Robert Robertson Craig (1 September 1881 – 5 March 1935) was an Australian

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 pioneer 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 represented his country at both sports - a

dual-code rugby international A dual-code rugby international is a rugby footballer who has played at the senior international level in both codes of rugby, 13-a-side rugby league and 15-a-side rugby union. Rugby league started as a breakaway version of rugby in Northern Engl ...

. He was a member of the Australian rugby union team, which won the gold medal at the

1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were originally schedu ...

. Prior to his rugby career he won state championships in swimming and soccer and played top-level water polo. Bob Craig 1911

All round sportsman

Prior to his rugby career, Craig was one of Australia's greatest all-round sportsmen. He won eight consecutive State swimming championships between 1899 and 1906; he appeared in four Sydney premiership winning water polo sides and in 1905 he was a member of the Balmain soccer club which that year won the Gardiner Cup, the NSW State competition.

Rugby union career

Craig toured Britain and North America with the 1908–09

Wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and som ...

and, at the end of that tour, won an Olympic Gold medal in London in the team captained by

Chris McKivat Christopher Hobart McKivat (alternatively spelled McKivatt, pronounced ; 27 November 1880 − 4 May 1941) was an Australian rugby union and rugby league player – a dual-code rugby international. He represented the Wallabies in over 20 Tests ...

. On his return to Australia, he joined the fledgling code of rugby league along with 13 of his Olympic teammates.

Rugby league career

His club football was played with the

Balmain Tigers The Balmain Tigers (also known as the Sydney Tigers from 1995 to 1996) are a rugby league club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain, New South Wales, Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and on ...

whom he helped to win four premierships between 1915 and 1919. Craig made his international league debut in the First Test in Sydney on 18 June 1910. Four of his former

Wallaby A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized Macropodidae, macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same Taxonomy (biology), taxon ...

teammates also debuted that day

John Barnett John Barnett (15 July 1802 – 16 April 1890) was an English composer and writer on music. Life Barnett was the eldest son of a Prussian Jew named Bernhard Beer, who changed his surname on settling in England as a jeweller. According to some h ...

, Jack Hickey, Charles Russell and

– making them collectively Australia's 11th to 15th dual code internationals. This repeated a similar occurrence two years earlier when five former Wallabies in

Micky Dore Michael Joseph Dore (1 July 1883 – 13 August 1910) was an Australian representative rugby union and rugby league footballer - a dual-code international. He was one of the founding fathers of rugby league in Queensland. Along with Dally Messe ...

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 ...

Denis Lutge Denis "Dinny" Lutge (26 November 1879 – 18 February 1953) was a pioneer Australian rugby league and rugby union player, a List of dual-code rugby internationals, dual-code international. He was the second ever captain of the Australian nationa ...

Doug McLean snr Douglas James McLean Sr. (15 April 1880 – 20 November 1947) was a pioneer Australian representative rugby union and rugby league footballer, a dual-code international. He also represented Queensland in rugby league. Rugby union career Born ...

and

John Rosewell John S. H. Rosewell (1 July 1882 – 20 November 1931) was an Australian rugby union and pioneer professional rugby league footballer and represented his country at both sports – a dual-code international. Rugby union career His rugby unio ...

all debuted for the

Kangaroos Kangaroos are marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use, the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern grey ...

in the first ever Test against

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 ...

, he also represented

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

. Craig played in both rugby league Tests against Great Britain in Australia in 1910 and was selected on the

1911–12 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain The 1911–12 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain was the second ever Kangaroo tour and was actually a tour by an " Australasian" squad that included four New Zealand players in addition to 24 Australian representatives. It took place over the Briti ...

. He played 31 tour matches and scored 7 tries. He played at second row in all three victorious Tests of the tour. He is listed on the ''Australian Players Register'' as Kangaroo No.64. He returned to representative honors in 1914 playing two Tests when Australia hosted the Great Britain tourists. All up, Craig played in seven rugby league Tests and thirty-five times for Australia.

Post football

Craig was secretary of the

between 1919 and 1922 and was also a delegate to the

NSWRFL 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 ...

in 1923–1924. For a period, he served as a state selector. He spent some years in

Inverell, New South Wales Inverell is a large town in northern New South Wales, Australia, situated on the Macintyre River, close to the Queensland border. It is also the centre of Inverell Shire. Inverell is located on the Gwydir Highway on the western slopes of the ...

as a publican at the Royal Hotel. In the financial crises of the 1930s, he suffered losses and saw a bleak future ahead. He died by suicide by hanging himself at a hospital in Leichhardt after being mentally ill for some time. Bob Craig was privately cremated at Rookwood. He was survived by his wife, Eleanor, and three children.Sydney Morning Herald: ''Death Notice.'' 9 March 1935 (page 14) Postcard - Wallabies 1908

Footnotes

References

* Andrews, Malcolm (2006) ''The ABC of Rugby League'', Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney * Collection (1995) ''Gordon Bray presents The Spirit of Rugby'', Harper Collins Publishers Sydney * Moran, Herbert (1939) ''Viewless Winds – the recollections and digressions of an Australian surgeon'' P Davies, London * Whiticker, Alan (2004) ''Captaining the Kangaroos'', New Holland, Sydney

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Craig, Bob 1885 births 1935 deaths 1935 suicides Australasia rugby league team players Australia international rugby union players Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league administrators Australian rugby league players Australian rugby union players Balmain Tigers players Dual-code rugby internationals Olympic gold medalists for Australasia Olympic rugby union players for Australasia Rugby union players at the 1908 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics Rugby league players from Sydney Rugby union players from Sydney Rugby union hookers Rugby union locks Suicides by hanging in New South Wales New South Wales rugby union team players New South Wales rugby league team players Suicide by hanging Suicides by hanging in Australia Rugby league second-rows 20th-century Australian sportsmen