Les Cubitt
Encyclopedia
Les Cubitt was an Australian representative rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

 player, a Centre or Five-eighth whose club career was with Eastern Suburbs
Sydney Roosters
The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League and is one of the oldest and most successful clubs in Australian rugby league history, having won twelve New South Wales Rugby League...

 and the Glebe Dirty Reds.He is considered one of the nation's finest footballers of the 20th century.

Club career

Cubitt commenced his club career at just eighteen years of age with Glebe playing alongside his brother Charlie in the 1911 Grand Final loss to Eastern Suburbs
Sydney Roosters
The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League and is one of the oldest and most successful clubs in Australian rugby league history, having won twelve New South Wales Rugby League...

. In 1913 Les Cubitt joined the Roosters where he played for the next nine seasons winning a premiership in 1913.

Representative career

He was first selected for New South Wales
New South Wales Rugby League team
The New South Wales rugby league team has represented the Australian state of New South Wales in rugby league football since the sport's beginnings there in 1907. Administered by the New South Wales Rugby League, the team competes in the annual State of Origin series against arch-rivals, the...

 in 1911 but had to wait until the end of the First World War to make his national representative debut. He played in the centres in all four Tests of Australia's first tour of New Zealand
New Zealand national rugby league team
The New Zealand national rugby league team has represented New Zealand in rugby league football since intercontinental competition began for the sport in 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the native bird of that name...

 in 1919 scoring four tries in the tests and 17 tries in the last three tour matches.

He was selected as captain of the 1921-22 "Australasian" Kangaroos which had two New Zealanders in the squad. He concealed a serious knee injury which he aggravated on the tour in England and which led to his eventual retirement in 1922.

Accolades

In February 2008, Cubitt was named in the list of Australia's 100 Greatest Players (1908–2007) which was commissioned by the NRL
National Rugby League
The National Rugby League is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. The NRL's main competition, called the Telstra Premiership , is contested by sixteen teams, fifteen of which are based in Australia with one based in New Zealand...

 and ARL
Australian Rugby League
The Australian Rugby League is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in Australia. It is made up of state bodies, including the New South Wales Rugby League and the Queensland Rugby League...

 to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia.

Sources

  • Whiticker, Alan
    Alan Whiticker
    Alan J. Whiticker is an Australian non-fiction author with currently over 30 published books.Whiticker writes primarily on matters pertaining to the history of the sport of rugby league in Australia, but has also published works on subjects as diverse as the Wanda Beach Murders and an adaptation...

    & Hudson, Glen (2006) The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players, Gavin Allen Publishing, Sydney
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