Steve Darmody

Steve Darmody
Full name Stephen James Darmody
Date of birth 1890
Date of death 1969
Place of death Scotland
Rugby league career
Position Wing three-quarter
Professional clubs
Years Club / team Caps (points)
1911–12
1912–14		 South Sydney Rabbitohs
Hull		 20
89		 62
National teams
Years Club / team Caps (points)
1911–12 Australia

Steve Darmody (1890–1969) was a pioneer Australian rugby league player. He toured with the Australian national team on the 1911–12 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain.

Career

Darmody middle right with fellow Aussies Devereux & Gilbert in Hull 1914

A promising hurdler in his youth, Darmody joined the South Sydney Club in 1910 initially as a goal-kicking winger. He was chosen for the 1911–12 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain as versatile forward. He played in six minor matches on the tour, kicking nine goals.[1]

Following the tour he stayed in England and along with Herb Gilbert and Jim Devereux he joined Hull F.C. for whom he made 89 appearances between 1912 and 1914. He played with Gilbert and Devereux in Hull's 6-0 victory over Wakefield Trinity in the Challenge Cup final during the 1913–14 season at Thrum Hall, Halifax.[2]

War service

At the outbreak of World War I, Darmody enlisted in the British Army. He saw service in Flanders as a despatch rider for the Service Corps. His foot was mangled in machinery accident early in the war resulting in the loss of his foot. He had an artificial limb fitted and then re-enlisted.

The Hull club later played a testimonial match for Darmody. In 1921, when the airship R38 Humber split in two and fell onto the city, Darmody searched through the rubble for survivors and was called to give evidence at the coronial inquest.[3]

After the war he ran a motor cycle business in Hull and lived out his later life in Scotland.

Sources

References

  1. ↑ Whiticker/Hudson p119
  2. ↑ Whiticker/Hudson p119
  3. ↑ http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/kangaroos-who-enlisted-in-world-war-i-were-in-a-league-of-their-own-20140424-zqyh5.html SMH article on Darmody


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