Bill McLennan (rugby league)

Bill McLennan
Personal information
Full name William Richard McLennan
Born (1927-06-05)5 June 1927
West Coast, New Zealand
Died 21 July 2007(2007-07-21) (aged 80)
Auckland, New Zealand
Playing information
Height 185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight 101 kg (15 st 13 lb)
Position Prop

Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
Blackball (WCRL)
Runanga
Total 0 0 0 0 0
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1949–19?? West Coast
South Island
1951–1957 New Zealand 28 1 1 0 5
Source: [1]

William (Bill) "Ginger" Richard McLennan[2] (5 June 1927 – 21 July 2007) was a New Zealand rugby league player who represented his country in the 1954 and 1957 World Cups.

Playing career

Born on the West Coast, McLennan was a miner and represented the West Coast. He played for the Runanga club.[3] He was first selected for New Zealand in 1951. McLennan played in 84 games for the Kiwis, including 28 tests. This included 22 consecutive tests.[4] His total 84 games has been bettered only by Jock Butterfield (99) and Tom Baxter (94).

He was part of the famous Kiwi team that won back-to-back test series against Australia in 1952 (in Australia) and 1953 (in New Zealand).[5]

McLennan was the vice-captain in the 1955-56 tour of Great Britain. He retired after this tour however he made a comeback for the 1957 World Cup.[6]

He was inducted as one of the New Zealand Rugby Leagues "Legends of League" in 2000.[7]

References

  1. "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  2. McLENNAN, William Richard 1951 - 57 - Kiwi #334 Archived July 19, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. nzleague.co.nz
  3. Top Players West Coast Rugby Football League
  4. Playing Records Archived 2012-09-08 at Archive.is nzrl.co.nz
  5. Kiwi League Legend passes away rleague.com, 25 July 2007
  6. "Obituary: Bill 'Ginger' McLennan". The New Zealand Herald. 28 July 2007. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  7. Legends of League Archived 2012-09-11 at Archive.is nzrl.co.nz
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.