Ed "Tedda" Courtney (1885–1957) was a pioneer Australian

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 ...

footballer and coach. He played club football for North Sydney, Western Suburbs and representative football for the New South Wales state and Australian national sides. He is considered one of the nation's finest footballers of the 20th century. Born in

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

, Courtney was one of six brothers who all played for North Sydney. His brothers Raymond and Robert died in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He was a wharfie throughout his working life and was renowned for his fearless tackling style and ability to harass the opposition with his defence.

Playing career

Rugby union

Courtney 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 it ...

for North Sydney and for St George. He was one of the group of

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 ...

rugby footballers who played against Baskerville's All Golds on their seminal trip to the United Kingdom in 1907 which started

in Australia and New Zealand. He played in the second of the three exhibition matches; was promptly banned from amateur rugby union thereafter and the following year was given a vote of thanks by being made a lifetime member 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 ...

Rugby league

Tedda Courtney had a remarkably long first grade career that lasted for 16 seasons. Courtney joined Newtown in 1908 in the professional code, moved to Wests in 1909 and the North Sydney in 1910. He found his club home back at Wests in 1911 where he played the next thirteen seasons, amassing over 300 games across all grades. He was selected on the inaugural Kangaroo tour of 1908-09 appearing in all three Tests and in a total of thirty-one games on tour on which he was the top-scoring forward with 10 tries. He made a second Kangaroo tour in 1911-12 in which he made twenty five match appearances. He played in three other Test series against Great Britain at home in 1910 and 1914 and against

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 1909, he also represented

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologi ...

. On 14 June 1924 when Courtney was 38 he played in a game for Wests against

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 ...

alongside his son, Ed Courtney, Jr.,. It remains the only time a father and son combination has played together in a Sydney first grade game. He is listed on the Australian Players register as Kangaroo No.37.

Coaching career

Courtney was captain-coach of the Western Suburbs team in

1923 Events January–February * January 9 – Lithuania begins the Klaipėda Revolt to annex the Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory). * January 11 – Despite strong British protests, troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area, t ...

. He retired as a player at the end of 1924 and returned to the district of his football beginnings – North Sydney. He coached the lower grades for some years and coached North Sydney's first grade side in 1930. Courtney's coaching services were obtained by the newly formed Canterbury-Bankstown DRLFC for their first season in 1935.

Accolades

In September 2004 Courtney was named at prop in the Western Suburbs Magpies team of the century. Ted Courtney was a Life Member of the

. In February 2008, Courtney was named in the list of Australia's ''100 Greatest Players'' (1908–2007) which was commissioned by the NRL and

ARL ARL may refer to: Military * US Navy hull classification symbol for repair ship * Admiralty Research Laboratory, UK * United States Army Research Laboratory * ARL 44, a WWII French tank Organizations * Aero Research Limited, a UK adhesives comp ...

to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia.

References

External links

Tedda Courtney at bulldogs.com.au
{{DEFAULTSORT:Courtney, Tedda 1880s births 1957 deaths Australasia rugby league team players Australia national rugby league team players Australian waterside workers Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs coaches Newtown Jets players North Sydney Bears coaches North Sydney Bears players Rugby league forwards Rugby league players from Townsville Western Suburbs Magpies captains Western Suburbs Magpies coaches