Rex Norman (1891–1961) 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 and cricketer, who represented Australasia in rugby league and New South Wales in both sports.

Rugby league career

Norman played 13 seasons in first grade in the

NSWRFL The New South Wales Rugby League Ltd (NSWRL) is an Australian rugby league football competition operator in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission.It was registered on 21 ...

, playing for Annandale between 1910 and 1914, South Sydney between 1915-1917 and 1919, and

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 1918, and 1920–1922. He was one of four brothers along, with

Bernard Bernard ('' Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It has West Germanic origin and is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''be ...

Roy Roy or Roi is a masculine given name and a family surname with varied origins. France In France, this family name originated from the Normans, the descendants of Norse Vikings who migrated to Amigny, a commune in Manche, Normandy.. The deriva ...

and

Ray Ray or RAY may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), the bony or horny spine on ray-finned fish Science and mathematics * Half-line (geometry) or ray, half of a line split at an ...

, who played in the NSW Rugby Football League first-grade competition. Rex and Ray became only the second set of brothers to represent Australia, behind Viv and Bill Farnsworth. Rex was selected for

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

for the

1921–22 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain The 1921–22 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain was the third ever Kangaroo tour. Again an Australasian side rather than an Australian team alone (although the 28-man squad featured only one New Zealander) travelled to Great Britain to contest t ...

. He played in 21 tour matches but did not play a test match. Norman was the NSW Rugby Football League's top point scorer in

1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...

Cricket career

Norman also played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

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 ...

, appearing in seven matches from 1918 to 1920. A left-arm fast-medium bowler, he took 31 wickets at 26.83.

Later years

Norman finished his long career in

Canowindra, New South Wales Situated on the Belubula River, Canowindra (pronounced ) is a historic township and the largest population centre in Cabonne Shire, New South Wales, Cabonne Shire. The town is located between Orange, New South Wales, Orange and Cowra, New South ...

, captain-coaching both the local rugby league team and cricket team. Whilst playing cricket against a touring professional side, Norman bowled a young

Don Bradman Sir Donald George Bradman (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), nicknamed "The Don", was an Australian international cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. His cricketing successes have been claimed by Shane ...

for a "

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

". His nickname in the small country town was "Rocker". In 1953 Norman coached the NSW Country Rugby League Firsts side to a 28-27 victory over City Firsts.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norman, Rex 1891 births 1961 deaths Annandale rugby league players Australasia rugby league team players Australian cricketers Australian rugby league players Cricketers from Sydney New South Wales cricketers New South Wales rugby league team players Rugby league centres Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Sydney Rugby league wingers South Sydney Rabbitohs captains South Sydney Rabbitohs players Sydney Roosters players 20th-century Australian sportsmen Australia national rugby league team players