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| Born | Trevor Allan 26 September 1926 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Died | 27 January 2007(2007-01-27) (aged 80) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | North Sydney Technical High School | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Commentator | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Rugby league career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Position | Centre | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Coaching information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Trevor AllanOAM (26 September 1926 – 27 January 2007) was an Australiandual-code rugby international who captained Australia inrugby union before switching torugby league with English clubLeigh.
A North Sydney rugby union junior, Allan was educated at North Sydney Technical High School.[1] His senior club career was with theGordon rugby club in Sydney where his father was a coach. Phil Tressider described him as a fine running centre with powerful acceleration once he got outside a rival. His forte was the muscle he would add to a back-line with his fierce tackling. He had strength beyond his years and slight physique. As a teenager he shared an ice-run with one of his brothers and he would haul a 28-pound block of ice on a hook in either hand sometimes climbing three or four flights of stairs to make the delivery.[2]
After only a handful of senior games, he was selected forNew South Wales aged just 19 and later that year for the 1946 tour of New Zealand, theWallabies' first post-war tour. Allan's defence impressed against the experiencedAll Black backline.
In 1947, he was selected as vice-captain of theWallaby side to tour Europe and North America. In the sixth game of the tour, in a minor match against London Counties, the captainBill McLean broke his leg badly and was able to play no further part in the nine-month tour. Allan took over. This was a few days after his 21st birthday making him the second youngest Wallaby captain and the youngest ever touring captain. The Wallabies beatScotland,Ireland andEngland but lost toWales on penalties. They did not have a try scored against them in any of these Tests. Allan returned from the tour having proved both his exceptional leadership and playing capabilities.
In 1949, he led the Wallabies to New Zealand where they won theBledisloe Cup for the first time in New Zealand and posted eleven wins from twelve games on tour.The Rugby Almanack of New Zealand that year named him one of the world's top 5 players.[3]
He missed the Test against theBritish Lions in 1950 due to injury but coached the Australian side.
In all he played 17 matches for theNew South Wales Waratahs in his rugby career, he played for Australia in 52 matches of which 14 were Tests. He was captain in 40 of those 52 national appearances, 10 of them Tests.
In late 1950, Allan signed with EnglishRugby Football League clubLeigh. With the assistance of Australian former rugby league internationalRay Stehr he signed a four-year contract with the club worth 5,000 pounds sterling.[4] He made 97 appearances for Leigh in a four-year period, scoring 52 tries. He also represented in a star-studdedOther Nationalities side during this time, making him a dual-code international. He returned to Australia in 1955 and played three seasons with theNorth Sydney Bears, the last two as captain-coach.
After retiring he began a long and successful career with theAustralian Broadcasting Commission as a commentator on league and union. He was the face and voice of the ABC's rugby union coverage throughout the 1960s and 1970s. He died early in 2007.[citation needed]
On 10 June 1991, he was awarded theOrder of Australia Medal[5] and on 23 August 2000, he was awarded theAustralian Sports Medal for services to rugby union.[6] He was made a life member of theSydney Cricket Ground and has been honored there with the installment of a bronze sculpture of his likeness, and a plaque in the Walk of Honour there commemorates his career.[7]
His1947 Wallaby tour teammate SirNicholas Shehadie described him as follows:I doubt that I ever laid eyes on a better defending centre who also excelled in attack. He performed many try-saving tackles, most memorably in our 1948 Test defeat of England at Twickenham. Few better leaders.[8]
In 2007, the Trevor Allan Cup was created in his honour being a five-round north–south pool competition involving first grade teams from all twelve Sydney clubs, conducted in the second half of the Sydney domestic season after completion of theShute Shield first grade competition.
In 2010, he was honoured in the sixth set of inductees into theAustralian Rugby Union Hall of Fame.[9]
He is one of six captains to lead his side to a test series win on New Zealand soil, along withPhilip J. Nel (1937 Springboks),John Dawes (1971 British Lions),Andrew Slack (1986 Australia),Philippe Saint-André (1994 France) andJohnny Sexton (2022 Ireland).
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Bruce Ryan 1956 | Coach North Sydney 1957–1958 | Succeeded by Ross McKinnon 1959 |
| Preceded by | Captain Australia 1947–1949 | Succeeded by |