Bill Bussell

William Samuel "Bill" Bussell[2] (19 February 1887 – 7 June 1917) was a New Zealand rugby league player who represented New Zealand.[1] Bussell was killed in action during World War I.

Bill Bussell
Personal information
Full nameWilliam Samuel Bussell
Born(1887-02-19)19 February 1887
Christchurch, New Zealand
Died7 June 1917 (aged 30)
Messines, Belgium
Playing information
PositionHalfback
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1914 Sydenham
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1912–1914 Canterbury
1914 New Zealand 1 0 0 0 0
Source: [1]

Personal life

Bussell was the son of William and Hester Bussell and lived in St Albans, Christchurch.[3]

Playing career

In 1912 Bussell was part of the first ever Canterbury side. Canterbury went down 4-5 to Wellington on 7 September.[4]

In 1914 he played for Sydenham in the Canterbury Rugby League competition and also captained Canterbury before being selected to represent New Zealand against the Great Britain Lions. New Zealand lost the Test match 13-16.[5] He was selected for the 1915 New Zealand tour of Australia that was later abandoned.[4]

World War I

With the outbreak of World War I, Bussell enlisted. In 1917 Private Bussell was killed in action during the Battle of Messines.[3][4]

References
  1. "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  2. BUSSELL, William Samuel 1914 - Kiwi #105 Archived March 8, 2012, at the Wayback Machine nzleague.co.nz
  3. New Zealand and World War One Roll of Honour 1917 January - June
  4. Coffey, John. Canterbury XIII, Christchurch, 1987.
  5. John Coffey, Bernie Wood (2008). 100 years: Māori rugby league, 1908-2008. Huia Publishers. p. 35. ISBN 978-1-86969-331-2.
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