Billy Cann
Lock
Player Bio
- Inducted:
- 2008
- Date of Birth:
- 11 October 1882
- Birthplace:
- Sydney, NSW
- Nickname:
- -
- Debut Team:
- New South Wales
- Date:
- 17 August 1907
- Opposition:
- New Zealand
- Venue:
- Royal Agricultural Society Ground, Sydney
- Representative:
- New South Wales, Australia
- Club:
- South Sydney
Career
Milestones
- Kangaroo Tours: 1908-09, 1911-12
- Premierships: 1908-09, 1914
Playing
- First Class Games
- 158
- Points
- 261
- Tries
- 73
Biography
Billy Cann first came into fame in Sydney rugby union as a three-quarter, a contemporary of Dally Messenger and Albert Rosenfeld. Like Rosenfeld, Cann was frustrated at being ignored by selectors, and turned to rugby league upon its formation in August 1907, playing in the NSW team against Baskerville's 'All Golds'.
Cann was one the finest all-round footballers to ever don a rugby league jersey — he could cover every position on the paddock from winger to second row.
At times, he played as a ''rover'', moving about the field seeking out opportunities and shoring-up his team's defences.
The program for NSW's tour of New Zealand in 1912 described him as ''fast and tricky in the loose, and a sound tackler (who) can fill with credit almost any position in the field''.
He quickly embraced the greater scope for forwards in the new game.
Relatively tall for his day, and around 80kg, it was Cann who introduced the now traditional Australian style of fast forward play, in which every forward is capable of combining with the backs to move the ball upfield.
Billy Cann toured Britain with three Kangaroo teams (the first two as a player), and later became a respected official of the NSWRL, still serving the code in the 1950s.
“He was the prototype of … the Australian style of imaginative lock forward play, providing a spectacular link with his backs.”
Tom Goodman Rugby League News
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1. Billy Cann - Hall of Fame
Career Stats
Club Career
Representative Career
State
International
Other Representative
Hall of Fame Members
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