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involved a circumnavigation of the globe and leadership of a mixture of battle hardened war veterans and young rugby stars. It was a singular honour on one of the world's great sporting tours. For McLean a return to the
British Isles was in some ways a completion of unfinished business from 1939 and
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He was pitted against the urbane Phil
Hardcastle for the national captaincy honours in 1947. Hardcastle was a medical doctor who got on well with all but didn't lead from the front as was the confrontational style of McLean. McLean again led The Rest in a selection bout against an Australian XV, won
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in a minor clash against
Combined Services. The match was near completion when he was hit by three tacklers from different angles. Writers Howell, Tressider and Shehadie (all present on the tour) each described the snap of bone breaking being audible to onlookers. McLean suffered a serious spiral
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had represented for
Australia in both rugby codes before Bill left school. Bill too was a promising sportsman – goalkeeper in the 1938 Queensland Water Polo Team and rowing in Surf Boat crews winning the Queensland state championship in 1938. He pursued a rugby career and in 1938 played with the
474:. The team docked at Southampton on the day when England declared war and after a couple of weeks spent filling sandbags to start the war effort, the squad set sail for Australia having not played a game. Of the unlucky tourists only McLean, Keith Windon and
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After the war McLean was selected in and captained an
Australia XV versus The Rest trial match. His opposing captain was his tour teammate Keith Windon and when The Rest won the game, McLean was picked as tour captain for the first post-war Wallaby tour of
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fracture of the tibia and fibula. He played no further games on the tour and had now played his last representative match for
Australia. The tour captaincy passed at that moment to the 21-year-old vice-captain
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when they visited
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the following year. From there he was selected for the ill-fated 1939 Wallaby tour to
England captained by
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639:(1995) (Collection of Essays) HarperCollins, Australia – (Essay specific to this article Phil Tressider's
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This article is about the
Australian soldier and rugby player. For the Scottish trade union leader, see
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the match and was confirmed again as the seventh
Queenslander to lead Australia. The
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The tour was only six matches old when McLean fulfilled his dream of playing at
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and the Test against the New Zealand Maori. The following year he again met the
414:(28 February 1918 – 9 December 1996) was an Australian soldier and a state and
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after parachuting in behind enemy lines. He was discharged in February 1946.
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club in Brisbane and made his representative debut with
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hallowed turf as his father and brother had before.
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1939 Wallabies training on deck en route to England
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568:. Paul McLean would later be the Chairman of the
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708:People educated at Brisbane State High School
723:Rugby union players from Ipswich, Queensland
693:Australia international rugby union players
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703:Australian Army personnel of World War II
117:Learn how and when to remove this message
572:for a number of years up till 2008. See
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592:Australian national rugby union captain
494:and saw action against the Japanese in
425:in five Test matches immediately after
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490:in July 1940. He was a Captain in the
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55:adding citations to reliable sources
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738:Queensland rugby union team players
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20:. For the Scottish politician, see
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492:2/3rd Australian Commando Squadron
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664:, Simon & Schuster Australia
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698:Australian rugby union captains
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688:Australian rugby union players
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558:Dual-code rugby internationals
552:In addition to his father and
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457:, Bill's older brother
416:national representative
623:Bill McLean War record
570:Australian Rugby Union
412:William Malcolm McLean
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154:William Malcolm McLean
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728:Rugby union flankers
566:Jeff and Paul McLean
316:International career
51:improve this article
662:A Life Worth Living
641:The Class of '47–48
637:The Spirit of Rugby
564:and Bill's nephews
453:Like their father,
439:Ipswich, Queensland
195:Notable relative(s)
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358:Coaching career
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107:October 2021
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49:Please help
44:verification
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683:1996 deaths
678:1918 births
651:Howell, Max
509:New Zealand
419:rugby union
223:Position(s)
207:Paul McLean
136:Bill McLean
672:Categories
611:References
585:Vay Wilson
537:Twickenham
517:All Blacks
513:All Blacks
472:Vay Wilson
433:Early life
379:Queensland
305:Queensland
151:Birth name
77:newspapers
476:Len Smith
423:Wallabies
389:Australia
385:1951–1952
375:1951–1952
347:Australia
343:1946–1947
301:1939–1952
263:GPS Rugby
259:1938–1951
596:1946-47
459:Doug Jr.
337:(Points)
295:(Points)
253:(Points)
653:(2005)
631:Sources
554:brother
227:Flanker
91:scholar
496:Borneo
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647:1987)
364:Years
322:Years
280:Years
238:Years
203:Peter
98:JSTOR
84:books
369:Team
332:Apps
327:Team
290:Apps
285:Team
248:Apps
243:Team
199:Jeff
70:news
488:AIF
464:GPS
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