John Thomas Gorman (1 June 1901 – 22 June 1978) was an 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 112 ...

footballer. He was a for the Australian national team. He played in 10 Tests between 1924 and 1930 as captain on 7 occasions.Gorman, John Thomas (1901–1978)
—

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

. Retrieved 19 December 2014.

Early life

Born in

Charters Towers, Queensland Charters Towers is a rural town in the Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia. It is by road south-west from Townsville on the Flinders Highway. During the last quarter of the 19th century, the town boomed as the rich gold deposits unde ...

, Gorman was the first Queenslander to lead a Kangaroo touring side to Britain. He has been named amongst the nation's finest footballers of the 20th century

Club career

As an old boy of St Mary's Christian Brothers College Toowoomba, Gorman first played for the Past Christian Brothers Football Club in 1918 when the Club was still playing rugby union. The Toowoomba Rugby Union affiliated with rugby league in 1919 and he played with Brothers and the

Toowoomba Clydesdales The Toowoomba Clydesdales are a rugby league football club based in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. The Clydesdales originally played in the Queensland Cup from the competition's inception in 1996 until 2006, and were the feeder club for the ...

representative side from 1919 until 1925. In 1924–25, alongside

Herb Steinohrt Herbert Walt Steinohrt (21 October 1897 – 27 December 1985) was an Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1920s and 1930s as a front row forward for the Australian national team. He played in 9 Tests between 1928 and 1932 ...

he was in the Toowoomba sides which beat all comers including Sydney premiers Souths, Brisbane, Ipswich and visiting representative sides including New South Wales, Victoria, Great Britain and New Zealand. He moved to the Christian Brothers Football Club in Brisbane in 1926 becoming the club's first professional player. He played five seasons in Brisbane till the end of the 1930 season. Gorman played with the Christian Brothers Football Club from 1926 to 1928 and was one of the co-founders of the Past Brothers RLFC and played with them from 1929 to 1930.

Queensland representative career

Gorman debuted 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 1921. He played in the champion Queensland teams that defeated

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 five consecutive interstate series (1922–1926). He captained

to a series win over New South Wales in 1928, then through to his last playing season in 1930.

Australian representative career

Gorman made his Test debut against England in the 1924 Ashes series as one of seven Queenslanders to appear in the 1st Test. From 1924 to 1930 he appeared in ten consecutive Ashes tests. His first appearance as captain in the 1st test loss to Great Britain in Brisbane in 1928 marked the first occasion that the

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 ...

wore jerseys of green and gold. Previously they had worn the merged blue and maroon colours of NSW and Queensland. Gorman was the first Queenslander to be named captain of a touring side when he was announced as Australian

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

for the

1929–30 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain The 1929–30 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain was the fourth Kangaroo tour, and took the Australia national rugby league team all around England and also into Wales. The tour featured the ninth Ashes series (rugby league), Ashes series which compr ...

. He is listed on the Australian Players Register as Kangaroo No. 130.

Later life

In retirement, Gorman went into the hotel business in Brisbane. He served the Queensland Rugby League as an administrator. Gorman died in 1978 and was buried in

Nudgee Cemetery Nudgee Cemetery & Crematorium is a large Roman Catholic cemetery at 493 St Vincents Road, Nudgee, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The cemetery opened in 1867 and is still operating. Over 31,000 people are buried there. Services The cemetery ...

Legacy

In 2007, Gorman was inducted into the

Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame The Australian Rugby LeaguHall of Fame'' honours players who have shown exceptional skill at rugby league, all-time great coaches and referees, and other major contributors to the game who are Australian. It was officially established in 2002, ...

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

NRL The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

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. In June 2008, he was chosen in the

Queensland Rugby League's Team of the Century The Queensland Rugby League Team of the Century is a hypothetical team comprising the best players who have played for Queensland to form a team for 1909 until 2008. Rugby league in Queensland was initiated in 1909 with the Queensland Rugby Foot ...

at centre. In 2008,

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 ...

's centenary year, Gorman was named at centre in the Toowoomba and South West Team of the Century.

References

Sources

* Whiticker, Alan (2004) ''Captaining the Kangaroos'', New Holland, Sydney * Andrews, Malcolm (2006) ''The ABC of Rugby League'' Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney * *
Tom Gorman at nqsports.com.au
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gorman, Tom 1901 births 1978 deaths Australia national rugby league team captains Australia national rugby league team players Rugby league players from Queensland Brothers Old Boys players People from North Queensland Queensland rugby league team players Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Toowoomba Clydesdales players Burials at Nudgee Cemetery