Michael Arthur Cleary AO (born 30 April 1940) is an Australian former

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 ...

footballer of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, and a politician. He represented Australia in both rugby codes as well as in athletics making him one of only four Australians who have represented their country at full international level in three different sports. He represented 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 ...

in six Tests in 1961 and as a

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 ...

in eight Tests from 1962.

Early life

Cleary was born in

Dover Heights Dover Heights is a cliffside Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Dover Heights is 9 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in Australia, local ...

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 educated at Waverley College. In 1943 having initially lived in Hardy street, his family moved to 17 Rodney Street, Dover Heights, where his father had built a new family home. At age 17, having set a number of schoolboy sprint records, he was offered a sporting scholarship to

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, which he declined, with his sights set on representing Australia in athletics.

Rugby union

In 1959 he joined the

Randwick DRUFC Randwick District Rugby Union Football Club, also known as the Galloping Greens, is an Australian rugby union club based in Randwick City Council, a Local Government Area in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. The team competes in the Sydney premier ...

and played in the club's 1960 winning first-grade premiership side. He was selected in the Australian national side for all three Tests of the 1961 series against

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

and made further

appearances against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and against the

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabhokobhoko) is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

on the 1961 tour of South Africa.

Athletics

After leaving rugby union, during his first year of rugby league with 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 ...

, Cleary maintained his amateur status to enable his selection for the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

later that year. He represented Australia in athletics at the

1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games The 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Perth, Western Australia, from 22 November to 1 December 1962. Athletic events were held at Perry Lakes Stadium in the suburb of Floreat and swimming events at Beatty Park in North ...

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, placing third in the 100-yard sprint. He recorded 9.3 secs for the 100 yards during his athletic career. In 1964 he beat the rugby league speedster

Ken Irvine Kenneth John Irvine (5 March 1940 – 22 December 1990), also nicknamed "Mongo", was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. He holds the standing Australian record for the most tries in a ...

in a A£2,000 match race at

Wentworth Park Wentworth Park is a park near the suburbs of Glebe and Ultimo in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The park contains several multi-purpose sporting pitches, cricket nets and a number of fitness installations. There is a playground in the s ...

, and in 1966 he won the Australian professional 130m sprint race.

Rugby league

Cleary joined the

in 1962 along with

Jim Lisle Ronald James Lisle (19 September 1939 – 1 March 2003) was an Australian rugby union and rugby league player and a dual code rugby international. He represented the Australia national rugby union team, Wallabies in 4 tests in 1961 and the Aust ...

his Wallaby three-quarter partner. Cleary was a Winger with the club throughout the 1960s playing in three premiership winning sides in

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

and

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

. Cleary finished his first grade career with the Rabbitoh's neighbouring club, the

Eastern Suburbs Roosters Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club, known as the Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs. The club competes in the National Rugby Lea ...

, in 1971. This made him ideally suited to represent his future NSW State electoral district of Coogee, which sits close to the geographic border between the two clubs. His international rugby league debut in the 1st Test against

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 ...

in Sydney on 9 June 1962 saw Cleary become Australia's 29th dual-code international, following Arthur Summons and preceding

. He made Test appearances against

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in 1963, 1965 and 1969; against

in 1964 and was selected for the 1963–64 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France during which he made one Test and twenty tour match appearances.

Triple international

He is one of only four Australian sportsmen to represent internationally in three different sports at the senior level (see also Dick Thornett,

Snowy Baker Reginald Leslie "Snowy" Baker (8 February 18842 December 1953) was an Australian athlete, sports promoter, and actor. Born in Surry Hills, New South Wales, Surry Hills, an inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Baker excelled at a numbe ...

and Wal Mackney).

Politics and community

Cleary joined the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

in 1965 and was the State member for Coogee in the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

from 1974 to 1991 and was the NSW Minister for Sport and Recreation and Tourism in the Wran Labor Government from 1981 to 1988. From 1986 to 1988 he was also the NSW Minister for Racing. He was at one time or another the Chairman Sports House Advisory Committee, member North Bondi Surf Life Saving Club, member Coogee Surf Life Saving Club and a director South Sydney Leagues Club. In the Queen's Birthday Honours list of 1992, Cleary was awarded an

Officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

for his service to the

New South Wales Parliament The Parliament of New South Wales, formally the Legislature of New South Wales, (definition of "The Legislature") is the bicameral legislative body of the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW). It consists of the Monarch, the New South Wale ...

, and in 2000 he was awarded the

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, off ...

for his achievements as a Kangaroo player. He was inducted into the

Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Don Bradman, Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and ...

in 1999. Cleary was a wrestling commentator for

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of National W ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cleary, Michael 1940 births Australian male sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Australia Dual-code rugby internationals Australian rugby league players Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby union players Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Officers of the Order of Australia South Sydney Rabbitohs players Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Living people Australia international rugby union players Australian sportsperson-politicians Professional wrestling announcers Sydney Roosters players Rugby league players from Sydney Athletes from Sydney Rugby union players from Sydney Rugby union wings Medallists at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Sportsmen from New South Wales People educated at Waverley College Randwick DRUFC players New South Wales rugby union team players New South Wales rugby league team players Rugby league wingers 20th-century Australian sportsmen Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in athletics