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Story: Rugby league

Brunner team, 1919

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Brunner team, 1919

Rugby league was strongest in working-class communities. Brunner, a mining town on the West Coast, had a team from 1919. Newspaper and local league centre reports refer to an earlier team, but development of the sport was probably halted by the First World War. Some of the local players appear in this photo of Brunner mine workers. E. Hallinan, third from left in the bottom row, played in the earlier and later Brunner teams; W. Dando, J. Hallinan and M. Hallinan (first, fourth and fifth from left in the middle row) played in the later team.

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Private collection

Reference: Brunner’s best: 75 years of the Brunner Rugby League Club. Dobson: 75th Jubilee Committee of The Club, 1994

Courtesy of West Coast Rugby Football League

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How to cite this page

John Coffey, Rugby league – Rugby league players, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/39061/brunner-team-1919 (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by John Coffey, published 30 November 2012.