William James Mitchell (28 November 1890 – 2 June 1959) was a New Zealand

rugby football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union or rugby league. Rugby football started at Rugby School in Rugby, Warwickshire, England, where the rules were first codified in 1845. Forms of football in which the ball ...

er who represented

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 both

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 ...

and

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 ...

Early years

Mitchell was born in

Melbourne, Australia Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung/ or ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second most-populous city in Australia, after Sydney. The city's name generally refers to a metropolitan area also known ...

before moving to New Zealand where he worked for the

New Zealand Railways Department The New Zealand Railways Department, NZR or NZGR (New Zealand Government Railways) and often known as the "Railways", was a government department charged with owning and maintaining Rail transport in New Zealand, New Zealand's railway infrastruc ...

Rugby union career

Mitchell played

for the Merivale club in Christchurch and represented

the province ''The Province'' is a daily newspaper published in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format in British Columbia by Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, alongside the ''Vancouver Sun'' broadsheet newspaper. Together, they ...

nine times in 1909 and 1910. He was selected to be part of the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

tour of Australia in 1910 and played in five matches, including the second and third Test matches.Billy Mitchell
''allblacks.com''

Rugby league career

In 1911 Mitchell, along with three other players from the Merivale club, moved to Sydney and played for the

North Sydney Bears The North Sydney Bears are an Australian rugby league football club based in Cammeray on Sydney's North Shore (Sydney), North Shore. The club currently competes in the NSW Cup, having exited the National Rugby League following the 1999 NRL s ...

.John Coffey and Bernie Wood, ''The Kiwis: 100 Years of International Rugby League'', Hodder Moa, Auckland, 2007, p. 43. He was then enticed north by the

Queensland Rugby League The Queensland Rugby Football League QRL Constitution, 2009: 3 (QRL QRL Constitution, 2009: 2) is the governing body for rugby league in Queensland. It is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission (ARL Commission) and selects the mem ...

. At the same time the

side was touring Australia and he was invited to join the touring party.Coffey, John. ''Canterbury XIII'', Christchurch, 1987. p.14 Mitchell played in four matches, becoming a dual-code rugby international. Mitchell then returned to Christchurch and represented

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

in its first ever match in 1912. Mitchell toured Australia twice more with

, in 1913, and as captain in 1919. He played in his last match for New Zealand in 1920.MITCHELL, WILLIAM JAMES 1911, 1913, 1919 – 20 – KIWI #68
''nzleague.co.nz'' He played for the St Albans and Federal clubs in the

Canterbury Rugby League Canterbury Rugby League is the regional body that administers rugby league in Canterbury, New Zealand. CRL manages local competitions from senior level down to age group competitions. Canterbury Rugby League also manages the Canterbury rugby le ...

competition.

Later years

Mitchell later served as a coach of the Canterbury side and a national selector.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Billy 1890 births 1959 deaths 20th-century Australian sportsmen Australian emigrants to New Zealand Australian rugby league players Australian rugby union players Canterbury rugby league team coaches Canterbury rugby league team players Canterbury rugby union players New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand national rugby league team captains New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand people in rail transport New Zealand rugby league administrators North Sydney Bears players Rugby league players from Melbourne Rugby league wingers Rugby union players from Melbourne Rugby union wings