Douglas Allan McRitchie (1923–1998) 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 ...

player who played in the 1940s and 1950s. A

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state and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

national representative centre, he played his club football in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

for the St. George club.

St. George career

McRitchie was a St. George local junior who was graded in 1940. He had a long career with the club playing eight seasons in first grade between 1942 and 1950. McRitchie featured in three Grand finals for the club. He was part of two sides who lost deciders - 1942 and

1946 Events January * January 6 - The first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into four occupation zones. * January 10 ** The ...

and saw success with the

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

premiership team. His career was disrupted during by

WWII World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he enlisted in the AIF and he saw service in New Guinea with the 129 Australian Brigade. After demobilisation, he resumed his playing career at

St George Saint George ( Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

, and he captained and co-coached the club with head coach

Charlie Lynch Charlie Lynch (1891-1968) was an Australian rugby league coach of the 1920s and 1940s. He is known as a multi-premiership-winning coach. South Sydney Lynch is mainly remembered as a premiership winning coach of the South Sydney club. A prodigy ...

in the 1947 NSWRFL season.

Representative career

McRitchie represented

on six occasions between 1948 and 1950. He was named in the 1948-49

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 t ...

squad and played two Tests against Great Britain, two Tests against France and a further ten tour matches during that series. He is listed on the ''Australian Players Register'' as Kangaroo No. 261

1950 Ashes win

He played a further two tests in 1950 against Great Britain, the last being of major significance. Doug McRitchie will always be remembered as the player who clinched the Ashes for Australia in 1950. He made the initial opening and overlap that gave Ron Roberts the try in the Sydney Cricket Ground mud heap on the 22 Jul 1950 Third Test. The Kangaroos won the Test 5–2. McRitchie had hit the English Captain

Ernest Ward Ernest Ward (30 July 1920 – 9 July 1987) was an English rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s and 1950s, and coached in the 1950s. He played at representative level for Great Britain, British Empire, Combined Nationalities and En ...

so hard that the visiting star developed an aversion to tackling that resulted in a split-second hesitancy that gave McRitchie the opening that proved so vital.

Later career

He was signed to captain-coach Queanbeyan, New South Wales in 1951. During the

1951 French rugby league tour of Australia and New Zealand The 1951 French rugby league tour of Australia and New Zealand was the first ever tour of Australasia by any French sports team in history. Puig Aubert captained the France national rugby league team who played 28 matches in total in both Austral ...

McRitchie played for a Monaro side against the Les Chanticleers. Doug's brother Bill McRitchie played for

from 1942 to 1945. Bill was involved in an infamous event in 1945, when he lost a portion of his ear during a match at Henson Park. Newtown stalwart Frank Farrell was accused of the allegation. McRitchie was awarded Life Membership of St. George Dragons in 1997.

Death

McRitchie died at

Milton, New South Wales Milton is a village in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia, within the City of Shoalhaven. It was founded in 1860, named after the property of post master George Knight and became an important regional centre during the 19th Ce ...

on 30 July 1998 on the eve of his 75th birthday.

Accolades

On 20 July 2022, McRitchie was named in the St. George Dragons District Rugby League Clubs team of the century.

References

1923 births 1998 deaths Australia national rugby league team players Australian military personnel of World War II City New South Wales rugby league team players Country New South Wales rugby league team players New South Wales rugby league team players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Sydney St. George Dragons captains St. George Dragons coaches St. George Dragons players {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1920s-stub