Personalities In N.Z. Sport

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 543, 21 December 1928, Page 10

Personalities In N.Z. Sport

International and interprovincial Rugby player. international runner, and interprovincial cricketer —that is the impressive sports record of Mr. Robert B. Lusk, one of the best known sportsmen in New Zealand. Now he is a solicitor in Auckland, a city which has benefited greatly from his sporting knowledge. And further, Mr. Lusk is recognised as the doyen of New Zealand racing judges. For he has judged for the Auckland Racing Club since 1900. His accuracy is a byword right through the country. Mr. Lusk lias not lost all his interest in sport. But lie has not found time to take lip the usual competitions for men of his age—golf and bow-ling. Instead, he shows his interest as an official in racing, cricket and athletics. Besides being a racing judge, he is a vice-president of the Auckland Cricket Association, a vice-president of the Auckland Amateur Athletic Association, and president of the Parnell Cricket Club. In these capacities he has i become a prominent figure in Auck- j land. Mr. Lusk's Rugby career was from when the game was just begin- !

International Rugby • Player and Athlete, Cricketer of Repute.

' ning to make its first notable strides in New Zealand, to 1894. He was an original member of the old Gordon Club, which has long since passed from existence. His representation of Auckland came in 1886, and he also played for the provincial side in 1888 and 1889. In 1890 Mr. Lusk went over to Australia as a member of the first touring New Zealand athletic team. In the international competition he started in one event—the 120yds. hurdles. He won it easily and made a name for himself in the athletic world. He did not return to New Zealand immediately. He worked for a legal firm in Sydney for two years, and played Rugby for. the Strathfield Club. The captain of the team and one of Mr. Lusk’s friends was the ex-New Zealander, Harry Braddon. now Sir Henry, who is at present president of the New South Wales Rugby Union. In New South Wales, Mr. Lusk rose to splendid heights as a Rugby player, and was included in the international side in 1890 and IS9I. Then he returned to his home country. He represented Taranaki in Rugby in 1893 and 1894, and then left an active football career of 10 years behind. For Auckland, Mr. Lusk was always a fullback. His speed secured a wingthreequarter position for him across the Tasman, and he was winger or five-eighth for Taranaki. What many old-timers consider to be His best feat in Rugby was for Auckland against Stoddart’s famous English team in its first match in the Dominion. Through sheer pace, young Lusk tackled three of the Englishmen one after the other when the visitors were sailing for the line in a great pass ing bout. The last man was grassed within an inch of the goal. Young Lusk was a hero. He was the fastest man on the field, and the crowd knew it. He played against New South Wales in 1886 for Auckland and also went on tour to the South Island. Senior cricket held Mr. Lusk as a

; player until within the last 10 years. He was one of the early members of the old Gordon Club, which was formed in 1883 or 1884. When the district scheme for cricket teams came into force, Mr. Lusk was captain of j the Gordon Club, which was then leading in the championship. He still possesses the competition cup of the old association, and intends to present it to the Auckland Cricket Association shortly. Mr. Lusk joined up with the | Parnell Club under the district scheme j and has remained its staunch suppor- | ter ever since. He went on tour as a Taranaki cricketer. i In the late “eighties” and the early “nineties,” young Lusk was recognised as one of th€> Dominion’s leading athletes. He was an all-rounder and, besides rising to prominence as Australian and New Zealand hurdles star, he won the half-mile Auckland championship in 18S8. He was a member of the Auckland Athletic Club. And so Mr. Lusk is remembered as a fullback ranked as among the best five New Zealand ever produced, a fine runner, and an excellent cricketer. His name is undoubtedly among those of New Zealand’s best athletes. His share in making Rugby what it is in New Zealand to-day was large, and he j was one of the best players when the game was in its most promising stages j in New South Wales. Now he has a fine record-as a racing judge.