Fabian "Fabe" McCarthy

Fabian "Fabe" Joseph Charles McCarthy (born 24 June 1919 in Roma, Queensland, Australia) was an Australian rugby union footballer who played for GPS and Toowoomba, represented Queensland at a state level, and the Wallabies at an international level. McCarthy played his first club rugby match in 1947 at the age of 27. After just one season he was selected for the state team and the following year he represented the national team. Former Queensland manager, Tom Blue, described McCarthy, along with Paul Costello as the "finds of the tour" following his first tour of New South Wales with the Queensland team in 1948.

McCarthy was regarded as a hard rucking, tireless forward who displayed plenty of strength and vigour during his games against New South Wales. He earned his place on the Australian rugby union team and toured New Zealand in 1949. McCarthy was amongst an impressive Australian pack including, Col Windon, Keith Cross, Dave Brockhoff, Sir Nick Shehadie, Rex Mossop, Bevan Wilson, Nev Cottrell, and Jack Baxter. Captained by Trevor Allan, the Australian team of 1949 defeated the All Blacks in both tests and lost only one of its twelve games.

McCarthy continued to display excellent form throughout the 1950 season. Max Hawkins wrote in 1950 that McCarthy played "the game of his career" against the Western District in August 1950. Hawkins continued his praise of McCarthy by writing that "he proved in Sydney that he is the finest tight forward playing in Australia today". Former Queensland manager-coach, Joe French, described McCarthy's game against the Western Districts as "one of the greatest forward efforts he had ever seen". McCarthy was selected to play in the first test against the British Isles in 1950. Captain Trevor Allan was forced to pull out of the Australian team two days before playing the first test match due to a thigh muscle injury. He was replaced by Nev Cotrell who led the team into what proved to be a bitter blow for the Australians. The Wallabies lost the first test by 19 points to 6. Welsh fullback, Lewis Jones, scored an impressive 16 of the teams 19 points. McCarthy retired from rugby union in 1950 but continued to play rugby league locally until 1956.

Games played for Queensland

* 09 June, 1948 - Queensland vs. New England at Armidale Qld 16 NewEng 7
* 12 June, 1948 - Queensland vs. New South Wales at North Sydney Qld 6 NSW 22
* 14 June, 1948 - Queensland vs. New South Wales at North Sydney Qld 22 NSW 19
* 16 June, 1948 - Queensland vs. Western District at Orange Qld 9 WstDst 6
* 19 June, 1948 - Queensland vs. Newcastle at Newcastle Qld 6 Nwc 21
* 21 August, 1948 - Queensland vs. New South Wales at Brisbane Qld 24 NSW 15
* 24 August, 1948 - Queensland vs. New South Wales at Brisbane Qld 9 NSW 17
* 14 May, 1949 - Queensland vs. New South Wales at Brisbane Qld 8 NSW 29
* 16 May, 1949 - Queensland vs. New South Wales at Brisbane Qld 0 NSW 24
* 13 June, 1949 - Queensland vs. Māoris at Brisbane Qld 8 Mao 13
* 30 July, 1949 - Queensland vs. New South Wales at North Sydney Qld 9 NSW 20
* 01 August, 1949 - Queensland vs. New South Wales at North Sydney Qld 20 NSW 31
* 10 June, 1950 - Queensland vs. New South Wales at Brisbane Qld 11 NSW 11
* 12 June, 1950 - Queensland vs. New South Wales at Brisbane Qld 12 NSW 32
* 29 July, 1950 - Queensland vs. Victoria at Melbourne Qld 31 Vic 12
* 02 August, 1950 - Queensland vs. Western District at Orange
* 05 August, 1950 - Queensland vs. New South Wales at Sydney Qld 17 NSW 19
* 07 August, 1950 - Queensland vs. New South Wales at Sydney Qld 6 NSW 24

Games played for Australia

* 24 August, 1949 - Australia vs. Poverty Bay - East Coast at Gisborne, New Zealand Aust. 20 Pov.-Eas. 12
* 27 August, 1949 - Australia vs. Wairarapa Bush Rugby Football Union at Masterton, New Zealand Aust. 21 Wa.Bu 14
* 07 September, 1949 - Australia vs. Combined (Nelson, Golden Bay, Marlborough) at Blenheim, New Zealand Aust. 14 Comb. 8
* 14 September, 1949 - Australia vs. Combined (North Otago, South Canterbury, Ashburton) at Oamaru, New Zealand Aust. 12 Comb. 0
* 19 August, 1950 - 1st Test Australia vs. British Isles at Brisbane, Australia Aust. 6 Brt. Isl. 19

References

;Publications
*cite book | last = Bickley | first = W.H. | authorlink = W.H. Bickley| year = 1982 | title = Maroon - Highlights of One Hundred Years of Rugby in Queensland| publisher = Queensland Rugby Union| id = ISBN 0-9593105-0-9

*cite book | last = Diehm | first = Ian | authorlink = Ian Diehm| year = 1997 | title = Red! Red! Red! - The Story of Queensland Rugby| publisher = Playright Publishing Pty Ltd| id = ISBN 0-09-183726-X

*cite book | last = Jenkins | first = Peter | authorlink = Peter Jenkins| year = 1999 | title = Wallaby Gold - 100 Years of Australian Test Rugby| publisher = Random House Australia Pty Ltd| id = ISBN 0-949853-59-3

*cite book | last = Pollard | first = Jack | authorlink = Jack Pollard| year = 2000 | title = Australian Rugby Union - The Game and the Players| publisher = Angus and Robertson Publishers| id = ISBN 0-207-15006-0