Ben Davidson (rugby league)

Ben Davidson

Personal information
Full name	Benjamin Alfred Davidson
Born	1902 New Zealand
Died	1961 (aged 58–59)
Playing information
Height	173 cm (5 ft 8 in)
Weight	75 kg (11 st 11 lb)
Position	Wing, Centre
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1919–27 City Rovers 102 68 7 5 228 1920 Devonport XIII (guest) 1 1 0 0 3 1927–30 Wigan 67 31 0 0 93 1930–33 City Rovers 46 14 3 1 50 Total 216 114 10 6 374 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 1921–32 Auckland 19 22 0 1 68 1926–32 New Zealand (tests) 24 (2) 14 (1) 0 0 42 (3) 1925–26 North Island 2 2 0 0 6
Coaching information
Representative Years Team Gms W D L W% 1931 Northland 1 1 0 0 100 1934 City Rovers 16 5 0 11 31
Source: [1] As of 19 April 2020

Benjamin Alfred Davidson (1902–1961) was a New Zealand rugby league footballer who represented New Zealand.^[1]

His brother Bill also represented New Zealand and another brother, George, played for Auckland and competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics as a sprinter.

Alongside his brothers, Davidson played for the City Rovers in the Auckland Rugby League competition. He played for Auckland City in 1923 against the touring Great Britain Lions.^[2]

He was selected for the New Zealand national rugby league team on their 1926-27 tour of Great Britain.

Along with Lou Brown and Len Mason, Davidson was signed by Wigan after the tour.^[3] Davidson played there for three seasons, scoring 31 tries in 69 games.^[4]

He then returned to Auckland. Davidson again made the Auckland side and in 1932 played for New Zealand against the Great Britain Lions. He finished his test career having played in four matches.^[5]

In 1931 Ben Davidson coached the Northland representative side for 2 weeks to help them prepare for their Northern Union Challenge Cup match with South Auckland. Northland won the game 16-8. Three years later in 1934 he coached the City Rovers club for the season in the Auckland Rugby League competition.^{[citation needed]}