Ben Davidson (rugby league)

Benjamin Alfred Davidson (1902–1961) was a New Zealand rugby league footballer who represented New Zealand.[1]

Ben Davidson
Personal information
Full nameBenjamin Alfred Davidson
Born1902
New Zealand
Died1961 (aged 58–59)
Playing information
Height173 cm (5 ft 8 in)
Weight75 kg (11 st 11 lb)
PositionWing, Centre
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1919–27 City Rovers 102 69 9 5 235
1920 Devonport XIII (guest) 1 1 0 0 3
1927–30 Wigan 67 31 0 0 93
1930–33 City Rovers 46 14 3 1 50
Total 216 115 12 6 381
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1921–32 Auckland 19 22 0 1 68
1926–32 New Zealand (tests) 24 (2) 14 (1) 0 0 42 (3)
1925–26 North Island 2 2 0 0 6
Coaching information
Representative
Years Team Gms W D L W%
1931 Northland 1 1 0 0 100
1934 City Rovers 16 5 0 11 31
Source: [1]
As of 19 April 2020

His brother Bill also represented New Zealand and another brother, George, played for Auckland and competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics as a sprinter.

Playing career

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Davidson meeting the Governor General, Lord Bledisloe at Carlaw Park on 10 May 1930.

Alongside his brothers, Davidson played for the City Rovers in the Auckland Rugby League competition. He played for Auckland City in 1923 against the touring Great Britain Lions.[2]

He was selected for the New Zealand national rugby league team on their 1926-27 tour of Great Britain.

Along with Lou Brown and Len Mason, Davidson was signed by Wigan after the tour.[3] Davidson played there for three seasons, scoring 31 tries in 69 games.[4]

 

He then returned to Auckland. Davidson again made the Auckland side and in 1932 played for New Zealand against the Great Britain Lions. He finished his test career having played in four matches.[5]

Coaching career

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In 1931 Ben Davidson coached the Northland representative side for 2 weeks to help them prepare for their Northern Union Challenge Cup match with South Auckland. Northland won the game 16-8. Three years later in 1934 he coached the City Rovers club for the season in the Auckland Rugby League competition.[citation needed]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  2. ^ Coffey, John and Bernie Wood Auckland, 100 years of rugby league, 1909-2009, 2009. ISBN 978-1-86969-366-4.
  3. ^ John Coffey, Bernie Wood (2008). 100 years: Māori rugby league, 1908-2008. Huia Publishers. p. 90. ISBN 978-1-86969-331-2.
  4. ^ Benny Davidson wigan.rlfans.com
  5. ^ DAVIDSON, Benjamin Alfred (1925 - 27, 1932)[permanent dead link] nzleague.co.nz