Arthur Hennessy

Playing Career

Vital Statistics

Full Name
Arthur Stephen Hennessy
Nickname(s)
Ash
Born
Sunday, 24th September, 1876
Died
Saturday, 19th September, 1959 (Aged 82 years and 358 days)
Place Of Birth
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Biography

Souths ‘founding father’ and Australia’s first Test captain, ‘Ash’ Hennessy was a tough hooker/prop who captained the rebel NSW side in the first match against the NZ ‘All Golds’ in 1907. Hennessy held the initial meeting that led to the formation of the Souths Club in his house and was named the club's delegate to the NSWRL. Hennessy became Souths' first captain and coach and with his policy of 'no kicking' at the club earned Souths’ the title 'The Pride of the League' with their running and passing style of play. He also captained NSW in their first interstate match before being named Australia’s inaugural Test captain in the series against NZ (when the ARL chronologically numbered all Australian representatives in 2004, as had been the case in cricket, Hennessy was afforded the ‘No.1’ ticket). Hennessey’s Australian teams were beaten in both Tests and he was controversially chosen to tour England with the pioneer Kangaroos (he was also one of the selectors!) Unfortunately, Hennessy broke his jaw on tour and his 7 appearances did not include any Test matches. After his playing career wound down (he spent part of the 1909 season with Easts and captained the club into the semi-finals) he went on to devote a lifetime to the code, as a coach (Souths 1918) and administrator. In 1929-30 he gained the distinction of being the first coach of a Kangaroos squad. In 1946, aged 69, Hennessy signed on as Souths coach but the move was an unhappy one with the club failing to win a first grade match. He died a decade later, in September 1959, aged 83.
- 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 5 1 -   - 3 2 3 0 40.00% List
NRL 30 7 1   - 23 21 7 2 70.00% List
Tour Matches Australia 9 - -   - - 4 3 2 44.44% List
Test Series 2 - -   - - 0 2 0 0.00% List
Interstate Matches 1 - -   - - 1 0 0 100.00% List
NRL Finals 2 - -   - - 0 1 1 0.00% List


International

Test Matches - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Australia 1908 2 - -   - - 0 2 0 0.00% List


Representative

Australia - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
NSW Firsts 1907-09 6 1 -   - 3 3 3 0 50.00% List


Club Career

NRL/NSWRL - By Year

Team Season App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Souths NSWRFL 1908 5 2 -   - 6 5 0 0 100.00% List
Souths NSWRFL 1909 1 - -   - - 1 0 0 100.00% List
Eastern Suburbs NSWRFL 1909 4 - -   - - 0 4 0 0.00% List
Souths NSWRFL 1910 10 4 1   - 14 8 1 1 80.00% List
Souths NSWRFL 1911 10 1 -   - 3 7 2 1 70.00% List

NRL/NSWRL - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Souths 1908-11 26 7 1   - 23 21 3 2 80.77% List
Eastern Suburbs 1909 4 - -   - - 0 4 0 0.00% List
Overall1908-1911 30 7 1   0 23 21 7 2 70.00% List

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Contributions: Alan Katzmann, Shawn Dollin, Andrew Ferguson, Greg Fiveash, Rugby League Tables