Robert Williams (1886–1969) was a pioneer 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 ...

footballer for the Eastern Suburbs club.

Playing career

Williams, a dock worker from

Woolloomooloo Woolloomooloo ( ) is a harbourside, inner-city eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 1.5 kilometres east of the central business district, in the local government area of the City of Sydney. It is in a low-lying, former dockla ...

, had a distinguished career with the Eastern Suburbs club. He was a long serving member who was one of the first to play in 100 matches for the club. The

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 ...

convert played in 118 matches for the Tri-colours in ten seasons over the years 1910–18 and 1920. Williams, or 'Botsy' as he was better known, won premierships with Eastern Suburbs in

1911 Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory are added to the Commonwealth of Australia. * January 3 ** 1911 Kebin earthquake: An earthquake of 7.7 m ...

1912 This year is notable for Sinking of the Titanic, the sinking of the ''Titanic'', which occurred on April 15. In Albania, this leap year runs with only 353 days as the country achieved switching from the Julian to Gregorian Calendar by skippin ...

and

1913 Events January * January – Joseph Stalin travels to Vienna to research his ''Marxism and the National Question''. This means that, during this month, Stalin, Hitler, Trotsky and Tito are all living in the city. * January 3 &ndash ...

, taking out rugby league's first permanent trophy - the RAS shield. He was also a member of Eastern Suburbs

City Cup The City Cup was a rugby league competition involving Australian premiership teams. The post season tournament was a regular feature in the years 1912–1925. City Cups were also played in 1937, 1942 and 1959. The inaugural city cup was conteste ...

winning sides in 1914, 1915 & 1916.

Representative career

A lightweight but rugged front-row forward went away on the second Kangaroo tour representing his country in two Tests and appearing in seventeen other tour matches. He is listed on the ''Australian Players Register'' as Kangaroo No. 85. Williams was a member of the first

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 ...

side to tour New Zealand in 1912.

Coaching career

He coached the Brisbane University Rugby league team between 1924 and 1926. He was also a coach of Brisbane's West End RLFC in the 1932–1934. Williams returned to Sydney, coaching

University A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

in 1935, 1936 and 1937,

North Sydney North Sydney is a suburb and commercial district on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. And is the administrative centre for the local government area of North Sydney Council. History The Indigenous people on the s ...

in 1938 & 1939 and

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

in the 1939 interstate series. The

Sydney Roosters Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club, known as the Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs. The club competes in the National Rugby Lea ...

player register lists him as number 45. Bob Williams died in 1969 aged 82.

References

* 1886 births 1969 deaths Australasia rugby league team players Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league coaches Australian rugby league players Australian rugby union players New South Wales rugby league team players North Sydney Bears coaches Rugby league forwards Rugby league players from Sydney Sydney Roosters players Footballers who switched code 20th-century Australian sportsmen {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1880s-stub