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| Full name | Edward Alexander Root | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1902-06-26)26 June 1902 Alexandria, New South Wales, Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 7 May 1986(1986-05-07) (aged 83) Brighton-Le-Sands, New South Wales, Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Height | 5 ft 10.5 in (179 cm)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 12 st 12 lb (180 lb; 82 kg)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Second-row, Prop | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Relatives | Stan Root (son) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Edward Alexander Root[2][1] (26 June 1902 – 7 May 1986) was an Australianrugby league footballer who played in the 1920s and 1930s. ANew South Wales state andAustralia national representative forward, his club career was played in Sydney withSouth Sydney,Newtown andSt. George.
Root was born inAlexandria, New South Wales[3] on 26 June 1902.[1] TheSouth Sydney Sentinel reported, contemporaneous to his playing career, that Root's age was uncertain, likely owing to his underage military enlistment duringWorld War I.[3][b]
Root enlisted to serve with theAustralian Imperial Force on 31 March 1917, then aged 14 years and nine months.[2] TheSouth Sydney Sentinel states that Root "served at the front"[3] and theBrisbane Courier claimed he wore a returned serviceman's medal.[1] However, according to Rugby League Project, military records show that Root was discharged in April 1917 when it was discovered he was underage.[2]
It has been claimed that Root holds the distinction of being the last representative footballer to go to the Great War.[4]
A South Sydney junior, Root started playing first grade for Souths in 1923, becoming a mainstay in the side in 1926. That year he first tasted premiership success with Souths, who also won the following two years' competitions. He was sent off in the1926 decider againstUniversity. He made his representative debut forNew South Wales in 1927 and was regularly selected for the Blues over the next six seasons.[5] He was selected to go on the1929–30 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain, playing in fifteen tour matches but no Tests.[6] When theNSWRL changed the South Sydney/Newtown boundary distinction in 1930 Root spent the following season withNewtown due to the strict residential criteria of the time. He then returned to Souths and played in the back-to-back premiership-winning Souths sides of1931 and1932.
In 1935 he was signed bySt. George and scored two tries in the record-breaking 91–6 win over competition newcomersCanterbury-Bankstown before later becoming the club's captain-coach. He played with Saints for two seasons before retiring.[7] His son,Stan Root was also aSt. George Dragons player between 1941 and 1950.
Root died on 7 May 1986 atBrighton-Le-Sands, New South Wales,[8]
Edward Alexander Root, of South Sydney, says he is 27 years of age, and yet he wears a Returned Soldier's medal. He must have enlisted when he was very young, for the war has been over 11 years now. Root is a fine rugged forward, and does some great work where honest scrummaging is needed. He stands 5ft. 10½in., weighs 12st. 12lb., is a storeman, and was born in Sydney on June 26, 1902.