John Barnett (rugby)

For other people named John Barnett, see John Barnett (disambiguation).

John Thomas "Towser" Barnett (19 January 1880 – 2 October 1918) was a pioneer Australian rugby union and rugby league footballer who won an Olympic gold medal for rugby at the 1908 Summer Olympics. He was one of Australia's early dual-code rugby internationals.

John Barnett

Barnett in 1908
Birth name	John Thomas Barnett
Date of birth	(1880-01-19)19 January 1880
Place of birth	Carcoar, New South Wales
Date of death	2 October 1918(1918-10-02) (aged 38)
Place of death	Parramatta, New South Wales
Rugby union career
Position(s) Lock, prop Amateur team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) 1903-09 Newtown RUFC () 1906 Lithgow RU () International career Years Team Apps (Points) 1907-09 Australia 5 (0)
Rugby league career
Playing information
Position	Second-row
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1910–15 Newtown 74 18 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 1910–11 New South Wales 3 0 1910 Australia 2 6
Medal record Men's rugby union Representing Australasia Olympic Games 1908 London Team competition

Rugby union career

1908 Olympic Gold Final Wallabies v Cornwall

A hooker/prop with the Newtown Rugby Union club in Sydney, Barnett was selected five times to play representative rugby for Australia. His debut was against New Zealand, in Sydney, on 20 July 1907.

Barnett was selected to the first Wallaby 1908–09 Australia rugby union tour of Britain, the squad captained by Herbert Moran. That side competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics in London and Barnett was a member of the Australia national rugby union team captained by Chris McKivat which won the gold medal.

On his return to Australia he joined the fledgling code of rugby league along with fourteen of his Olympic teammates.

Rugby league career

Barnett and five other gold medal-winning Wallabies joined the Newtown club in Sydney in 1910 where he played the next six seasons. He was a member of the premiership winning Newtown side in 1910. He was selected in both Ashes Tests against Great Britain in 1910 when Australia hosted the tourists.

Barnett made his international league debut in the First Test in Sydney on 18 June 1910. Four of his former Wallaby teammates also debuted that day Bob Craig, Jack Hickey, Charles Russell and Chris McKivat - making them collectively Australia's 11th to 15th dual code internationals. This mirrored a similar occurrence two years earlier when five former Wallabies in Micky Dore, Dally Messenger, Denis Lutge, Doug McLean snr and John Rosewell all debuted for the Kangaroos in the same match — the first ever Test against New Zealand.

Death

Barnett died on 2 October 1918, aged 38 at the Parramatta District Hospital from the effects of meningitis after a three-week battle with pneumonia. He was survived by his wife and two daughters. He was buried at Rookwood Cemetery on 4 October 1918. As a tribute to "Towser" Barnett, a fund was set up by The Referee newspaper to raise money for his widow and family. By the November the fund had raised over £64, many donations were made up by his first grade rugby mates, at a time when spare money was often in short supply.

Barnett middle row 4th from right, with the 1908 Wallaby tour squad

See also

• Rugby union at the 1908 Summer Olympics

References

• Whiticker, Alan (2004) Captaining the Kangaroos, New Holland, Sydney
• Whiticker, Alan & Hudson, Glen (2006) The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players, Gavin Allen Publishing, Sydney

External links

• John Barnett at ESPNscrum
• John Barnett at Olympics.com
• John Barnett at Olympedia
• John Barnett at the Australian Olympic Committee