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| 1908&09 Kangaroos Arthur is in front row 3rd from right |
As an 18 year old he played Rugby with Boys Brigade before moving to Bayview in 1896. By 1901 he was a regular first grader at "Souths" Rugby Union. He represented NSW in 1901, 1902, 1904 and 1907. By 1907 he was captain of Souths. In Rugby Union he played breakaway and hooker. He was only small and when he represented against New Zealand the Kiwis mistook him for a halfback because of his diminutive size. He played above his weight and they were forced into a change of mind by game's end.
The New Zealand All Golds toured in 1907 against a breakaway New South Wales Rugby League team and it was Arthur who captain coached the side. These initial games were played under the old Rugby Union rules as the new laws of the game had not arrived from England as yet. On receipt of the new 'laws' of the game Arthur is understood to have proclaimed that "this is a game for racehorses". Arthur worked as a Labourer and perhaps this is part of the reason he enthusiastically jumped on board with the Rugby League when it arrived in Australia. Rugby League was formed in the mining areas of Northern England as a break from the Amateur game of Rugby Union, primarily so that workers could be compensated for time off work when they were injured during matches. Arthur, whose work involved physical labour would have been easily imagined to be in the same boat as his mining brothers from England. I think I am right in saying that by taking part in the matches for NSW the players were expelled from the Rugby Union. On the back of that move, Hennessy sent a circular to all the Rugby Clubs in the area to attend a meeting at his home in Chapman Street, Surry Hills. To say that the meeting was not well attended (at least numerically) is an understatement. There were, including the host only 4 attendees. As Paul Kelly said "from little things, big things grow" and so it was in this case. One of those who attended was Samuel George Ball whose name is on the trophy for the Under 18's junior representative competition of the NSWRL.
From the 4 and 1 apology for the first meeting, things built. By the 17th of January, 1908 a meeting was held to officially form the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Redfern Town Hall. The 3 founders of the Rugby League in Australia Henry Clement Hoyle (Politician), J.J. Giltinan (entrepreneur) and Victor Trumper (test cricketer) were on the podium to make South Sydney official. South Sydney were the 3rd club to be formed behind Glebe on January 9 and Newtown on January 14.
Hennessy was Souths' inaugural captain coach. Souths' went through the 11 match season losing just 1 game. That being to Eastern Suburbs 13 points to 12. They did however win the match that mattered and take the premiership. The premiership decider was played whilst both Souths and Easts had 6 players each on the boat to England for the first Kangaroo Tour. Amongst them was Arthur Hennessy. During the first season Arthur was Souths' hooker. He was also one of two of the clubs delegates to the NSWRFL. During the season Australia played it's first 2 test matches, against New Zealand losing both. Arthur was Australia's first captain. When in 2004 the Australian Rugby League gave a number to each of it's Rugby League representatives Arthur was given the number 1. Also during that first season, Arthur captained NSW in the first interstate match against Queensland. NSW won 43 to nil.
As mentioned earlier Arthur toured England with the first Kangaroos in 1908&09 but did not play a test due to 2 broken jaws. He did however play in 7 matches on the tour. There was some drama on the tour as Arthur was a selector as well as a player. Arthur weighed in at 79 kg and was 173 cm tall. In those early days of rugby league there was no 6 tackle rule as there is today. Tackles were unlimited. Arthur implemented a no kicking policy at Souths, which was the foundation of the teams success. The running and passing style of game which Arthur implemented in those early days was what gave South Sydney the title "the pride of the league". His footballing creed was Position, Possession, Penetration and Pace. Through much of the South Sydney Rabbitohs' glory days this remained the root of their style of play. It remained that way until the implementation of the limited tackle rule came into the game in 1967. In around 1953 Arthur wrote a book titled "Winning Rugby Moves : and how to play them". A copy is still available at the NSW state library. In 1909 Arthur played 4 games for Easts including captaining them in a semi final. He also appeared for Souths in the same year. 1909 saw Souths win the infamous no show grand final against Balmain by forfeit. The match was scheduled to be played as a curtain raiser for the Wallabies V Kangaroos match to which Balmain protested and did not play. Souths played a match against a fill in team to appease the crowd. They won the match 18 to 10. In those first 2 seasons Arthur played only 6 matches with Souths and 4 with Easts. In 1910 and 11 he played a further 20 games in Red and Green. Souths made the grand final in 1910 where a 4 all draw was enough to secure the premiership for the mighty Newtown side. Souths 1911 side were knocked out in the semi final by Eastern Suburbs. Souths season lost impetuous when the Australian side left for England in early August. Arthur would have been 35 by the end of the season and did not play for Souths again.
It appears for there he moved into coaching and did so for many years. In 1913 he coached a New South Wales side on a tour of New Zealand. The coach notably implemented a steak only diet for lunch on game days. Arthur coached both codes of Rugby at school and higher levels for much of his life. He also spent time as a boxing coach. He coached Australian lightweight champion Sid Godfrey. Arthur coached Souths' in 1918, a season in which they won their fourth premiership. This win occurred during the final year of the first world war which has given me cause to wonder what kind of players they would have been whilst most young men were away fighting a war.
Arthur's other coaching credits included St Ignatius college, Riverview, the King's School and Waverley college. In 1929&30 Arthur coached the Australian Kangaroos on their tour of England where they were unlucky not to bring home the Ashes. He was the first non playing Australian coach to tour. The next such appointment was Clive Churchill in 1959.
In 1946 Arthur again coached the Rabbitohs', this time without success. That is an understatement. Souths went through the season without a win, losing all 14 games. Coaching careers usually don't end on high otherwise they wouldn't usually end. I guess this is also the case with Arthur's career.
When not playing or coaching Arthur spent his time as a bookmakers' clerk or similar, he invested in Maroubra Speedway, a Maroubra cinema opposite his home and a mini golf course.
Arthur had lived a sporting life to the full with a range of achievements that shine brightly for all to see. When you watch your Rugby League team run around this weekend spare a thought for Arthur and where it all began.
Bibliography
Photos of Arthur By : State Library of New South WalesDirect link, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19273020
The first Kangaroos : https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16602048
South Sydney : Pride of the League by Ian Heads 1994
Wikipedia : Arthur Hennessy
Australian Dictionary of Biography : Hennessy, Arthur Stephen (1876 to 1959) by Chris Cunneen
Rugbyleagueproject.org : Arthur Hennessy
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