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| Born | Ernest Arthur Anlezark[1] (1882-12-29)29 December 1882[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Died | 14 May 1961(1961-05-14) (aged 78)[2][3] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Cotton broker | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Rugby league career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Position | Five-eighth | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Ernest Arthur "George" Anlezark (29 December 1882 – 14 May 1961), also known asAlec, was an Australianrugby league andrugby union player – adual-code rugby international.He was a pioneer Australian representative footballer selected in the firstAustralia national rugby union team overseas touring side toNew Zealand in 1905 and representing theKangaroos in the firstKangaroo tour of Great Britain in 1908.
Born inBathurst, New South Wales he was a regular in NSW Country and NSW representative teams before being selected asfly-half in Australia's first rugby union touring team which played a Test againstNew Zealand inDunedin on 2 September 1905.[1]
Playing in the country, Anlezark found it difficult to re-gain selection to the Australian representative team in the following year, especially after moving toLismore for his work with the NSW Railways.
Anlezark arrived in Brisbane in 1908 and first played rugby league forQueensland Maroons against a touring New Zealand Maori team. He then played againstNew South Wales in the first ever interstate fixture before being chosen for Australia in the inaugural international game against theNew Zealand Māori.
He was selected in the pioneerKangaroo touring side of 1908 and playing at half-back alongsideDally Messenger.[2] Two months later in the 3rd Test against England which Australia lost 6–5, Anlezark made his début Kangaroo Test appearance becoming at that point the 10th ever dual rugby-code Australian international. He captained Australia in the final four tour games of the trip. Anlezark is listed on the Australian Players Register as Kangaroo No.23.[4]
Having been selected for Queensland on the strength of his rugby union credentials, Anlezark made appearances for Queensland, an Australian touring side and an Australian Test side before he had ever played a club game.[5] The Brisbane club competition did not begin until 1909.[6]
Anlezark remained in England to play forOldham and made 114 appearances in six seasons up till commencement ofWorld War I. He was part of Oldham's Club Championship, Lancashire League and Lancashire Cup wins from 1909 to 1912. At the end of the1908–09 Northern Rugby Football Union season Anlezark played at scrum half back in Oldham's loss toWigan in theChampionship Final.[7] He also played in the 1912Challenge Cup Final where Oldham were beaten 8–5 in a shock upset byDewsbury.
In 1914 Anlezark enlisted in the British Army and was assigned to the 66th Brigade Divisional Artillery.[2] He saw active service against the Ottoman Empire during theMesopotamian campaign.[2] After the War Anlezark returned to Oldham to become a cotton broker and investor on the Manchester stock exchange, but was bankrupted in a market crash in 1925. He remained in the U.K. for the rest of his life.[2] He died at Crewe, England in 1961, aged 78.[8]