Walter Milne (rugby)

For the last Protestant martyr to be burned in Scotland, see Walter Milne.

Walter Milne

Personal information
Full name	Walter Henry Milne
Born	(1884-08-05)5 August 1884 New Zealand
Died	19 July 1969(1969-07-19) (aged 84) New Zealand
Playing information
Weight	87.99 kg (13 st 12.0 lb)
Rugby union
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1906 Britannia (Sthld.) 8 0 0 0 0 1907 Taieri Rovers (Dun.) 14 2 0 0 6 1908 Hunterville (Wang.) 3 1 0 0 3 1910 Okaiawa (Tar.) 11 3 0 0 9 1921 Rahotu-Okato 1 1 0 0 3 1922 Opunake 5 Total 42 7 0 0 21 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 1906 Southland 5 0 0 0 0 1908–09 Wanganui 10 0 0 0 0 1908 Rangitikei (sub-union) 2 0 0 0 0 1909 Awarua (sub-union) 1 0 0 0 0 1909 North Island 1 0 0 0 0 1910 Taranaki 4 2 0 0 6
Rugby league
Position	Forward
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1913 Opunake 1 1919 Ponsonby (ARL) 4 0 0 0 0 Total 5 0 0 0 0 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 1911 New Zealand 1 0 0 0 0 1913 Taranaki 3 0 0 0 0
Source: [1]

Walter Henry Milne (5 August 1884 – 19 July 1968) was a New Zealand rugby league footballer who played in the 1910s. He played at representative level for New Zealand, and Southland, and at club level for Ponsonby, as a forward.^[1][2][3][4]

Rugby football career

Milne originally played rugby union, playing for the Britannia club in Southland in 1906. He played 8 matches for them in that season and made 5 appearances for Southland against Otago (twice), Wellington, Auckland, and Canterbury.^[5] In 1907 he moved to Otago and played for Taieri Rovers. It was rumoured that he could have gained selection for the Otago side but he moved to the North Island before the end of the season. He moved in the Wanganui country area and played for Hunterville and made 10 appearances for Wanganui in 1908 and 1909 including against the touring Anglo-Welsh side. He gained selection for the North Island team and played against the South Island on August 25, 1909.

He switched codes to rugby league in 1911 and represented New Zealand on the 1911 tour of Australia.^[6]

In 1936 in an article in the Manawatu Standard it was said that Milne moved to Sydney and played rugby league there "for some years" however this may have been 1912 and possibly later in the decade as he played rugby league for Opunake and the Taranaki representative side in 1913.^[7] He then played for Ponsonby United in their 1919 championship winning side. He then moved back down to the Taranaki region and played rugby for Rahotu-Okato in 1921, and Ōpunake in 1922. He was farming in the King Country area at the time of the 1936 article.

References

1. "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
2. "Roll of Honour at nzrl.co.nz". nzrl.co.nz. 31 December 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
3. "Past Kiwis → M at nzrl.co.nz". nzrl.co.nz. 31 December 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
4. "Profile at nzleague.co.nz". nzleague.co.nz. 31 December 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
5. "The First Challenge Match/Auckland Retain the Cup/Taranaki Easily Defeated". The New Zealand Herald. Vol. L, no. 15352. 14 July 1913. p. 4. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
6. John Coffey and Bernie Wood, The Kiwis: 100 Years of International Rugby League, Hodder Moa, Auckland, 2007, p. 44.
7. "Notes on the Game/Pars About the Players". Manawatu Standard, Volume LVI, Issue 228. 26 August 1936. p. 14. Retrieved 9 January 2021.