Who is dally messenger

Notify me of new comments via email. Notify me of new posts via email. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. Compliments of the club newsletter editor. Like this: Like Loading Leave a Reply Cancel reply Enter your comment here Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:. After returning to the competition in , Messenger would lead Eastern Suburbs to their first premiership in as captain-coach, ending the year with points, before retiring from representative Rugby League the following year after 26 games for New South Wales, one game for Queensland and six games for Australia, captaining the nation on multiple occasions.

Please log in or join to post comments. Don't subscribe All Replies to my comments Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. Submit an article Get in touch. History Who was Dally Messenger? In , as Rugby League became the dominant winter sport in Sydney, Messenger was its star player. He played five Rugby League matches for Australia, fifteen for his State against Queensland and New Zealand, and other famous encounters such as the three Kangaroos versus Wallabies matches.

Within the Rugby League code his unorthodox exploits became legendary. In a club game, tackled by C. McKivatt and held by one foot, he reputedly kicked a field-goal. Against South Sydney he once scored three tries which led to rule changes: kicking ahead, he ran off the field around the defence, then back on to gather and score; later he punched the ball ahead, caught it and scored; the third try resulted from a collapsed scrum, when he stepped on and over the grounded forwards.

He brought place-kicking to a new level of skill. An unpredictable individualist on the field, off it he was a gentle man of few words. In the fast lane of modern life the sobriquet "Dally M" is probably far more familiar than his given name Herbert Henry Messenger - aka Dally. In the seasons of his league life Dally Messenger, who stood This week as the game acclaims its current heroes near the end of a shaky season, rugby league should pause and remember Dally Messenger.

When rugby union's champion of the early years of the 20th century chose to join the "new game" of rugby league in , it was the boldest of gambles - and akin to a gift from the gods for league. It is as stark as that: without Dally there may well have been no rugby league at all, no weekly hoopla, no glittering event Tuesday night. There are hundreds of such assessments in the files of history.