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Rugby
Articles 5
 Allan's
Career a Link Between Eras.
Norman
tasker talks to a rugby prodicy with a sense of history.
An
ancient relic of the First Kangaroos may take pride of place, but
it is not the only collectable of substance that Trevor "Tubby"
Allan has preserved from a stellar football career.
He
has a few other treasures of note, among them:
-
A British Lions jersey from the 1930 tour of New Zealand and Australia,
worn by the tour captain, back-rower E D Prentice
- A
Springbok jersey from Danie Craven's 1937 tour of New Zealand
and Australia, worn by the flanker Ebbo Bastard
- His
own Other Nationalities Rugby League jersey and honour cap from
the early '50s in Britain, when the series celebrated the post-war
Empire and provided a significant era in the English game.
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| "Other
Nationalities" Jersey worn in games against combined England,
Wales, France 1951 - 1954. |
Just
as J.J. Giltinan had given Allan the Kangaroos jersey as recognition
of his feats as a schoolboy, the early international Rugby jerseys
also came Allan's way as acknowledgement of a remarkable contribution
by a young man ahead of his time.
Allan
had made the Wallaby team in 1946 as a 19-year-old in his first
year out of school, making a tour to New Zealand in his first experience
of the international game (he also has a jersey worn by the famed
New Zealand centre J.B. Smith).
By
1947, when he set off for the major tour of Britain, France and
North America, he had been appointed vicecaptain, at just 20 years
of age, and already was a central figure of the team's ambitions.
"It
was an awesome experience in so many ways," Allan recalled.
"We travelled by boat of course, and as vice-captain I got
to sit at dinner with the captain Bill McLean, the manager Arnold
Tancred and the team secretary Jeff Noseda.
"I
got on well with all of them. Jeff Noseda was particularly helpful
to me. It was he who gave me the Lions and Springbok jumpers at
the end of the tour."
Noseda,
like so many others, was in awe of the job Allan did, thrust as
he was into a job that most 21-year-olds would baulk at. Not far
into the tour Bill McLean broke his leg, and Allan was thrust into
the captaincy.
He
led the Wallabies to victories against England, Ireland and Scotland,
and an unfortunate 6-0 defeat by Wales in which no tries were scored.
He led by example and the team, some of them gnarled veterans who
had been selected for the 1939 tour which was aborted because of
World War II soon after the team arrived, rallied behind their young
skipper.
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The
jersey of captain E. D. Prentice 1930 Lion's Tour of Australia.
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It
was one of Australia's most successful tours. He led the Wallabies
again to New Zealand in 1949, where the team won both Tests and
seized the Bledisloe Cup. In a very short time Allan had made himself
Rugby's hottest property, triggering all sorts of anguish when he
announced at the end of the 1950 season that he was going to play
Rugby League in England for a then record fee.
Allan
has remained close to the Rugby scene in the years since. He never
misses a home game at his old club Gordon. And when various all-time
teams were chosen a few years back to celebrate 100 years of Australian
Test Rugby, he was one of only two players - David Campese was the
other - for whom there was never a debate on his position.
There
is something poetic about the Allan collection of memorabilia from
both Rugby codes. That the first Kangaroos jumper - the last remaining
as far as anyone can tell - could finish up with a man who eventually
achieved so much is curiously fitting.
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