Ipswich () is a city in South East Queensland, Australia. Situated on the Bremer River, it is approximately west of the Brisbane central business district. The city is renowned for its architectural, natural and cultural heritage. Ipswich pre ...

as a boilermaker. He played

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 ...

in 1925–26 with the St Paul's club in Ipswich, achieving representative honours for

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_ ...

in 1925. His first representative rugby union appearances were on the 1927–28 New South Wales rugby union tour of the British Isles, France and Canada for which Malcolm was one of three half-backs selected along with Wally Meagher and Jack Duncan from Randwick. Meagher started as the preferred Test half and when Malcolm dislocated his shoulder in the match against

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

not yet half-way into the tour it looked as though he would have disappointing memories of the trip. He was side-lined for many matches (ultimately only playing in 11 of the 31 official tour matches) but his capabilities had been noticed. After his shoulder recovery he was selected in the final three Tests against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. He finished the tour as Australia's number one half-back and returned to Newcastle a hero, but keen to relocate to Sydney to play club rugby there.

Playing style

Malcolm provided quick service from the scrum base with a fast but not particularly long pass. He was quick to spot and exploit an opening but was most respected for his courage and determination when the going got tough. The Howell reference describes him as "courage personified".Howell''Wallaby Test Captains'' p 97

Representative career

When the Waratahs toured

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in 1928 Malcolm was named as captain. The team was full of new blood with only

Cyril Towers Cyril Towers (30 July 1906 – 9 June 1985) was an Australian rugby union player, a state and national representative centre who made 57 appearances for the Wallabies, played in 19 Test matches and captained the national side on three occasions ...

and Geoff Bland continuing on for the 1927 World Tour squad. Syd Malcolm played in seven of the ten matches; five in total were won and five lost. In 1929 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 Australia,

Tom Lawton Thomas Anthony Lawton (born Darwin, 1 November 1962) is a former Australian rugby union player. He played as a hooker. Career Lawton comes from a known rugby union family: his grandfather, Tom Lawton, Snr was an important medic and, during his ...

took over as captain but Syd Malcolm was in the side which won all three Tests in an upset. With the

Queensland Rugby Union The Queensland Rugby Union, or QRU, is the Sports governing body, governing body for the sport of rugby union within the state of Queensland in Australia. It is a member and founding union of Rugby Australia. The QRU was founded in Brisbane in ...

now back in existence for the first time since 1919 this was the first truly national

Wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and so ...

side fielded since 1914 and the first time in history any nation had beaten the All Blacks in a 3–0 series whitewash.

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

toured Australia in 1930 and Malcolm played in two tests and twice against them for New South Wales. Then in 1931 a full Australian side was sent to New Zealand. Syd Malcolm was the captain and part of the senior playing group with

and

Alex Ross Nelson Alexander Ross (born January 22, 1970) is an American comic book writer and artist known primarily for his painted interiors, covers, and design work. He first became known with the 1994 miniseries ''Marvels'', on which he collaborated wi ...

from the 1927 side. They won three, drew one and lost six matches including the single Test. In 1932 Malcolm again met the All Blacks in three Test appearances when they came to Australia – he was captain in one of those encounters but also captained New South Wales against them. In 1933, Malcolm was in the squad that made Australia's first ever rugby tour of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. He made eleven appearances including two Tests, one as captain. Syd Malcolm made his final international appearances against New Zealand in 1934, finishing his representative career after eight years and forty five internationals including eighteen Tests. Waratahs at twickenham 1928

References

Sources

* Collection (1995) ''Gordon Bray presents The Spirit of Rugby'', HarperCollins Publishers Sydney * Howell, Max (2005) ''Born to Lead – Wallaby Test Captains'', Celebrity Books, Auckland NZ
Queensland representatives at qrl.com.au

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Malcolm, Syd 1902 births Australian rugby league players Queensland rugby league team players Australian rugby union players Australia international rugby union players Australian rugby union captains 1987 deaths Australian boilermakers Rugby union players from Newcastle, New South Wales Rugby union halfbacks