Arthur Hennessy

Background Born in Sydney, New South Wales, Hennessy played his junior rugby football in the centres for the Boys Brigade in 1895. He then played for Bayview in 1896 and became a South Sydney junior.

Rugby union career By 1901 Hennessy was a regular first grade rugby union player for Souths. He represented New South Wales in 1901, 1902 and 1904, and he was a rugby union coach at The King's School, Sydney in 1905. in October 1907 that the meeting was held which led to the formation of the Rabbitohs. Hennessy has sent a circular to all rugby union clubs in the district, convening the meeting. Because of that day and the events that followed, he can be fairly rated as the club's founder.

In 1908, Hennessy was Souths' first hooker and, with Billy Cann, one of the club's first two delegates to the New South Wales Rugby Football League. In July of that inaugural season he made another representative appearance captaining New South Wales in a 43-0 whitewash of Queensland in the first ever Australian interstate match.

Ash (front, 3rd from right) with Pioneer Kangaroos 1908-09Hennessy won a place on the inaugural Kangaroo tour of 1908–09, but came under criticism since he also doubled as a selector. He suffered a luckless campaign. Battling with his teammates through the British winter, his jaw was broken and then his cheekbone in minor matches and he played only seven games on tour.

Jack Coyne summed him up this way: "His outstanding coaching ability, his leadership on the field and off, his pertinacity and his personality all combined to make Arthur a redoubtable friend and an implacable opponent." Coyne made the point that for a footballer to survive the challenges that emerged in rugby league's early days, he had to be "a big man, in heart, courage and stature".

Coaching As coach at South Sydney he was also the father of the Rabbitoh's own style – introducing the "no kick" policy, based on his football creed of Position, Possession, Penetration and Pace. His theory can be summarized as; If you pass the ball often enough and move forward with supports, the defence must eventually crack and you will score tries. Souths lived that creed through much of the club's life – although the arrival of the limited tackle rule in 1967 inevitably changed the way the game was played. He taught rugby (both codes) to a range of teams, at a number of levels: Souths, Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview, Waverley College, The King's School – as well as Country, State and Australia's national representative sides. He also taught boxing, and for a time was manager of the Australian lightweight champion Sid Godfrey.

In 1913 he coached a New South Wales side on a tour of New Zealand and was ahead of his time in introducing a steak-only protein diet on match days.

Hennessy was South Sydney's coach for the 1946 NSWRFL season.

Later life Living at Maroubra in Sydney's south-eastern beaches Hennessy became something of a local entrepreneur in later life, investing in the Maroubra speedway; opening a mini-golf course and owning the local cinema. He lived there in a cottage opposite the theatre until his death in 1959, 5 days short of his 83rd birthday. He is buried in Botany cemetery.