Bert Laing

Henry Bircher "Bert" Laing[1] is a New Zealand rugby league player who represented New Zealand and Australasia. His brother, Albert, was also a New Zealand international.[2]

Bert Laing

Personal information
Full name	Henry Bircher Laing
Born	3 August, 1893 Norfolk Island
Died	25 April, 1963 New Zealand
Playing information
Height	168 cm (5 ft 6 in)
Weight	78.2 kg (12 st 4 lb)
Position	Stand-off
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1919–22 City Rovers (ARL) 24 6 2 0 22 1922–27 Devonport United 61 21 50 3 169 Total 85 27 52 3 191 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 1919–26 Auckland 13 10 4 0 38 1922 Auckland Province 1 2 0 0 6 1919–1925 New Zealand 12 0 2 0 4 1921–22 Australasia 10 3 0 0 9 1926 North Island 1 1 0 0 3

Playing career

Laing, a standoff from Auckland, represented New Zealand between 1919 and 1925 and was the team's captain in 1925.[1] However he never played in a Test match for New Zealand, due to the team usually playing New South Wales and Queensland during this period.

In 1921 he was the only New Zealander selected to represent Australasia during the 1921–22 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain.[3] He scored one try and played in ten matches on tour but was not selected for any of the three Test matches.[4]

Laing played for the City Rovers from 1919 to 1922 but transferred to Devonport United during the 1922 season.

References

1. LAING, Henry Bircher (Bert) 1919, 1921, 1925 - Kiwi #113 Archived 23 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine nzleague.co.nz
2. LAING, Albert 1932 - Kiwi #217 Archived 23 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine nzleague.co.nz
3. John Coffey, Bernie Wood (2008). 100 years: Māori rugby league, 1908-2008. Huia Publishers. p. 73. ISBN 978-1-86969-331-2.
4. New Zealand Kangaroos - Not Extinct! rl1908.com