Mick Bolewski

Playing Career

Vital Statistics

Full Name
Michael Patrick Bolewski
Born
Wednesday, 19th September, 1888
Died
Saturday, 18th May, 1974 (Aged 85 years and 240 days)
Place Of Birth
Ballina, New South Wales, Australia

Known Family Links

Brother
Henry Bolewski
Alec Bolewski
Walter Bolewski

Biography

Mick Bolewski was one of 4 brothers to have played representative Rugby League in its formative years. Henry played for QLD and Australia, Alec represented NSW and Walter played for Queensland.

Mick was predominantly a fullback and occasional centre or winger, known for his punishing tackling and huge left footed kicking game, while also having a reputation as being one of the most intelligent fullbacks to have played the game. In his time at Leigh, many regarded him as the best fullback in the world.

He was the second eldest of the brothers, whose parents were from Russia. His father was born in Poland but served in the Russian army, before getting married and moving to Australia in 1887, the year before Mick was born.

In December 1894, Mick’s father had an altercation at his sugar mill with a field manager. His father went home, grabbed a pistol and returned, where he shot the manager in the face. The manager somehow survived the ordeal, but Mick’s father was later found guilty of attempted murder and sentenced to 5 years imprisonment in Darlinghurst gaol with hard labour. He later had the sentence halved. Mick was just 6 years old at the time while his older brother, Walter (aged 11), was a witness and had to give evidence against his father in court.

Mick played junior Rugby Union in Bundaberg with the Natives team in 1904-05 before being promoted to the senior side in 1906. At the end of the year, he represented Bundaberg in the final of the Birch Cup against Maryborough, which Bundaberg won 9-0.

After some strong performances in the Queensland Country Carnival in 1908, Bolewski was picked in the Combined Country team and then the State side in their second match against New South Wales on June 24. Queensland lost the game and despite Bolewski being the best fullback in the state, he was relegated to reserve for the third game on July 4, along with many overlooked country players.

A disgruntled Bolewski decided to represent Queensland in their Rugby League game against the touring Maori side on July 4 instead. Queensland won the game 6-5 and he never looked back.

Three days later Bolewski, along with six other players, were all handed life bans from the Rugby Union for acts of professionalism. The following week Bolewski played for Queensland against a Dally Messenger-led New South Wales outfit. NSW hammered the Queenslanders 43-0. 4 days later, Queensland went down to a Sydney Metropolis side 37-8 and three days after that, Queensland lined up against NSW and while this time they were much more competitive, albeit against a weaker NSW side, they still lost 12-3.

The following week Bolewski was selected as a member of the Australian Rugby League team to tour England. Upon hearing the news his Rugby Union club in Bundaberg, Natives, held a valedictory for him, despite playing in the rival professional code. They presented him with a travel bag for his journey.

He was one of the 6 Kangaroo players to play in over 30 games, including all 3 Tests, on the 45 match tour, a powerful testament to his ability. On the tour, Bolewski was approached by the Leigh club and he accepted their offer to play for them in the 1909/10 season.

Upon arriving back in Australia, Bolewski was named in the centres for the Kangaroos in two games against the NSW State side and the following month he appeared in the first test against New Zealand, scoring a try as a centre in the 19-11 loss, before being replaced by Charlie Woodhead.

He then set sail for England and spent three season playing for Leigh, appearing in 100 games, before returning to his hometown Bundaberg in 1912. While there he was picked to represent Lancashire in the English County Championship. Leigh made it clear that Mick was welcome back to play and that they would also be keen to sign his brother Walter.

Upon returning to Bundaberg, Mick was keen to play in the local competition, however he found that none really existed and that there wasn’t even a central governing body for the game in the area. He set about righting this, managing to coax his brother Walter in to assist, with great success.

In July 1912 he was named in the Bundaberg representative team alongside two of his brothers, Walter and Alex. Bolewski then played for the Riffs Rugby League club.

He began refereeing junior Rugby League games in 1913, and in 1914 he moved to Brisbane to join Wynnum alongside his brother Henry. That year also saw him return to the Queensland state side for two games against the tourists from Great Britain. One of those games saw Mick, Henry and Walter all play together at State level for the first time.

In 1915 Bolewski moved back to Bundaberg, earning selection in the North Queensland representative side in a new contest between South and North Queensland, however a bout of Dengue Fever denied him appearing in the first game of the series.

Mick remained in Bundaberg, playing club and representative games up until 1924. In one game against Brisbane in 1919, Bundaberg sported 3 of the Bolewski boys in the backs, Mick (Fullback), Henry (Wing) and Walter (Five-Eighth).

1919 saw Mick take up a coaching role at the Bundaberg Central Boys School and the team finished the season undefeated, winning all 12 games, scoring 107 points and conceding 0.

In 1921 until the end of the 1924 season he played for the Pomona side. On May 1, 1925, Bolewski finally decided to retire from playing the game. He was made a life member of the Bundaberg RL later that year. He also got married in the same year.

He took up the arduous task of coach Cooroy’s A and B Grade sides in 1928 before opting to became a senior graded referee, officiating a match between Great Britain and Wide Bay during the Lions 1932 tour.

A street in Bundaberg was named after the famous family. He slowly stepped away from the game but continued to passionately watch games, especially after he and his wife relocated to Brisbane in the 1940’s. He was the last surviving member of the 1908-09 Kangaroo tour before passing away in 1974 at the age of 85.

In 2008 he was named as a member of the Bundaberg team of the century.

- ANDREW FERGUSON

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 Queensland Firsts 4 2 -   - 6 2 2 0 50.00% List
Interstate Matches 2 - -   - - 0 2 0 0.00% List
Tour Matches Australia 34 4 -   - 12 10 20 4 29.41% List
Test Series 4 2 -   - 6 0 3 1 0.00% List
The Ashes 3 - -   - - 0 2 1 0.00% List


International

Test Matches - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Australia 1908-09 7 2 -   - 6 0 5 2 0.00% List


Representative

Australia - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
QLD Firsts 1908, 1914 7 2 -   - 6 2 5 0 28.57% List

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Contributions: Shawn Dollin, Andrew Ferguson, Greg Fiveash, Bill Bates, Michael Borg