Ronald James Lisle (19 September 1939 – 1 March 2003) was an Australian

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 ...

player and a dual code rugby international. He represented the

Wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and som ...

in 4 tests in 1961 and the

Australia national rugby league team The Australian national rugby league team, the Kangaroos, have represented Australia in senior men's rugby league football competitions since the establishment of the game in Australia in 1908. Administered by the Australian Rugby League Com ...

in 13 matches on the 1963 Kangaroo tour.

Union career

A champion schoolboy athlete Lisle broke into first grade in 1959 with the Sydney suburban club, Drummoyne DRFC (the "Dirty Reds"). He debuted for NSW in 1960 forming a successful halves combination with

Ken Catchpole Kenneth William Catchpole (21 June 1939 – 21 December 2017) was an Australian rugby union footballer. A state and national representative half-back, he played twenty-seven matches for Australia, thirteen as captain. Catchpole rose through th ...

. In 1961 he made his national rugby union debut as a

Wallaby A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized Macropodidae, macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same Taxonomy (biology), taxon ...

playing three test matches against Fiji. Later that year he made an appearance against South Africa playing inside

Mike Cleary Mike Cleary (May 19, 1858 in County Laois, Ireland – September 5, 1893 in Belfast, New York) was an Irish-American Irish Americans () are Irish ethnics who live within in the United States, whether immigrants from Ireland or Ame ...

. He played rugby union at fly half or centre.

League career

Along with Cleary, following the South African Wallaby tour he made the code switch and joined the

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney District Rugby League Football Club, also known as the South Sydney Rabbitohs, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Maroubra, New South Wales, Maroubra that competes in the Nat ...

in 1962 . He played 106 grade games with the club till 1968. After just one appearance in the professional code in 1961 he was selected 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 ...

. Three weeks later with still only one club appearance under his belt Lisle made his international rugby league debut in the third test in Sydney against the visiting

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

. This stands as the fastest rise to international representative status in Australian rugby league history. At season end after just five club appearances he was selected in the all conquering 1963

Kangaroo tour Kangaroo Tour is the name given to Australia national rugby league team tours of Great Britain and France, tours to New Zealand and the one-off tour to Papua New Guinea (1991). The first Kangaroo Tour was in 1908. Traditionally, Kangaroo Tours too ...

of England and France though he did not play in any Tests on the tour. He was Australia's 30th dual code rugby international following Michael Cleary and preceding

Dick Thornett Richard Norman Thornett (23 September 1940 – 12 October 2011) was one of five Australians to have represented their country in three sports. He was an Olympic water polo player before becoming a rugby league and rugby union player – a dual ...

. Lisle played in the premiership winning Souths side of 1967. He played his rugby league at five-eighth. Post football Lisle studied for a Masters of Education at the University of Oregon in the USA. He died in 2003. Outside of Rugby League duties he was a Physical Education Teacher at Bass and Randwick Boys High, and Wyong Technology High School. PE teacher Orara High School, Coffs Harbour. He also taught at Homebush Boys High between 1961 and 1963. In 2004 he was named by the Souths in their ''South Sydney Dream Team'',South Sydney Dream Team
from the official South Sydney website. consisting of 17 players and a coach representing the club from

1908 This is the longest year in either the Julian or Gregorian calendars, having a duration of 31622401.38 seconds of Terrestrial Time (or ephemeris time), measured according to the definition of mean solar time. Events January * January ...

through to

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

League playing record

* ''Club:''

106 games, 35 tries * ''Representative:'' Australia 6 Tests.

Footnotes

References

* Alan Whiticker, 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 * Haddan, Steve (2007) ''The Finals – 100 Years of National Rugby League Finals'', Steve Haddan Publishing, Brisbane {{DEFAULTSORT:Lisle, Jimmy 1939 births 2003 deaths Dual-code rugby internationals Australian rugby league players Australian rugby union players South Sydney Rabbitohs players Australia national rugby league team players Australia international rugby union players South Sydney Rabbitohs captains Rugby league players from Grafton, New South Wales Rugby union centres Rugby union players from New South Wales Drummoyne RFC players New South Wales rugby union team players New South Wales rugby league team players Rugby league five-eighths 20th-century Australian sportsmen