Max Gray 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 who played in the 1930s and 1940s. He played for Western Suburbs in the NSWRL competition.

Playing career

Gray made his first grade debut for Western Suburbs in Round 1 1934 against Balmain at

Leichhardt Oval Leichhardt Oval is a rugby league and soccer stadium in Lilyfield, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently one of three home grounds for the Wests Tigers National Rugby League (NRL) team, along with Campbelltown Stadium and Western Syd ...

. In the same season, Western Suburbs went from wooden spooners in 1933 to winning the minor premiership and premiership in 1934. The change in form was attributed to the fact that Western Suburbs lost players such as

Frank McMillan Frank McMillan (14 December 1899 – 26 December 1966) was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach. He was a full-back for the Australia national rugby league team, Australian national team and played in nine Tests between 1929 and 193 ...

and

Alan Ridley Alan Ridley OBE (1910–1993) was an Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1920s and 1930s. An Australian international and New South Wales interstate representative winger, he played club football for Sydney's Western Suburbs ...

who were away on tour with the Australian team when the club finished last but returned for the start of the 1934 season. Gray played in the 1934 grand final victory over Eastern Suburbs at the

Sydney Sports Ground The Sydney Sports Ground No. 1 was a stadium and dirt track racing venue in Sydney, New South Wales. The ground was located where the car park of the Sydney Football Stadium (SFS) currently sits. The ground had two main grandstands and was sur ...

. The final had been delayed for over a week due to heavy rain and Wests went into the match as underdogs with Easts boasting players such as future immortal David Brown,

Viv Thicknesse Viv Thicknesse (1910–1986) was an Australian dual-code rugby half-back, a state representative in both rugby league and rugby union. His rugby league career was spent with the champion Eastern Suburbs sides of the 1930s and he represented Aus ...

Ray Stehr Raymond Ernest Stehr (24 January 1913 – 2 June 1983) was an Australian rugby league footballer, a state and national representative player whose club career was played at Sydney's Eastern Suburbs club. He has been named as one of the nation ...

, Andy Norval and Cliff Pearce. As of the 2019 season, no other team since Western Suburbs has come from last place to winning the premiership the following year. Gray was captain-coach of West Wyalong when they won the 1938

Group 9 Group 9 may refer to: * Group 9 element * Group 9 Rugby League *"Group 9", Australian arts collective, whose members included John Dowie {{disambig