Jim Abercrombie

James Maskell Abercrombie (born James Maskell; 31 December 1880 – 29 October 1948) was an Australian rugby league footballer who played for Western Suburbs in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership competition. He also played rugby union for North Sydney and Glebe.

Career

Abercrombie originally played rugby union prior to the formation of the New South Wales Rugby League premiership in 1908 and was one of the original players to make the switch to the newly formed code. He attended the founding meeting of the Western Suburbs rugby league club and was elected to the inaugural committee. Abercrombie played in Wests' very first match against Balmain and scored Wests' very first goals in 1st grade in the following match against Souths. He played all nine matches of the inaugural season and was selected the first national representative side that played against the visiting New Zealand All Golds. He was also controversially a member of the 1908–09 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain after he was originally left out of the squad though after a public outcry over his omission he was called in, thus making him the first international player to come from the Western Suburbs club. He played in two Tests and 30 tour matches of the long campaign.

Abercrombie was awarded Life Membership of the New South Wales Rugby League in 1914.

In 2008, the Western Suburbs Magpies celebrated their centenary by inducting six inaugural members into the club's Hall of Fame. These six included Jim Abercrombie.