John Raymond Gillam (1909 – 23 March 1998) was a 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 in the Australian competition the

New South Wales Rugby League The New South Wales Rugby League Ltd (NSWRL) is an Australian rugby league football competition operator in rugby league in New South Wales, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Co ...

(NSWRL).

Playing career

Gillam began his career in the lower Grades at

Glebe A glebe (, also known as church furlong, rectory manor or parson's close(s)) is an area of land within an ecclesiastical parish used to support a parish priest. The land may be owned by the church, or its profits may be reserved to the church. ...

before moving to the Eastern suburbs club, he only appeared in a few first grade matches at Easts in 1931 but was a member of that club's 3rd grade winning side in 1930. Gillam, the brother-in-law of Sir Donald Bradman, also played for

North Sydney North Sydney is a suburb and commercial district on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. And is the administrative centre for the local government area of North Sydney Council. History The Indigenous people on the s ...

for two seasons in 1934–1935 and Western Suburbs for two seasons between 1935–1936 before retiring. Gillam died on 23 March 1998, aged 88.Sydney Morning Herald; Death Notice 24/3/98

References

*''The Encyclopedia Of Rugby League Players''; Alan Whiticker & Glen Hudson 1909 births 1998 deaths Australian rugby league players North Sydney Bears players Rugby league players from New South Wales Rugby league second-rows Sydney Roosters players Western Suburbs Magpies players 20th-century Australian sportsmen {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1900s-stub