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Full name | Ernest Hartley Mair | |||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Ipswich, Australia | 15 January 1891|||||||||||||||||||||
Died | 12 January 1957 Brisbane, Australia | (aged 65)|||||||||||||||||||||
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Ernest Hartley Mair was an Australian rugby league administrator & hotelier who coached the New Zealand side on their 1926-27 tour of Great Britain.
Ernest Mair was born on 15 January 1891 to a Scottish father and English mother in Ipswich. [1] He played rugby league as a youth, but was much more prominent as a swimmer, becoming President of the Toowoomba Swimming Association and also the Queensland Amateur Swimming Association. [2]
In 1920 he married Mildred Readshaw and with her ran several hotels in Toowoomba. [3]
After becoming President of the Valley club in Toowoomba and Toowoomba Junior Rugby League, Mair was appointed New Zealand Rugby League representative on the Australian Rugby League board of control. [4]
New Zealand lost the series 0–3 against the Great Britain Lions and also lost a test match against Wales. The tour of Britain involved several skirmishes within the Kiwi party. [5] Problems began on the boat journey over, with disputes developing about aspects of the trip and a rift developed between Mair and seven forwards. The disputes continued once the party arrived in Britain, with one of the rebels being involved in a street fight with another member of the tour party after the opening match. At a meeting with English Rugby League authorities in on 8 November, following further disturbances which almost led to the tour party being evicted from their Harrogate hotel, it was decided that Mair would withdraw from team selection and match tactics for a period of a month. [6]
The tour, and the costly disputes, continued with the rebels eventually setting sail for home a week earlier than their colleagues. Three months later all seven players ( Arthur Singe, Neil Mouat, John Herbert James Wright, Alphonsus Carroll, Bill Devine, Lou Petersen and Frank Henry) were banned for life by the New Zealand Rugby League. [7]
Mair returned to Toowoomba in March 1927, becoming one of the district team selectors and was made a life member of the Toowoomba Rugby League in November 1927. [8]
In September 1929, Mair was charged with attempting to convince two men to set fire to a hotel he owned, the Commercial Hotel in Cunnamulla. Mair was discharged after the case against him collapsed. [9] 1938 Ernest Mair was in Cairns, Queensland and the team manager of Past Brothers Minor Juniors who won the 1938 Premiership in the local C.R.L (Cairns Rugby League) [10] He died on 12 January 1957 after injuries sustained after being struck by a car in Brisbane. [11]
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Full name | Ernest Hartley Mair | |||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Ipswich, Australia | 15 January 1891|||||||||||||||||||||
Died | 12 January 1957 Brisbane, Australia | (aged 65)|||||||||||||||||||||
Coaching information | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Ernest Hartley Mair was an Australian rugby league administrator & hotelier who coached the New Zealand side on their 1926-27 tour of Great Britain.
Ernest Mair was born on 15 January 1891 to a Scottish father and English mother in Ipswich. [1] He played rugby league as a youth, but was much more prominent as a swimmer, becoming President of the Toowoomba Swimming Association and also the Queensland Amateur Swimming Association. [2]
In 1920 he married Mildred Readshaw and with her ran several hotels in Toowoomba. [3]
After becoming President of the Valley club in Toowoomba and Toowoomba Junior Rugby League, Mair was appointed New Zealand Rugby League representative on the Australian Rugby League board of control. [4]
New Zealand lost the series 0–3 against the Great Britain Lions and also lost a test match against Wales. The tour of Britain involved several skirmishes within the Kiwi party. [5] Problems began on the boat journey over, with disputes developing about aspects of the trip and a rift developed between Mair and seven forwards. The disputes continued once the party arrived in Britain, with one of the rebels being involved in a street fight with another member of the tour party after the opening match. At a meeting with English Rugby League authorities in on 8 November, following further disturbances which almost led to the tour party being evicted from their Harrogate hotel, it was decided that Mair would withdraw from team selection and match tactics for a period of a month. [6]
The tour, and the costly disputes, continued with the rebels eventually setting sail for home a week earlier than their colleagues. Three months later all seven players ( Arthur Singe, Neil Mouat, John Herbert James Wright, Alphonsus Carroll, Bill Devine, Lou Petersen and Frank Henry) were banned for life by the New Zealand Rugby League. [7]
Mair returned to Toowoomba in March 1927, becoming one of the district team selectors and was made a life member of the Toowoomba Rugby League in November 1927. [8]
In September 1929, Mair was charged with attempting to convince two men to set fire to a hotel he owned, the Commercial Hotel in Cunnamulla. Mair was discharged after the case against him collapsed. [9] 1938 Ernest Mair was in Cairns, Queensland and the team manager of Past Brothers Minor Juniors who won the 1938 Premiership in the local C.R.L (Cairns Rugby League) [10] He died on 12 January 1957 after injuries sustained after being struck by a car in Brisbane. [11]