Bob McCowan
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| Full name | Robert Herman McCowan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 28 February 1875 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Renfrewshire | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 29 April 1941 (aged 66) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Brisbane Grammar School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation(s) | Solicitor | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Amateur team(s) | |||
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| Years | Team | Apps | (Points) |
| Provincial / State sides | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Points) |
| 1893-1900 | Queensland | () | |
| National team(s) | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Points) |
| 1899 | Australia | 3 | (0) |
Robert Herman "Bob" McCowan (28 February 1875 – 29 April 1941) was a pioneer Australian rugby union player, a state and national representative fullback who played in his country's first Test series of 1899, captaining the national side on one occasion.
McCowan was born in Renfrewshire, Scotland. He captained the rugby side at Brisbane Grammar School and after school played at the Past Grammars club.
He ran a successful law practice after his football career but in 1929 he got into some betting trouble with an unsuccessful plunge on Phar Lap in the 1929 Melbourne Cup. He was sentenced for fourteen years for misappropriating over 153,000 pounds from trust funds of clients over a 10 year period 1920-1929). He later worked as a bar-room cleaner.
He is buried in northern New South Wales at Byangum Road Cemetery in Murwillumbah in an unmarked grave.
Howell quotes sportswriter Jack Davis who described McCowan as "short, remarkably quick and good in any era....fast, clever in handling, kicking and passing the ball and tackles well...he possessed in high degree the essentials of a crack three-quarter".
McGowan was first selected in a Queensland representative side in 1893 and made 24 appearances for his state up till 1900. He captained the Queensland side in their tour match against Matthew Mullineux's first British Lions to tour Australia in 1899 to a surprise 11-3 victory. He captained Queensland on six other occasions and made appearances against touring New Zealand sides in 1893, 1896 and 1897. New Zealand dual-international George Smith came up against McGowan on the latter of these tours and was reported in The Cynic to have said "If it had not been for McGowan's fine play we would have put up much bigger scores than we did. He is the best fullback we have seen over here - kicks with either foot and is a very sure tackler - I know it".
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