Eric Weissel (;) (1903–1972) 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, a

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

and

national National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

representative goal-kicking . He played his club career in country

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 is considered one of the nation's finest footballers of the 20th century.

Biography and Club career

Weissel was born in Cootamundra in 1903. He died in 1972. Weissel played his entire club football career in his home area of the

Riverina The Riverina () is an agricultural list of regions in Australia, region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, a climate with significant seaso ...

in southern

. He rejected offers from Sydney and England clubs, choosing instead to stay in the district he called home, and turned out with five different clubs during an 18-year career: Cootamundra, Temora, Barmedman, Narrandera and Wagga Wagga. With Cootamundra he was captain during two years when they retained the regional

Maher Cup The Maher Cup was an Australian rugby league (originally rugby union) challenge cup contested between towns of the South West Slopes and northern Riverina areas of New South Wales between 1920 and 1971. The main teams involved were Cootamundra, Tu ...

with an unbeaten record. Weissel coached Wagga Magpies to win the

Clayton Cup The Clayton Cup is a trophy that was awarded by the New South Wales Country Rugby League, Country Rugby League to the NSW country rugby league team with the best overall record for that season. To be eligible, the team must win the highest level o ...

in 1939.

Representative career

After being selected for

in 1928, Weissel made his international representative debut against a touring British side that same year, featuring in two Tests. He made the Australian squad for the 1929–30 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain, playing in three Tests and 17 tour matches. He topped the tour scoring tally with five tries and fifty-six goals on the tour. In the First Test at Hull, Weissel featured in the 31-8 Australian victory scoring a try and kicking five goals. He played in all three Tests of the 1932 Domestic Ashes series against Great Britain, including the brutal "

Battle of Brisbane The Battle of Brisbane was a riot with United States military personnel on one side and Australian servicemen and civilians on the other, in Brisbane, Queensland's capital city, on 26 and 27 November 1942, during which time the two nations wer ...

" Test.

Jack Hore Memorial Gold Cup

The Jack Hore Memorial Gold Cup was a challenge trophy generally contested between Rugby league teams representing towns and villages in the Central West of NSW. Its prestige rivaled that of the Maher Cup. By 1930

Canowindra Situated on the Belubula River, Canowindra (pronounced ) is a historic township and the largest population centre in Cabonne Shire, New South Wales, Cabonne Shire. The town is located between Orange, New South Wales, Orange and Cowra, New South ...

(then rumored to be "represented by the wealthiest team of footballers in world" ) and captained coached by international Rex Norman had been undefeated in 21 consecutive Hore trophy challenges. At this time Weissel was playing for the Temora club who issued a challenge to play for the trophy on Sunday 8 June 1930. However, Weissel had been selected by the NSW Rugby League to captain the state side against Queensland in Sydney on the Saturday. Temora badly wanted their star player to turn out against Canowindra as winning the Hore trophy was both prestigious and lucrative (an important consideration due to the economic downturn). Temora could not persuade the NSW Rugby League to release Weissel from his NSW obligations. So at the conclusion of the interstate match on the Saturday, Weissel boarded a car and overnight travelled the 300 km from Sydney to Canowindra over the Blue Mountains on rough country roads. The journey was completed safely and Weissel turned out to a warm reception from a large crowd. Temora won the match 26-7 and took home the trophy in the company of their supporters on a specially chartered train.

Cricketer

Sean Fagan Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Hiberno-English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as '' Shaun/ Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; ang ...

's rl1908.com site quotes a

Donald Bradman Sir Donald George Bradman (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), nicknamed "The Don", was an Australian international cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. His cricketing successes have been claimed by Shane ...

biography which records that Weissel was playing for a Riverina representative side on 22 November 1926 at the

Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in the Moore Park, New South Wales, Moore Park suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australi ...

against a Southern Districts side in which Bradman was making his SCG debut. Weissel dismissed "the Don" for 43.

Accolades

Since 1976 the Eric Weissel medal has been awarded to the best and fairest player of the season in the Riverina regional country rugby league competition. The Eric Weissel Oval, a 10,000-seat stadium in

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 57,003 as of 2021, it is an important agricultural, m ...

was named in his honour. In February 2008, Weissel was named in the list of Australia's ''100 Greatest Players'' (1908–2007) which was commissioned by the

NRL The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

and ARL to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia. Eric Weissel action

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weissel, Eric Australian rugby league players Australia national rugby league team players 1903 births 1972 deaths Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league players from New South Wales New South Wales rugby league team players 20th-century Australian sportsmen