Gorman’s famous jersey comes to rest at QRL, 100 years on

An Australian rugby league jersey worn by one of Queensland’s greatest rugby league players 100 years ago is now part of the Queensland Rugby League’s stunning history collection.

In 1924, the legendary Tom Gorman wore the Australian jersey in one of his 10 Test matches for his country.

It will now take pride of place alongside other historical items at the QRL, thanks to the generosity of Pete McCrystal, who presented the jersey to QRL History Committee members Steve Haddan and Paul Hayes.

“I’m absolutely bristling with pride... Tom was a lovely Great Uncle to me, so I knew him as a person before I knew him as a footballer,” McCrystal said.

“That to me is testament to the kind of person he was. People would stop him in the street and shake his hand, and I thought ‘wow that’s pretty great, that’s the mark of a statesman’.

“When I grew up and learned about his career, then I thought this is pretty amazing. Even though I’m from New South Wales, I emotionally became an honorary Queenslander.”

McCrystal remembers wearing the jersey in his backyard as a schoolboy after it was passed onto his family, most likely by his grandfather.

“It’s in great condition for a 100 year old jersey... I’ve never attempted to hang it, I’ve never had it dry cleaned,” he said.

It will now come out of a ‘box’ for display in all of its glory, thanks to the vision of McCrystal and the QRL History Committee.

Along with the jersey donated by McCrystal, the QRL display cabinets will also feature a 1926 copy of The Redcaps Rugby League Annual, in which Gorman features on page 56.

QRL History Committee chairman Steve Ricketts said it was an honour and a privilege to accept a jersey “worn by one of our greatest Kangaroos”.

Along with his 10 Test match caps, Gorman played 18 tour matches for the Kangaroos.

During Australia’s 1929–30 tour, Gorman became the first Queenslander to captain a Kangaroos team, taking his men to within an inch of the Ashes and winning enormous respect for his leadership.

Gorman also holds a special place in the story of rugby league in Queensland.

Born in Charters Towers, he became an integral part of the Toowoomba football miracle of the 1920s, forging a famous centre partnership with Edward Brown.

For 12 years, he was an automatic selection in the Queensland team, representing his state in 42 matches.

It came as no surprise that he was named in the Queensland Team of the Century in 2008. He was also the 21st inductee into the National Rugby League Hall of Fame.

Gorman was playing in Toowoomba when selected to captain the Kangaroos.

As an astute follower of all things rugby league, Ricketts is able to provide further context to the significance of Gorman’s appointment as national captain.

“I recall as a young rugby league writer with Brisbane's Telegraph newspaper in the early 1980s, interviewing the then chairman of the QRL, Ron McAuliffe, about his hopes and dreams for the game in Queensland,” Ricketts said.

“Foremost in his mind was the prospect of another Queenslander captaining the Kangaroos on a Northern Hemisphere tour, as Tom Gorman had done in 1929-30.

“When Wally Lewis was named captain of the 1986 Kangaroo touring side to Britain and France, McAuliffe said he could die a happy man.”

Like Ricketts, Haddan and fellow QRL History Committee member John McCoy were overjoyed to connect with McCrystal and recall stories about Gorman’s incredible rugby league journey.

Haddan’s best-selling book 'Our Game. The Celebration of Brisbane Rugby League 1909 -1987', includes many references to Gorman and his time in Brisbane with the Brothers club.

McCoy, recalls his father, a student at St Mary's in Toowoomba, being part of a guard of honour for Gorman as he boarded the train for Brisbane, ahead of joining his teammates in Sydney for the voyage to the United Kingdom.