Harry Fricker

Harry Fricker was a New Zealand rugby league footballer who was one of the founding players of the Ponsonby United team. He represented Auckland from 1910 to 1914. He fought in World War I and was injured in battle.

Harry Fricker

Personal information
Full name	Harry Ernest Fricker
Born	19 September 1884
Died	28 December 1957 (aged 73)
Playing information
Weight	12 st 9 lb (80 kg)
Rugby union
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1908–09 Ponsonby 3 2 0 0 6
Rugby league
Position	Prop, Second-row
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1910–14 Ponsonby United 40 7 0 0 21 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 1910–14 Auckland 28 9 0 0 27

Early years

Harry Fricker originally played rugby for the Ponsonby District Football Club and was a junior representative player while there.^[1] He was a house decorator by trade and worked in partnership with his brother.^[2]

Rugby league

Auckland 1912 side with Fricker third from the right.

In 1910 he switched to rugby league as part of a large group of players from the Ponsonby club who changed codes at the same time. He played for the Ponsonby United club who had recently formed.^[3] He was selected for the Auckland team which played against Great Britain at Victoria Park on 23 July 1910 and went on tour with the side on their seven match tour of New Zealand playing 7 matches in all in that season.^[4] He continued to play for Ponsonby until 1914.

World War I

In August 1914 Fricker volunteered for the armed forces. He was part of the New Zealand Field Troop of Engineers who originally camped in Epsom before travelling to Palmerston North.^[5] After travelling to England Fricker played for the New Zealand Army rugby team against the English Guards.^[6] In June 1917 Sergeant Harry Fricker was awarded a military medal for “acts of gallantry in the field” while serving as an Engineer at the battle of Messines.^[7] He left the war after serving four months at Gallipoli where he was invalided to England and hospitalised due to his injuries. He arrived back in New Zealand in April 1918.^[8]

Later years

A year after his return from war his wife, Winifred Maude died in Wellington in August.^[9] His mother died in September of the same year. Harry Fricker died in 1958 aged 73.^[10]

References

1. "Ponsonby Football Club". Auckland Star. Vol. XXXIX, no. 82. 4 April 1908. p. 6. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
2. "Biographical Details/Sergeant H. E. Fricker". The New Zealand Herald. Vol. LIV, no. 16582. 4 July 1917. p. 6. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
3. "The Northern Union Game/League Championships/City Rovers v Ponsonby United". The New Zealand Herald. Vol. XLVII, no. 14380. 27 May 1910. p. 8. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
4. "Britain Beats Auckland". The New Zealand Herald. Vol. XLVII, no. 14430. 25 July 1910. p. 7. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
5. "Engineers Going South". The New Zealand Herald. Vol. LI, no. 15689. 17 August 1914. p. 7. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
6. "Army Rugby Football/New Zealanders V Guards". The New Zealand Herald. Vol. LIII, no. 16230. 16 May 1916. p. 4. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
7. "Gallantry At Messines". The New Zealand Herald. Vol. LIV, no. 16581. 3 July 1917. p. 5. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
8. "Returning Soldiers". Auckland Star. Vol. XLIX, no. 90. 16 April 1918. p. 2. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
9. "Deaths". Auckland Star. Vol. L, no. 182. 2 August 1919. p. 5. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
10. "Harry Ernest Fricker". Auckland Museum. Retrieved 23 December 2019.