Men of League Foundation arranged a special visit to 1946 Test hooker, George Watt for his 91st birthday. Still living in Great Britain after moving across to play for Hull some 60 years ago, the Foundation were able to arrange for the current Aussies at Hull to pay George a visit, thanks to the support of Dave Phillips from the Rugby League Benevolent Fund.
George was overwhelmed by the appearance of Shaun Berrigan, Matt Sing, Peter Cusack and Todd Byrne who brought with them, framed pictures of the 1939 premiership winning Balmain team and the 1946 Test team that George was in.
George Watt was a tough and talented hooker for both Balmain and the Roosters. He played three tests for Australia in 1946 and soon after went to England to join Hull. Except for a year back home in 1954 with Balmain, he stayed in England, married a Hull girl and raised four children in the east Yorkshire town. He still lives there today and at almost 91 years of age, is doing reasonably well.
Born in Balmain, George attended Birchgrove Primary and played junior football with Olympics club. He made his first grade debut with the Tigers in 1938 and played eight games in the top grade that year. The next season, he was a permanent member of the team that won the Premiership with an easy 33-4 win over Souths in the Final at the Cricket Ground. Frank Hyde played in the centres for Balmain that day and winger Sid Goodwin was the captain. The Tigers were Minor Premiers and when they won the Final, there was no need for a GrandFinal, as was the custom in those days. They defeated Canterbury 13-9 in the semi final with George scoring alate try to seal the win. In the final, Souths ran with a strong breeze behind them in the first half, but George won the scrums 17-6 in this period to deny the Rabbitohs possession and nullify their advantage. Bill Kelly, who played in the Tigers first ever first grade Premiership in 1915, was the 1939 coach.
The match was played on 2 September 1939 at the Sydney Cricket Ground before 26,972 fans and with George Bishop refereeing. People were on edge in those times and the day after the Final, Australia, along with England and other British Empire countries, declared war on Germany when Hitler had invaded Poland.
George was also a member of the Norman “ Latchem “ Robinson coached 1944 Tigers Premiership team. Balmain beat Newtown 12-8 in the Grand Final on a very wet and muddy SCG. Despite the torrential rain and a southerly gale, 24,186 fans turned up for the game. There was an uproar the previous week when some people accused minor premiers Newtown of allowing the Tigers to win the Final 19-16, so that both sets of players could share in the extra gate takings from a Grand Final.
Referee Jack O’Brien sent George and opposing Souths hooker Bill Mackie off for fighting in the second half of the semi final, which Balmain won, 15-6. After playing 74 first grade games, winning two Premierships and scoring nine tries and two goals with the Tigers, George joined Easts in 1945 for two seasons. Here he played 27 first grade games, giving him a total of 101, and scored seven tries. In the 1945 Final, 44,585 fans turned up to see Minor Premiers Eastern Suburbs defeat Balmain 22-18. Easts lock Dick Dunn, who later became a vicepresident of the NSWRL and a member of the ARL, scored 19 of Easts points. George now had three Premierships to his credit with two different clubs.
George played six matches for NSW, between 1945 and 1947, scoring four tries and in 1946 he joined his uncle, Horrie Watt, as a Test player.
Horrie, also a hooker, played three tests against the touring 1924 Englishmen and like his nephew, was a member of a Balmain Premiership team (1924).
George made his test debut at the SCG on 17 June, 1946 against England.
An excellent crowd of 64,526 saw the two sides fight out an 8-all draw. The Australian team from fullback was Dave Parkinson, Lionel Cooper, Joe Jorgenson (capt), Ron Bailey, Edgar Newham, Pat Devery, John Grice, Noel Mulligan, Arthur Clues, Reg Kay, Frank “ Bumper “ Farrell, George Watt, Roy Westaway. Cooper and Bailey scored Australia’s tries, while Jorgenson landed a goal. Captained by Gus Risman, the 1946 tourists were known as the Indomitables after the Aircraft carrier that brought them to Australia. George played in the other two tests, which England won 14-5 and 20-7 to take the series. In the third test , the Australians had problems when Parkinson broke his leg after just seven minutes and then in the second half, Clues was sent off for punching English hooker, Joe Egan.
After playing for Booroowa in the 1947 Australian season, George signed with Hull and played three seasons with the club, appearing in 90 games and scoring nine tries. His first match in England was against Huddesfield in October 1947 and he scored a try in the 8-0 win.
Altogether he played 90 games in his three seasons with Hull, scoring nine tries and kicking one goal. In late 1950 he joined the Rochdale Hornets, playing a total of 32 matches and scoring two tries in his two seasons with the club. He came back to Australia for one more year with the Tigers in 1954, but only played two top grade games. Living and working in Sydney from late 1953, where two of his children were born, George and his family returned to Hull in 1959.
We wish George all the very best of health and we trust that he’ll see out his 92 birthday!