Walter Milne (rugby league)


Walter Henry Milne was a New Zealand rugby league footballer who played in the 1910s. He played at representative level for New Zealand, and Southland, and at club level for Ponsonby, as a forward, during the era of contested scrums.

Rugby football career

Milne originally played rugby union, playing for the Britannia club in Southland. In 1908 he was involved in the first club match of rugby league in New Zealand. The match was played after both sides had been suspended by the Southland Rugby Union for "striking" after they had refused to go back onto the field after halftime due to the blizzard conditions. Milne escaped suspension and went on to represent Wanganui, the North Island and Taranaki.
He switched codes to rugby league in 1911 and represented New Zealand on the 1911 tour of Australia.