Herbert Michael Gilbert (4 May 1917 – 31 October 1983) was a three-time premiership winning and

state representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United St ...

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 1930s and 1940s. A who played with the

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 ...

and Balmain clubs, he won premierships and made state representative appearances, both before and after active service in World War II.

Early years

Son of

Kangaroo Kangaroos are marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use, the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...

great

Herb Gilbert Herbert R. Gilbert (18 September 1888 – 5 January 1972) was an Australian rugby league and rugby union player – a List of dual-code rugby internationals, dual-code international. He represented the Australia national rugby union team, Walla ...

, Herb Gilbert Jr started playing first grade in the

New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia and contributor to today's National Rugby League. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League (initially named the New Sout ...

with the

club in 1938. In 1940 he began representative playing duties 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 ...

appearing in games III and IV in Brisbane of that year's series against

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 ...

Gilbert played alongside his brother

Jack Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, incl ...

in 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 ...

1941 Grand Final winning team. The following season he again made representative appearances in Brisbane for games III and IV of the interstate series. Gilbert then played in the 1942 Grand Final loss to

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 ...

. The outbreak of war then interrupted his football career.

War service

Gilbert's football career was interrupted due to his enlistment in the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...

in 1942. He served in the 54 Anti-Aircraft regiment as a gunner and was not discharged from active service until the war was over in November 1945. Both his younger brothers

Jack Gilbert Jack Gilbert (February 18, 1925 – November 13, 2012) was an American poet. Gilbert was acquainted with Jack Spicer and Allen Ginsberg, both prominent figureheads of the Beat Movement, but is not considered a Beat Poet; he described himself a ...

and

James James may refer to: People * James (given name) * James (surname) * James (musician), aka Faruq Mahfuz Anam James, (born 1964), Bollywood musician * James, brother of Jesus * King James (disambiguation), various kings named James * Prince Ja ...

also saw active service. James, like Herb was in the 54th Anti-Aircraft Regiment and was stationed in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

Post-war career

After discharge Gilbert returned to football, moving to the Balmain club for the 1946 season. In 1946 he represented New South Wales against England during the first post-war Lions tour and made another appearance for the Blues in the inter-state series. That year Balmain reached the

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...

against his former club St. George. Gilbert played in a close game, won by Balmain 13–12. Tensions of the encounter overflowed after full-time and the match concluded on an ugly note when Saints forward, Jim Hale went toe-to-toe with Gilbert. Hale was then attacked by a spectator and an all-in brawl followed. Gilbert won another premiership with

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 ...

in season 1947 when his team defeated

in the

. He retired after the 1948 NSWRFL season. Gilbert was a member of 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 ...

on eight occasions between 1940 and 1946. Herbert Michael Gilbert died on 31 October 1983, aged 66.Sydney Morning Herald (Death Notice) 1/11/1983

References

On-line sources

Herb Gilbert Jr. at yetsredayshero.com.au

Herb Gilbert Jr. at nrlstats.com

Published sources

* Whiticker, Alan & Hudson, Glen (2006) ''The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players'', Gavin Allen Publishing, Sydney * Haddan, Steve (2007) ''The Finals – 100 Years of National Rugby League Finals'', Steve Haddan Publishing, Brisbane {{DEFAULTSORT:Gilbert, Herb 1917 births 1983 deaths Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian Army soldiers Australian rugby league players Balmain Tigers players City New South Wales rugby league team players New South Wales rugby league team players Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from Sydney St. George Dragons players 20th-century Australian sportsmen