Edward Alexander Root (26 June 1902 – 7 May 1986) was an 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 who played in the 1920s and 1930s. A New South Wales state and Australia national representative forward, his club career was played in Sydney with South Sydney, Newtown and

St. George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

Early life

Root was born in

Alexandria, New South Wales Alexandria is an Southern Sydney, inner southern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Alexandria is located 5 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the Local government in Australia, local government ar ...

on 26 June 1902. The ''South Sydney Sentinel'' reported, contemporaneous to his playing career, that Root's age was uncertain, likely owing to his underage military enlistment during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Root enlisted to serve with the Australian Imperial Force on 31 March 1917, then aged 14 years and nine months. The ''South Sydney Sentinel'' states that Root "served at the front" and the ''Brisbane Courier'' claimed he wore a returned serviceman's medal. However, according to Rugby League Project, military records show that Root was discharged in April 1917 when it was discovered he was underage. It has been claimed that Root holds the distinction of being the last representative footballer to go to the Great War.

Playing career

A South Sydney junior, Root started playing first grade for Souths in 1923, becoming a mainstay in the side in 1926. That year he first tasted premiership success with Souths, who also won the following two years' competitions. He was sent off in the 1926 decider against

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 ...

. He made his representative debut for

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 ...

in 1927 and was regularly selected for the Blues over the next six seasons. He was selected to go on the 1929–30 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain, playing in fifteen tour matches but no Tests. When the

NSWRL 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 ...

changed the South Sydney/Newtown boundary distinction in 1930 Root spent the following season with Newtown due to the strict residential criteria of the time. He then returned to Souths and played in the back-to-back premiership-winning Souths sides of

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

and

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

. In 1935 he was signed by

and scored two tries in the record-breaking 91–6 win over competition newcomers Canterbury-Bankstown before later becoming the club's captain-coach. He played with Saints for two seasons before retiring. His son, Stan Root was also a

St. George Dragons The St. George Dragons are an Australian rugby league, rugby league football club from the St George, Sydney, St George District in Sydney, New South Wales that played in the top level New South Wales Rugby League, New South Wales competition ...

player between 1941 and 1950.

Death

Root died on 7 May 1986 at

Brighton-Le-Sands, New South Wales Brighton Le Sands (formerly Brighton-le-Sands and also known simply as Brighton or Brighton Beach), is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Brighton Le Sands is located 13 kilometres south of the Sydney centr ...

,Daily Telegraph (Sydney) Death Notice 8/5/1986

Notes and references

Notes

References

Sources

* Whiticker, Alan & Hudson, Glen (2006) ''The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players'', Gavin Allen Publishing, Sydney * Andrews, Malcolm (2006) ''The ABC of Rugby League'' Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney

External links

Eddie Root at yesterdayshero.com.auEddie Root at nrlstats.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Root, Edward 1902 births 1986 deaths 20th-century Australian sportsmen Australia national rugby league team players Australian military personnel of World War I City New South Wales rugby league team players New South Wales rugby league team players Newtown Jets players Rugby league players from Sydney Rugby league props Rugby league second-rows South Sydney Rabbitohs players Sportsmen from New South Wales St. George Dragons captains St. George Dragons coaches St. George Dragons players