View source for Harold Horder

{{Short description|Australia international rugby league footballer (1894-1978)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Infobox rugby league biography
|name           = Harold Horder
|fullname       = Harold Norman Horder
|nickname       = Wonder Winger, The Best Bear<ref>{{cite book
| last = Toby Creswell and Samantha Trenoweth
| title = 1001 Australians You Should Know
| publisher = Pluto Press
| year = 2006
| location = Australia
| pages = 676
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=QqtinbjO0oEC&q=rugby
| isbn = 1-86403-361-4}}
</ref>
|image          = Harold Horder - rugby league player.jpg
|caption        =
|country        =
|position       = {{Rlp|WG}}
|currentclub    =
|birth_date     = {{birth date|1894|2|24|df=y}}
|birth_place    = [[Surry Hills, New South Wales|Surry Hills]], [[New South Wales]], Australia
|death_date     = {{death date and age|1978|08|21|1894|2|23|df=y}}
|height         = {{convert|168|cm|ftin|abbr=on}}
|weight         = {{convert|67|kg|stlb|abbr=on}}
|club1               = [[South Sydney Rabbitohs|South Sydney]]
|year1start          = 1912
|year1end            = 19
|appearances1        = 77
|tries1              = 95
|goals1              = 68
|fieldgoals1         = 1
|points1             = 423
|club2               = [[North Sydney Bears|North Sydney]]
|year2start          = 1920
|year2end            = 23
|appearances2        = 50
|tries2              = 50
|goals2              = 73
|fieldgoals2         = 0
|points2             = 296
|club3               = [[South Sydney Rabbitohs|South Sydney]]
|year3start          = 1924
|year3end            = 
|appearances3        = 12
|tries3              = 7
|goals3              = 9
|fieldgoals3         = 0
|points3             = 39
|club4               = [[Eastern Suburbs Tigers|Coorparoo]]
|year4start          = 1925
|year4end            = 26
|appearances4        = 
|tries4              = 
|goals4              =
|fieldgoals4         = 
|points              = 3
|teamA          = [[Australian national rugby league team|Australia]]
|yearAstart     = 1914
|yearAend       = 24
|appearancesA   = 13
|triesA         = 11
|goalsA         = 10
|fieldgoalsA    = 0
|pointsA        = 53
|teamB          = [[New South Wales Rugby League team|New South Wales]]
|yearBstart     = 1913
|yearBend       = 24
|appearancesB   = 31
|triesB         = 62
|goalsB         = 38
|fieldgoalsB    = 0
|pointsB        = 262
|teamC          = [[Queensland Rugby League team|Queensland]]
|yearCstart     = 1925
|yearCend       =
|appearancesC   = 1
|triesC         = 1
|goalsC         = 0
|fieldgoalsC    = 0
|pointsC        = 3
|teamD          = [[Sydney rugby league team|Metropolis]]
|yearDstart     = 1914
|yearDend       = 23
|appearancesD   = 6
|triesD         = 10
|goalsD         = 15
|fieldgoalsD    = 0
|pointsD        = 60
|source         = <ref>[http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/players/harold-horder/summary.html Rugby League Project]</ref><ref>[http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/referees/harold-horder.html Rugby League Project Referee]</ref>
|new            = yes
|updated        = 4 August 2020
| module       = {{infobox person
| embed        = yes
| father       = 
| mother       = 
| spouse       = 
| education    = 
| alma_mater   = 
| relatives    = [[Clarrie Horder]] (brother)<br>[[Bill Horder]] (nephew)
}}
}}

'''Harold Norman Horder''' (23 February 1894 – 21 August 1978) was an Australian [[rugby league]] player. He was a national and state representative player whose club career was with [[South Sydney Rabbitohs|South Sydney]] and [[North Sydney Bears|North Sydney]] between [[NSWRFL season 1912|1912]] and [[NSWRFL season 1924|1924]]. Regarded as one of the greatest [[rugby league positions#Wing|wingers]] to play the game,<ref>{{cite web|last = Headon|first = David|title = Up From the Ashes: The Phoenix of a Rugby League Literature| work = Football Studies Volume 2, Issue 2| publisher = Football Studies Group|date = October 1999| url = http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/FootballStudies/1999/FS0202i.pdf|access-date = 2009-07-07}}</ref> from 1924 until 1969 his 152 career tries was the [[NSWRFL]] record.

