Douglas James McLean Sr. (15 April 1880 – 20 November 1947) was a pioneer Australian representative

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 ...

footballer, a dual-code international. He also represented Queensland in rugby league.

Rugby union career

Born in

Brisbane, Queensland Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

McLean earned his debut as a

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with the Australian representative team playing against Great Britain, at Brisbane, on 23 July 1904. In total he played three tests, twice against the touring Great Britain side in 1904 and then in New Zealand the following year.

Rugby league career

McLean was a registered

player in Queensland in 1908 at the time of the rugby league code's inaugural competition year in Australia. He was selected in the first ever

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 ...

state representative side to play the new "Northern Union" style of rugby, taking on Albert Baskerville's New Zealand All Golds on their inaugural tour. It would be his sole rugby league state appearance for

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 ...

. When the New Zealand team came back on the return leg of their tour, they played three Test matches against the first Australian representative sides ever selected. The first Test was played in Sydney on 9 May 1908 with the Kiwis prevailing. McLean played in that Test on the wing and has been allocated Kangaroo representative No. 9. McLean was one of five former Wallabies who debuted for the Kangaroos in that inaugural Test along with

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 ...

, Micky Dore, Denis Lutge and John Rosewell. McLean and his Queensland former rugby union colleagues Dore and Bob Tubman were all disqualified by the Queensland Rugby Union within days. Since his two rugby league Test appearances were made as a 1908 rebel before a Brisbane club competition began in 1909, Doug McLean Sr., like George Watson was a Kangaroo with no rugby league club career.

Rugby lineage

Doug Sr. was the patriarch of an extraordinary rugby union dynasty with three of his sons and three of his grandsons also playing for Australia. His sons Doug McLean Jr., Bill McLean, and Jack McLean were Wallabies, with Doug Jr. also one of Australia's

Dual-code rugby internationals 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 ...

. A fourth son Bob had two sons who represented for Australian in rugby union – Jeff McLean and Paul McLean, along with their cousin Peter McLean (Bill's son). See McLean Family (rugby footballers).

Sources

* The Spirit of Rugby (1995) – A collection of essays- Harper Collins, Australia * Andrews, Malcolm (2006) ''The ABC of Rugby League'', Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney * Whiticker, Alan & Hudson, Glen (2006) ''The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players'', Gavin Allen Publishing, Sydney * Hodgson (1994) 'Australian Rugby – The Game and the Players', Jack Pollard Publishing Sydney

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McLean, Doug Sr. 1880 births 1947 deaths Australia international rugby union players Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league players Australian rugby union players Dual-code rugby internationals Doug Sr. Queensland rugby league team players Queensland rugby union team players Rugby league players from Ipswich, Queensland Rugby union centres Rugby union players from Ipswich, Queensland 20th-century Australian sportsmen