Tom Gorman

The views of men who played alongside Tom Gorman tell more of him than anything else ever could. Duncan Thompson wrote: ''Tommy Gorman was an artist ... he shunned such crudities as power and beat men with acceleration and swerve that was just sheer grace. Having once seen him, I knew I had seen greatness.''

In 1929–30, on the tour of Chimpy Busch's famous no try in the third Test, 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.

''Tom Gorman's presence in this country will be remembered for years to come by all who have met him and seen him play,'' declared George Mott, chairman of the Council at Ilkley, home base of the Kangaroos.

Herb Steinohrt - when picking his best Australian side from the years 1922 to 1940 - had no hesitation in putting Gorman in the centres, alongside Dave Brown.

Gorman 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.

''If you can imagine such a thing as a mixture of that quick-thinking animal the fox, the speed of an Arab horse and the slipperiness of an eel, you have Tom Gorman,'' commented the journal Midweek Sports in 1926.