Claud O'Donnell

Claud Augustus O'Donnell (30 January 1886 – 4 August 1953) was an Australian rugby union and rugby league player and represented his country at both sports as a dual-code rugby international.

Claud O'Donnell

Birth name	Claud Augustus O'Donnell
Date of birth	(1886-01-30)30 January 1886
Place of birth	Sydney, New South Wales
Date of death	4 August 1953(1953-08-04) (aged 67)
Place of death	Glebe, New South Wales
Rugby union career
Position(s) hooker Amateur team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) Glebe RUFC () Provincial / State sides Years Team Apps (Points) 1912–13 New South Wales () International career Years Team Apps (Points) 1913 Wallabies 2 (0)
Rugby league career
Playing information
Position	Hooker
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1915–17 Glebe Dirty Reds 39 0 1918 South Sydney 13 3 1919–22 Souths Magpies 1923 North Sydney Bears 10 0 Total 62 0 0 0 3 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 1919–22 Queensland 6 3 1919 Australia 4 0

Rugby union career

O'Donnell played rugby union with the Glebe club in inner city Sydney. He made his representative debut for New South Wales in 1912 and the following year made two Test appearances as hooker for the Wallabies against the All Blacks in the 1913 tour of New Zealand.

Rugby league career

Switching to rugby league O'Donnell joined the Glebe Dirty Reds in 1915 and had three seasons in the Sydney premiership. In 1918 he moved to Brisbane and joined the Carltons club, one of the early incarnations of the Souths Magpies. From there he made state appearances for Queensland against New South Wales over four years and in 1919 was selected in the Australian team as hooker. He played in all four Tests of the 1919 rugby league tour of New Zealand. He is listed as Australia's 97th representative on the Australian Rugby League's Kangaroo register.

His international rugby league debut against New Zealand in Wellington on 23 August 1919 alongside Clarrie Prentice saw them become Australia's 20th and 21st dual code rugby internationals. It wasn't until 18 years later that Doug McLean, Jr. would become the next Australian dual representative.

During the 1920 Great Britain Lions tour O'Donnell played a match for Queensland against the visiting Britons. He returned to Sydney for a final season with North Sydney in 1923 and was aged 37 when he finally retired at the end of that year.

Sources

• Andrews, Malcolm (2006) The ABC of Rugby League, Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney
• Whiticker, Alan & Hudson, Glen (2006) The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players, Gavin Allen Publishing, Sydney