Ross McKinnon (1914-1962) 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 coach. Born in

Oberon, New South Wales Oberon is a town located within the Oberon Council Local government in Australia, local government area, in the Central Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia. The main industries are farming, forestry and wood products. The town usually ...

, he played for the

University A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

, Eastern Suburbs,

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 for the

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

national side.

Playing career

McKinnon, who attended

Sydney Boys High Sydney Boys High School ('SBHS'), otherwise known as Sydney High School ('SHS') or simply High, is an Australian government-funded single-sex academically selective secondary day school for boys, located at Moore Park, New South Wales, a sub ...

, graduating in 1932, started playing at the University club as a . He then joined Eastern Suburbs and played with them for four seasons between 1935 and 1938, and won two premierships with them in

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

and

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Feb ...

. McKinnon was selected to go on the 1937-38

Kangaroo tour Kangaroo Tour is the name given to Australia national rugby league team tours of Great Britain and France, tours to New Zealand and the one-off tour to Papua New Guinea (1991). The first Kangaroo Tour was in 1908. Traditionally, Kangaroo Tours too ...

. He is listed on the ''Australian Players Register'' as Kangaroo No. 195. After McKinnon finished playing in Australia's major rugby league competition – the

NSWRL 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 ...

he moved to the more rural locality of

Cessnock, New South Wales Cessnock () is a city in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia, about by road west of Newcastle, New South Wales, Newcastle. It is the administrative centre of the City of Cessnock Local government in Australia, LGA and was named afte ...

where the

Centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

played out the remainder of his career as the captain coach of that side. He took them to a

Newcastle Rugby League The Newcastle Rugby League is a local rugby league football competition in Newcastle, Australia. It is one of the oldest rugby league competitions in Australia, founded in 1910. A Newcastle rugby league team, Newcastle representative team was al ...

's grand final victory in 1941.

Post playing

McKinnon later returned to Sydney and coached

Canterbury-Bankstown Canterbury-Bankstown is a customary region of Sydney, Australia, in Inner South-Western Sydney. The region is located to the north of the St George region (from which it is separated by Wolli Creek) and to the south of the Inner West region ...

, taking them to the play-offs in

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

and in

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

to the

Grand final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...

. He also coached

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 ...

in 1952, 1953 and 1959. In 1962, at the age of 48, following an operation on a brain tumor he died of coronary occlusion. Although he was married twice, McKinnon was never able to have children due to injuries.

References

1914 births 1962 deaths Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league coaches Australian rugby league players Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs coaches Cessnock Goannas players City New South Wales rugby league team players Country New South Wales rugby league team players New South Wales rugby league team players North Sydney Bears coaches Rugby league centres Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league players from New South Wales Sydney Roosters players Sydney University rugby league team players 20th-century Australian sportsmen {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1910s-stub