Les Davidson (born 3 April 1963) is an Australian former professional

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 1980s and 1990s. He played for 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 ...

and

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in the Sutherland Shire of Southern Sydney, Southern Sydney, New South Wales. Cronulla compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugb ...

and represented at both the State and national levels. His position of choice on the field was or .

Playing career

Davidson made his first grade début for the

in 1985. At the end of the 1986 NSWRL season, he became the first South Sydney player in over a decade to be selected for Australia when he went on the 1986 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France. He played five State of Origin matches 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 ...

and was named

Man of the match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

in Game 1, 1987. Davidson was a member of the New South Wales Origin squad which played

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 ...

at Veterans Stadium,

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

on 6 August 1987. Davidson also represented

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 ...

in a number of Test Matches. He is listed on the ''Australian Players Register'' as Kangaroo No. 577. In the Australian off-season of 1988 and 1989, Davidson had two stints in England playing for the

Warrington Wolves Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league club based in Warrington, England. They play home games at the Halliwell Jones Stadium and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league system, British rugby league. Warringto ...

and

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors is an English professional rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club competes in the Super League, the top tier of the British rugby league system. Formed in 1872, the club is a founding member of the Ru ...

. After very nearly joining the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...

, Davidson signed with Cronulla-Sutherland. He made 133 appearances in first grade for the Sharks, adding hardened representative experience to the Cronulla pack during the 1990s, and he became a Sharks favourite.

References

External links

Les Davidson at eraofthebiff.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Les Australian rugby league players Australian expatriate rugby league players in England Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks players South Sydney Rabbitohs players New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players Country New South Wales Origin rugby league team players Warrington Wolves players Wigan Warriors players Australia national rugby league team players Living people 1963 births Rugby league second-rows South Sydney Rabbitohs captains Place of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Australian sportsmen