Bill McLennan (rugby league)

William (Bill) "Ginger" Richard McLennan[2] (5 June 1927 – 21 July 2007) was a New Zealand rugby league footballer who represented New Zealand in the 1954 and 1957 World Cups.

Bill McLennan
Personal information
Full nameWilliam Richard McLennan
Born(1927-06-05)5 June 1927
The Catlins, New Zealand
Died21 July 2007(2007-07-21) (aged 80)
Auckland, New Zealand
Playing information
Height185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight101 kg (15 st 13 lb)
PositionProp
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
Blackball (WCRL)
Runanga
Total 0 0 0 0 0
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1949–19?? West Coast
South Island
1951–1957 New Zealand 28 1 1 0 5
Source: [1]

Playing career

Born on the West Coast, McLennan was a miner and represented the West Coast. He played for the Runanga club.[3] He was first selected for New Zealand in 1951. McLennan played in 84 games for the Kiwis, including 28 tests. This included 22 consecutive tests.[4] His total 84 games has been bettered only by Jock Butterfield (99) and Tom Baxter (94).

He was part of the famous Kiwi team that won back-to-back test series against Australia in 1952 (in Australia) and 1953 (in New Zealand).[5]

McLennan was the vice-captain in the 1955-56 tour of Great Britain. He retired after this tour however he made a comeback for the 1957 World Cup.[6]

He was inducted as one of the New Zealand Rugby Leagues "Legends of League" in 2000.[7]

gollark: I believe you'll hit the limit of "how many induction whatevers can I cram in" before "how is this storing energy".
gollark: The limit is likely to be their maximum size.
gollark: I don't think so.
gollark: 3008 ways.
gollark: Lower than that, I expect.

References
  1. "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  2. McLENNAN, William Richard 1951 - 57 - Kiwi #334 Archived July 19, 2011, at the Wayback Machine nzleague.co.nz
  3. Top Players West Coast Rugby Football League
  4. Playing Records Archived 2012-09-08 at Archive.today nzrl.co.nz
  5. Kiwi League Legend passes away rleague.com, 25 July 2007
  6. "Obituary: Bill 'Ginger' McLennan". The New Zealand Herald. 28 July 2007. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  7. Legends of League Archived 2012-09-11 at Archive.today nzrl.co.nz
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