Frank Hurley (rugby league)

Frank Hurley (7 June 1915 − 22 May 1992) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1930s and 1940s. He played at representative level for New South Wales, and at club level for the Newtown Bluebags and Hull FC, as a wing, i.e. number 2 or 5.

Frank Hurley
Personal information
Born(1915-06-07)7 June 1915
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Died22 May 1992(1992-05-22) (aged 76)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
PositionWing
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1935–36 Newtown 25 15 0 0 45
1937–39 Hull F.C. 66 29 0 0 87
1939–40 Newtown 0 0 0 0 0
Total 91 44 0 0 132
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1936 New South Wales 3 0 0 0 0
Source: [1]

Playing career

Newtown

Frank Hurley attended Sydney Boys High and played Rugby Union for the school and represented GPS.

After leaving school he joined Drummoyne Rugby Union Club and played 1st Grade. He trailed for Newtown in 1935 and was offered a contract.

Hurley played for Newtown and in 1936 was selected to play for New South Wales.

Hurley played left-wing, i.e. number 5, in New South Wales' 30-13 victory over Queensland in the 1936 Interstate rugby league series at Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday 16 May 1936, in front of a crowd of 36,021. He also played in their 24-13 victory over Queensland on Saturday 23 May, in front of a crowd of 27,539, and then played in the 18-14 victory over Great Britain during the Lions tour on Saturday 6 June 1936, in front of a crowd of 49,519.

Hull

On Tuesday 23 February 1937, the Mayor of Newtown, Alderman Fred Newnham, a solicitor, presided over a farewell ceremony for Hurley at Newtown Town Hall, and speeches expressing good wishes were made by aldermen of Newtown, and officials of the Newtown Bluebags. On Wednesday 24 February 1937, Hurley left Australia bound for England to play for Hull F.C.

He became the first overseas player to score a hat-trick of tries for Hull F.C. in the Hull Kingston Rovers derby match. Only two other overseas players have since equalled this feat; Tevita Vaikona and Fetuli Talanoa.[2]

Hurley played right-wing, i.e. number 2, in Hull's 10-18 defeat by Huddersfield in the 1938 Yorkshire County Cup Final during the 1938–39 season at Odsal Stadium, Bradford on Saturday 22 October 1938, in front of a crowd of 28,714.

Return to Australia and later years

Hurley had hoped to play for Hull for four years, however the start of World War II on 1 September 1939 curtailed his stay in England and, upon his return to Australia, he rejoined Newtown playing briefly during the 1940 NSWRFL season. He then returned to Britain to serve with No. 10 Squadron RAAF of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) until the end of World War II in 1945. He died after a short illness in 1992, 16 days short of his 77th birthday.

References
  1. "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  2. "The Derby: Fun, facts and favourites!". hullfc.com. 31 December 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
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