Ernest Arthur "George" Anlezark (29 December 1882 – 14 May 1961), also known as Alec, was an Australian

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

and

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player – a dual-code rugby international.He was a pioneer Australian representative footballer selected in the first

Australia national rugby union team The Australia men's national rugby union team, nicknamed the Wallabies, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for Australia. The Wallabies first played at Sydney in 1899, winning their first Test match (rugby u ...

overseas touring side to

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in 1905 and representing the Kangaroos in the first Kangaroo tour of Great Britain in 1908.

Rugby union career

Born in

Bathurst, New South Wales Bathurst () is a city in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. Bathurst is about 200 kilometres (120 mi) west-northwest of Sydney and is the seat of the Bathurst Region, Bathurst Regional Council. Founded in 1815, Bathurst is ...

he was a regular in NSW Country and NSW representative teams before being selected as

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16� ...

in Australia's first rugby union touring team which played a Test against

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

on 2 September 1905. Playing in the country, Anlezark found it difficult to re-gain selection to the Australian representative team in the following year, especially after moving to Lismore for his work with the NSW Railways.

Rugby league career

Anlezark arrived in Brisbane in 1908 and first played rugby league for

Queensland Maroons The Queensland rugby league team represents the Australian state of Queensland in rugby league football. Nicknamed the "Maroons" after the colour of their jersey, they play three times a year against arch-rivals New South Wales rugby league tea ...

against a touring New Zealand Maori team. He then played against

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

in the first ever interstate fixture before being chosen for Australia in the inaugural international game against the New Zealand Māori. He was selected in the pioneer Kangaroo touring side of 1908 and playing at half-back alongside

Dally Messenger Herbert Henry "Dally" Messenger, (12 April 1883 – 24 November 1959) was an Australian rugby league and rugby union player. One of Australasia's first professional rugby footballers, he is recognised as one of the greatest-ever players in eit ...

. Two months later in the 3rd Test against England which Australia lost 6–5, Anlezark made his début Kangaroo Test appearance becoming at that point the 10th ever dual rugby-code Australian international. He captained Australia in the final four tour games of the trip. Anlezark is listed on the Australian Players Register as Kangaroo No. 23. Having been selected for Queensland on the strength of his rugby union credentials, Anlezark made appearances for Queensland, an Australian touring side and an Australian Test side before he had ever played a club game. The Brisbane club competition did not begin until 1909. Anlezark remained in England to play for

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

and made 114 appearances in six seasons up till commencement of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He was part of Oldham's Club Championship, Lancashire League and Lancashire Cup wins from 1909 to 1912. At the end of the

1908–09 Northern Rugby Football Union season The 1908–09 Northern Rugby Football Union season was the 14th season of rugby league football in the United Kingdom. The governing body, the Northern Union (NU) decided to admit four extra clubs, all from Wales; Aberdare, Barry, Mid-Rhondd ...

Anlezark played at scrum half back in Oldham's loss to

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

Final. He also played in the 1912

Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...

Final where Oldham were beaten 8–5 in a shock upset by

Dewsbury Dewsbury is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder, West Yorkshire, River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, ...

After football

In 1914 Anlezark enlisted in the British Army and was assigned to the 66th Brigade Divisional Artillery. He saw active service against the Ottoman Empire during the

Mesopotamian campaign The Mesopotamian campaign or Mesopotamian front () was a campaign in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I fought between the British Empire, with troops from United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Britain, Australia and the vast major ...

. After the War Anlezark returned to Oldham to become a cotton broker and investor on the Manchester stock exchange, but was bankrupted in a market crash in 1925. He remained in the U.K. for the rest of his life. He died at Crewe, England in 1961, aged 78.

References

* Sean Fagan, Sean (2005) ''The Rugby Rebellion'', RL1908, Sydney. * Whiticker, Alan & Hudson, Glen (2006) ''The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players'', Gavin Allen Publishing, Sydney

External links

* http://www.RL1908.com * https://web.archive.org/web/20061130083415/http://www.rugbyrebellion.com/
Statistics at orl-heritagetrust.org.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anlezark, Ernest Arthur 1882 births 1961 deaths 19th-century Australian sportsmen 20th-century Australian sportsmen Australia international rugby union players Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league players Australian rugby union players Australian expatriate rugby league players in England British Army personnel of World War I Dual-code rugby internationals New South Wales rugby union team players Oldham R.L.F.C. players Queensland rugby league team players Royal Artillery soldiers Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league players from Bathurst, New South Wales Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union players from New South Wales