Massa Johnston

Massa Johnston

Personal information
Full name	William Johnston
Nickname	Massa
Born	13 September 1881(1881-09-13) Dunedin, New Zealand
Died	9 January 1951(1951-01-09) (aged 69) Sydney, Australia
Playing information
Height	183 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	85 kg (13 st 5 lb)
Rugby union
Position	Back row, Lock
Club
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
1903–04	Otago	6
Representative
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
1905–07	New Zealand	3	4	0	0	12
Rugby league
Position	Second-row
Club
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
1908–10	Wigan
1910	Warrington
	Total	0	0	0	0	0
Representative
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
1907–08	New Zealand	8	2	0	0	6
Source: RLP Scrum.com

William "Massa" Johnston (born 13 September 1881 in Dunedin, New Zealand and died 9 January 1951 in Sydney, Australia) was a New Zealand rugby union and rugby league international. He was part of the 1905 Original All Blacks tour and the professional 1907-1908 New Zealand rugby tour of Great Britain.

Early years

Johnston was an Iron worker by trade.^[1]

Rugby Football

Johnston first played senior rugby union for the Alhambra club in 1897, aged only 15.^[1] He made his debut for Otago in 1903 and represented Otago again in 1904, playing in six matches in total. In 1904 he was the first played sent off in a Ranfurly Shield match as Otago went down to Wellington. He played for the South Island in 1904, 1905 and 1907.

Johnston was first chosen for the All Blacks as part of their first tour of Great Britain. This team became known as the "Originals" and was hugely successful. However, Johnston was sickly on the tour and played in only thirteen matches, missing all of the test matches. Johnston returned to the All Blacks for their 1907 tests against Australia, playing in all three matches in the series.

Rugby League

Johnston joined the professional All Blacks in their 1907-08 tour of Australia and Great Britain, returning to the two countries he had played in as an All Black. At the time of the tour Johnston was at the peak of his career and had earned respect as a forward with a clean style of play.^[1] Johnston had helped select the side and was part of the Management committee while on tour. Along with Wright, Johnston was in charge of coaching the forwards while on tour. He was also an integral part of the forward pack and played in all eight test matches. He scored tries in the second and third tests against the Northern Union but was then wrongly sent off in the first test match against Australia. However, he returned to play in the second and third test matches. In all games on tour, Johnston scored a total of five tries.

After returning to New Zealand with the touring party, Johnston then returned to Great Britain, signing with the Wigan club. In Wigan he helped the club win both the Championship and the Lancashire Cup. The next season Wigan again lifted the Lancashire Cup. In 1910 he moved to Warrington.

Later years

After retirement Johnston moved to Australia where he was a commissionaire at the Royal Sydney Agricultural Showgrounds. He died 9 January 1951 in Sydney.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} John Haynes From All Blacks to All Golds: Rugby League's Pioneers, Christchurch, Ryan and Haynes, 1996. ISBN 0473038641

External links

• Massa Johnston at AllBlacks.com
• Massa Johnston Wigan Warriors, Accessed 17 August 2009.

Persondata
Name	Johnston, Massa
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	13 September 1881
Place of birth	Dunedin
Date of death	9 January 1951
Place of death	Sydney