Fred Tottey
{{short description|Australian rugby league footballer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2018}}
{{Use Australian English|date=November 2018}}
{{Infobox rugby league biography
| name = Fred Tottey
| fullname = Frederick Tottey
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1909|11|25|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| death_date = {{death date and age|1977|09|28|1909|11|25|df=yes}}
| death_place = New Zealand
| height =
| weight =
| position = {{Rlp|WG}}
| club1 = Eastern Suburbs
| year1start = 1930
| year1end = 37
| appearances1 = 74
| tries1 = 77
| goals1 = 0
| fieldgoals1 = 0
| points1 = 231
| club2 = Mount Albert United
| year2start = 1940
| year2end =
| appearances2 = 2
| tries2 = 0
| goals2 = 0
| fieldgoals2 = 0
| points2 = 0
| teamA = New South Wales
| yearAstart = 1937
| yearAend =
| appearancesA = 4
| triesA = 5
| goalsA = 0
| fieldgoalsA = 0
| pointsA = 15
| teamB = NSW City
| yearBstart = 1931
| yearBend = 37
| appearancesB = 3
| triesB = 3
| goalsB = 0
| fieldgoalsB = 0
| pointsB = 9
| updated = 7 June 2019
}}
Frederick Joseph Tottey (25 November 1909 – 1977) was a rugby league footballer who played in Australia's leading competition the New South Wales Rugby Football League.{{cite web|url=http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/players/fred-tottey/summary.html|title=Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org|publisher=rugbyleagueproject.org|date=31 December 2018|access-date=1 January 2019}}
Career
Tottey, a winger, played 74 matches for Eastern Suburbs between 1930 and 1937 before joining the English club Halifax for the 1938 season.
Tottey played his junior football in New Zealand. He joined Easts as a 17-year-old. A member of the great Eastern Suburbs sides of the 1930s, Tottey won three consecutive premierships with the club in 1935, 1936 and 1937. In those three seasons the Tricolours lost just one match.{{cite web|url=https://www.roosters.com.au/about/past-players/|title=Men's Honour Roll|website=Sydney Roosters|access-date=7 June 2019|archive-date=27 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327090103/https://www.roosters.com.au/about/past-players/|url-status=dead}}
=Playing record=
In the 1935 season Tottey scored 19 tries, combining with fellow threequarters Dave Brown and Rod O'Loan for an amazing aggregate of 84 tries in just eighteen games. Tottey holds one of rugby league's most amazing records – scoring tries in 15 consecutive matches. The winger scored 77 tries in total during his time at Eastern Suburbs.
Tottey was a representative of both Sydney and New South Wales and was selected for the 1937/38 Kangaroo Tour but was ruled out after suffering a broken ankle while representing New South Wales. Tottey sailed with the actual Kangaroo tourists to England where he joined his new club – Halifax RFC. He returned to Sydney and in April 1939 he travelled to Auckland with a touring team from Sydney to play 3 club matches. He played in matches with Mount Albert United and Manukau. In May he attempted to again play with Easts but Halifax refused to offer him a release as he was contracted to them until 1940.‘League Winger. Tottey cannot play today’; Sydney Morning Herald, 27 May, 1939 The contractual dispute was never resolved and he didn't play Rugby League or Union again in Australia.‘Tottey desire to play Union – may not apply’; Sydney Morning Herald, July 20, 1940, p. 16 In 1940 the Mount Albert club in Auckland made several attempts to get permission for him to play for them but were unsuccessful, he did however play in their 2 preseason matches which ostensibly fell outside official rules. Tottey then switched back to the rugby union code and turned out for the Grammar side before returning to Australia mid season due to tightening travel restrictions due to the war.
Tottey died in New Zealand in 1977.
References
{{Reflist}}
- The Encyclopedia Of Rugby League Players; Alan Whiticker & Glen Hudson
{{Eastern Suburbs squad 1935 NSWRFL premiership}}
{{Eastern Suburbs squad - 1936 NSWRFL premiers}}
{{National Rugby League top try scorers}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tottey, Fred}}
Category:Sydney Roosters players
Category:Halifax Panthers players
Category:New South Wales rugby league team players
Category:City New South Wales rugby league team players
Category:Australian rugby league players
Category:Rugby league players from Brisbane
Category:20th-century Australian sportsmen
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