==Playing career==
Born in [[Surry Hills, New South Wales]], Horder played 86 games for Souths between 1912–1919 and 1924, 31 games for [[New South Wales]], 13 Test matches for [[Australian Kangaroos|Australia]].
[[File:Harold Horder 1919.jpg|thumb|left|150px]]
After following his brother [[Clarrie Horder|Clarence "Spot" Horder]] to South Sydney, Harold, in his first game, stepped and swerved through the entire [[Glebe (rugby league team)|Glebe]] team in a 90-metre dash to score one of the greatest individual tries in rugby league history. He went on to be the [[New South Wales Rugby Football League|NSW Rugby Football League's]] top try scorer in [[New South Wales Rugby Football League season 1913|1913]], [[New South Wales Rugby Football League season 1914|1914]] and [[New South Wales Rugby Football League season 1917|1917]] and for each of the four seasons [[New South Wales Rugby Football League season 1913|1913]], [[New South Wales Rugby Football League season 1914|1914]], [[New South Wales Rugby Football League season 1918|1918]] and [[New South Wales Rugby Football League season 1922|1922]] he was the [[New South Wales Rugby Football League|League's]] top point scorer.

The Gregory's reference records that, in the 1912 City Cup-tie against [[Glebe (rugby league team)|Glebe]], Harold induced the Souths selectors to name his relatively inexperienced brother Clarrie in the side. While Glebe was concentrating on Harold, Clarrie cut holes in the defence and Souths won 30–5.
<ref>{{cite book
| last = Pollard
| first = Jack
| title = Gregory's Guide to Rugby League
| publisher = Grenville Publishing
| year = 1965
| location = Australia
| pages = 224
| id = p82
}}
</ref>

Horder was selected to make his debut for Australia during the [[1914 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand]].<ref>{{cite Australian Dictionary of Biography|last=Cunneen|first=Chris|title=Harold Norman Horder (1894–1978)|volume=9|year=1983|id2=horder-harold-norman-6732|access-date=7 February 2014}}</ref> He was selected to go on the [[1921–22 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain]].  He scored 102 tries for South Sydney and 50 tries for North Sydney.  Horder scored 20 individual points in Norths' 1922 grand final win which consisted of 2 tries and 7 goals. In his final season at Souths he became the first player to score 150 tries in NSWRFL history.  His final game in the NSWRFL competition was the 1924 grand final loss against [[Balmain Tigers|Balmain]] which finished 3–0, the lowest scoring grand final Australian rugby league history.  In total, Horder won 4 premierships, 2 with Souths in 1914 and 1918.  Horder then won 2 premierships with Norths in 1921 and 1922.<ref name="northsydneybears">{{cite web|url=https://www.northsydneybears.com.au/happy110/|title=Happy 110th Birthday North Sydney|website=North Sydney Bears|date=6 February 2018 |access-date=2019-07-05}}</ref>

In 1918 he overtook [[Dally Messenger]]'s record for the most points scored in an [[NSWRFL]] career (379); Horder's eventual total of 758 stood as the new career record for nine seasons until it was bettered by [[Arthur Oxford]] in 1927.

In 1925, Harold moved to the Brisbane rugby league club [[Eastern Suburbs Tigers|Coorparoo]] as their captain coach for two seasons after leaving Souths.

