Edgar Wynton Newham (1914–1995) was a

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

Canterbury-Bankstown Canterbury-Bankstown is a customary region of Sydney, Australia, in Inner South-Western Sydney. The region is located to the north of the St George region (from which it is separated by Wolli Creek) and to the south of the Inner West region ...

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 ...

and for the Australian national side.

Rugby league career

Edgar Newham played his first game of Rugby League at 19 years of age. By the time he was 24, Edgar Newham joined

from

Cowra Cowra () is a town in the Central West, New South Wales, Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre and the council seat for the Cowra Shire, with a population of 8,254. Cowra is located approximate ...

, New South Wales and played 9 seasons with the club between 1938-1945 and 1948. He found immediate success when Canterbury won their first premiership, beating

Eastern Suburbs 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 ...

19–6 in the 1938 Final. Newham played on the wing in the Final. Four years later in 1942, Newham crossed for 5 tries in a mid-week match against 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 ...

that decided the minor-premiership. His five try record in this game was only equaled in 2002 by Nigel Vagana. Canterbury won the match 26-20 and went on to win the 1942 Premiership, beating the

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 ...

11–9 in the grand final. The war years interrupted his

career. In 1946 he returned to Captain-Coach the Cowra league team and in 1947 he played in Queensland. In 1948, Newham briefly returned to Canterbury as a 34-year-old. He played half of the season with Canterbury before a hip injury forced him to retire as a player.

War service

Newham joined the RAAF as a paratrooper and traveled to club games during the 1942 season while stationed in Newcastle before leaving for active duty overseas, as a gunner. After returning to Australia, he was again playing for Cowra in 1946 when he was again selected to play for the

New South Wales rugby league team The New South Wales rugby league team has represented the Australian state of New South Wales in rugby league football since the sport's beginnings there in 1907. Also known as the Blues due to their sky blue jerseys, the team competes in the an ...

and ultimately went on to play Great Britain in the 1946 Ashes series.

Representative career

Newham represented

in 1941 but had to wait until after the War to represent

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. When he was selected for the Kangaroos at 32 years of age, he became the oldest ever player to make his Test debut. He played two Tests for the Australian national side in 1946.

Accolades

Edgar Newham is recognised as Bulldogs player No. 58. In 2004 Edgard Newham was named on the wing for the Berries to Bulldogs 70 year Team of Champions. In 2007 he was inducted into the Bulldogs Hall of Fame, (Ring of Champions).http://www.bulldogs.com.au/Edgar Newham

References

1914 births 1995 deaths Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league players Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs players City New South Wales rugby league team players New South Wales rugby league team players Rugby league players from Cowra, New South Wales Rugby league wingers 20th-century Australian sportsmen {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1910s-stub