Larry 'Jersey' O'Malley (1883–1967) was a pioneer Australian rugby league player for the Eastern Suburbs club. He was the fifth Australian rugby league captain and the second from the Eastern Suburbs Club. Before switching codes and joining the Eastern Suburbs club in rugby league's foundation year, 1908, O'Malley played rugby union firstly for the East Borough and then the Sydney Rugby Union Clubs in 1906-07

Rugby league career

Born in Ireland in 1883, he arrived in Australia with his parents and older brother the following year aboard the ''Selkirkshire '' as assisted immigrants. The family settled in Paddington, and Larry played rugby with the local juniors. He gained his nickname of 'Jersey' because of his red hair. Larry 'Jersey' O'Malley played with Eastern Suburbs for six seasons: 1908, 1909 and 1911–1914, and played over 50 first grade games. He had a reputation as a tough 'no nonsense' forward.Whiticker pp31-32

Representative career

He made his representative début for New South Wales in rugby league's inaugural interstate match in 1908. Later that year he was selected for Australia's first '

Kangaroo Tour Kangaroo Tour is the name given to Australian national rugby league team tours of Great Britain and France, tours to New Zealand and the one-off tour to Papua New Guinea (1991). The first Kangaroo Tour was in 1908. Traditionally, Kangaroo Tours to ...

'. He played in 34 matches including all three Tests and was sent off twice in matches on the tour. His 34-game effort stands as the record for the most matches played on a Kangaroo tour. The following season he captained Australia in two Test Matches against New Zealand. During the 1908 '

' O'Malley signed with the English club, Warrington for the 1910 English season. He returned to Australia and enjoying successive premierships with the Eastern Suburbs club in

1911 A notable ongoing event was the Comparison of the Amundsen and Scott Expeditions, race for the South Pole. Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory ...

1912 Events January * January 1 – The Republic of China (1912–49), Republic of China is established. * January 5 – The Prague Conference (6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party) opens. * January 6 ...

and

1913 Events January * January 5 – First Balkan War: Battle of Lemnos (1913), Battle of Lemnos – Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it will not ven ...

. He was also a member of the Eastern Suburbs side that won the City Cup in 1914.

Referee

O'Malley retired from playing the game at the end of the 1914 season but went on to become a first grade

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...

Playing record

* ''Club:'' Eastern Suburbs 1908-09 and 1911–14) 62 games, 4 tries * ''Representative:'' Australia (1908–09) 5 Tests, and New South Wales (1908–13) 9 appearances.

References

Sources

* Whiticker, Alan (2004) ''Captaining the Kangaroos'', New Holland, Sydney {{DEFAULTSORT:Omalley, Larry 1883 births 1967 deaths Australian rugby league players Australian rugby league referees Australia national rugby league team captains Australia national rugby league team players New South Wales rugby league team players Rugby league second-rows Sydney Roosters players Warrington Wolves players Irish emigrants to Australia (before 1923)