He appeared in an Australian film ''[[In the Last Stride]]'' (1916).<ref name="mirror">{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article104645423|title=At the Movies.|newspaper=[[The Mirror of Australia|The Mirror of Australia (Sydney, NSW : 1915 – 1917)]]|location=Sydney, NSW|date=27 November 1915|access-date=28 September 2014|page=14|via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ssralmanac.com/mobile/players_h/player_horder_harold.htm|title=South Sydney Rabbitohs Rugby League Player Report – Harold Horder|website=ssralmanac.com}}</ref>

==Accolades==
The [[New South Wales Rugby League]]'s ''Rugby League Annual'' of 1928 commented "if he is not the greatest of all rugby league footballers, he is unquestionably the greatest of all wing three-quarters".

Horder was inducted into the [[Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame]] on 7 September 2004 at the [[Dally M Awards]] in Sydney.<ref>[http://rl1908.com/Hoffame/index.htm Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080518042953/http://rl1908.com/Hoffame/index.htm |date=18 May 2008 }}</ref>

In 2004 Horder was named by Souths in its ''South Sydney Dream Team'',<ref>[http://www.souths.com.au/history/viewclublegends.asp?ArticleID=842 South Sydney Dream Team] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614004123/http://www.souths.com.au/history/viewclublegends.asp?ArticleID=842 |date=14 June 2007 }} from the official South Sydney website.</ref> consisting of 17 players and a coach representing the club from [[New South Wales Rugby League season 1908|1908]] through to [[National Rugby League season 2004|2004]]. In August, 2006 he was also named as a winger in the North Sydney Bears' ''[[North Sydney Bears#Team of the Century|Team of the Century]]''.

In February 2008, Horder was named in the list of Australia's [[List of Australian rugby league's 100 greatest players|''100 Greatest
Players'']] (1908–2007), that which was commissioned by the [[National Rugby League|NRL]] and [[Australian Rugby League|ARL]] to
celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=[[National Rugby League]] & [[Australian Rugby League|ARL]]|title=Centenary of Rugby League – The Players|url=http://www.centenaryofrugbyleague.com.au/site/the-players.aspx?cat=3&list=true|access-date=2008-02-23|date=23 February 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20080226180521/http://www.centenaryofrugbyleague.com.au/site/the-players.aspx?cat=3&list=true|archive-date=26 February 2008}}</ref>

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A090365b.htm Harold Horder at the Online Dictionary of Australian Biographies]
*[http://www.yesterdayshero.com.au/PlayerProfile_Harold-Horder_4077.aspx Harold Horder at yesterdayshero.com.au]

{{S-start}}
{{succession box|
  before = [[Dally Messenger]] (1911)|
  after = [[Arthur Oxford]] (1927)|
  title = Record-holder<br />Most points in an [[NSWRFL]] career<ref>Heads, Ian and Middleton, David (2008) ''A Centenary of Rugby League'', MacMillan Sydney</ref>|
  years = 1918 (380) – 1927 (758)|
}}
{{S-end}}
{{Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame - 2004 Inductees}}
{{1919 Kangaroo Tour of New Zealand squad}}
{{South Sydney squad - 1914 NSWRFL premiers}}
{{North Sydney Bears Team of the 21st Century}}
{{North Sydney squad - NSWRFL season 1922 premiers}}
{{Rugby league footballers with 150 NRL tries}}
{{National Rugby League top points scorers}}
{{National Rugby League top try scorers}}
{{NRL Scored 5 Tries}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Horder, Harold}}
[[Category:1894 births]]
[[Category:1978 deaths]]
[[Category:Australian rugby league players]]
[[Category:Australasia rugby league team players]]
[[Category:Australia national rugby league team players]]
[[Category:New South Wales rugby league team players]]
[[Category:North Sydney Bears players]]
[[Category:Queensland rugby league team players]]
[[Category:Rugby league players from Sydney]]
[[Category:Rugby league wingers]]
[[Category:South Sydney Rabbitohs players]]
[[Category:South Sydney Rabbitohs captains]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian sportsmen]]