Arthur Fitzgerald Folwell (23 September 1904 – 14 October 1966) was a British-born Australian professional

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 ...

footballer who played in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s,

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

ed in the 1940s, and was an administrator in the mid-20th century. An

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

national and

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 ...

state representative , he played his club football in the

New South Wales Rugby Football League The New South Wales Rugby League Ltd (NSWRL) is an Australian rugby league football competition operator in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission.It was registered on 21 ...

for Sydney's Newtown before becoming their coach and taking them to the 1943 NSWRFL premiership.

Playing career

In 1933 Folwell was selected for the Australian touring squad for the

1933–34 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain The 1933–34 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain was the fifth Kangaroo tour, and took the Australia national rugby league team around the north of England, to London and Paris. The tour also featured the 11th Ashes series which comprised three Te ...

. He became Kangaroo No. 179 when played in the 2nd and 3rd Test matches and he played another 19 matches on the 1933-34 tour.

Coaching career

Folwell coached Newtown for three seasons during the Second World War (1942–1944). He is remembered as the winning grand final coach in 1943, the year Newtown won the

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 � ...

grand final. In Folwell's final year as coach of Newtown he took them to the 1944 NSWRFL season's grand final which was lost to Balmain. He assisted Bumper Farrell and Len Smith as coach of the Blue Bags during the final year of World War II before retiring.

Later life

He later became a New South Wales and Australian Rugby League selector during the 1950s and early 1960s. Folwell died at his home at Empire Bay aged 62. Folwell was the grandfather of the rugby league footballer; Greg Pierce. Folwell was named at in the

Newtown Jets The Newtown Jets are an Australian rugby league football club based in Newtown, New South Wales, Newtown, a suburb of Inner West (Sydney), Sydney's inner west. They currently compete in the NSW Cup competition, having left the top grade after t ...

Team of the Century (1908–2007).Team of the Century
at newtownjets.com

References

1904 births 1966 deaths Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league administrators Australian rugby league coaches Australian rugby league players City New South Wales rugby league team players British emigrants to Australia New South Wales rugby league team players Newtown Jets coaches Newtown Jets players Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from Leicestershire 20th-century Australian sportsmen {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1900s-stub