Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | James Alfred Hale | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Kogarah, New South Wales, Australia | 10 July 1916||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Died | 28 December 1992 76) Sylvania, New South Wales, Australia | (aged||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Position | Second-row | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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James Alfred Hale (10 July 1916 - 28 December 1992) was an Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s.
Hale was graded with the South Sydney club in 1940 and switched mid-season to join St. George with whom he played seven seasons between 1941 and 1947.
He is remembered as the second-row forward in the St George side that was defeated in the 1946 Grand Final by Balmain. At the end of the game, Jim Hale and his ex team-mate Herb Gilbert, Jr. were involved in a brawl when a spectator jumped onto the Sydney Cricket Ground playing area and punched Hale. The incident almost caused a riot amongst rival players and fans and resulted in a number of arrests by police.
Hale, like his father Percy (1887-1953), was an amateur heavy-weight boxer, and the brawl between him and Gilbert was a huge talking point in the Sydney press for days afterward. A brother, Bill Hale also played for St. George [1]
After retiring from Sydney first grade football, Hale captain coached the Boorowa Rovers Rugby League Club in 1948–1949. [2]
Hale died on 28 December 1992, aged 76. [3]
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