Playing Career
Vital Statistics
- Full Name
- Robert Henderson Graves
- Born
- Saturday, 1st September, 1883
- Died
- Saturday, 15th February, 1958 (Aged 74 years and 166 days)
- Place Of Birth
- Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Biography
Balmain RU forward made his amateur Test debut in 1907 against NZ but was then a member of the rebel NSW side that took on the NZ ‘All Golds’. Graves joined Balmain's newly formed ‘professional’ club the following year and had the honour of captain-coaching the Tigers during their first six seasons. The hardy forward became the first clubman to represent Australia when he played against NZ in 1908 and was also a pioneer Kangaroo tourist in 1908-09. Graves played in the second row in the Third Test at Birmingham as well as in 20 other matches on tour. One of the founding fathers of the Balmain Club, Graves’ final two Test appearances were against NZ in 1909. In the Third Test in Sydney, Graves became the club's first Test captain when he led Australia to a 25-5 win to wrap up our first series win against the Kiwis. Incredibly he did not play in another representative match during his career.
- ALAN WHITICKER
Playing Career Statistics
All statistics shown in this section are based only on data available in the RLP database, and are not necessarily a complete and/or 100% accurate representation of a player's career. This information should be used as a guide only. If you see a question mark (?), it denotes that the figure is not available.
To view a list of corresponding matches, click on the List button.
Competitions | ||||||||||||||
| Competition | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tour Matches | New South Wales Firsts | 10 | - | - | - | - | 5 | 5 | 0 | 50.00% | List | |||
| NRL | 61 | 13 | 1 | - | 41 | 23 | 36 | 2 | 37.70% | List | ||||
| Tour Matches | Australia | 27 | 2 | - | - | 6 | 9 | 13 | 5 | 33.33% | List | |||
| Test Series | 6 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 33.33% | List | ||||
| Interstate Matches | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | ||||
| Tour Matches | Metropolis | 1 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | List | |||
| The Ashes | 1 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | List | ||||
| NRL Finals | 1 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | ||||
| City Cup | 4 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 3 | 0 | 25.00% | List | ||||
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Test Matches - By Team | ||||||||||||||
| Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
| Australia | 1908-09 | 7 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 28.57% | List | |||
International Matches - By Team | ||||||||||||||
| Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
| Australia | 1908 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | |||
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Australia - By Team | ||||||||||||||
| Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
| NSW Firsts | 1907-09 | 11 | - | - | - | - | 6 | 5 | 0 | 54.55% | List | |||
| Metropolis | 1908 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | List | |||
| Kangaroos | 1909 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | List | |||
| Overall | 1907-1909 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 6 | 7 | 0 | 46.15% | List | |||
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NRL/NSWRL - By Year | ||||||||||||||
| Team | Season | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
| Balmain | NSWRFL 1908 | 9 | 4 | - | - | 12 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 33.33% | List | |||
| Balmain | NSWRFL 1909 | 8 | 3 | - | - | 9 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | |||
| Balmain | NSWRFL 1910 | 12 | 2 | 1 | - | 8 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 58.33% | List | |||
| Balmain | NSWRFL 1911 | 10 | 3 | - | - | 9 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 10.00% | List | |||
| Balmain | NSWRFL 1912 | 2 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.00% | List | |||
| Balmain | NSWRFL 1913 | 13 | - | - | - | - | 4 | 8 | 1 | 30.77% | List | |||
| Annandale | NSWRFL 1919 | 7 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0.00% | List | |||
NRL/NSWRL - By Team | ||||||||||||||
| Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
| Balmain | 1908-13 | 54 | 12 | 1 | - | 38 | 23 | 29 | 2 | 42.59% | List | |||
| Annandale | 1919 | 7 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0.00% | List | |||
| Overall | 1908-1919 | 61 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 41 | 23 | 36 | 2 | 37.70% | List | |||
Contributions:
Shawn Dollin, Andrew Ferguson, Greg Fiveash, Rugby League Tables, Alan Katzmann, Michael Borg, Bill Bates
Your Say
09/08/2011
Bob Graves was my Great Uncle, my Grand Mothers brother. My dad never spoke of him even though he knew I loved "The Tigers". I had no idea he existed. I must have walked past his home in Rozelle so often without knowing who lived within. Shame. I would have loved to talk to him. He must have had some great stories to tell. I have been fortunate in meeting his Grand Daughter & she was able to show me his wonderful memorablia. Amazing. This included Balmain's first ever Best & Fairest award. A solid gold minature football, engraved. Simply beautiful.
22/02/2017
Robert Henderson Graves was my great grandfather, who died 5 years before my birth, sadly. I am extremely proud of his achievements as a pioneer of Rugby league.
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