Frank Hyde

Frank Hyde

Personal information
Full name	Francis Patrick Aloysius Hyde
Born	(1916-02-07)7 February 1916 Millers Point, New South Wales, Australia
Died	24 September 2007(2007-09-24) (aged 91) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1936–37 Newtown 15 2 0 0 6 1938–41 Balmain 38 16 2 0 52 1942–43 North Sydney 37 9 0 0 27 Total 90 27 2 0 85 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 1938–39 City 2 1 0 0 3 1938–39 New South Wales 5 3 0 0 9

Frank Hyde MBE OAM (7 February 1916 – 24 September 2007) was an Australian rugby league footballer, coach and radio caller. A New South Wales representative three-quarter, Hyde played his club football in Sydney for NSWRFL Premiership clubs Newtown, Balmain (with whom he won the 1939 Premiership) and North Sydney. Following his playing career, Hyde enjoyed even greater success as a commentator, earning him Membership of the Order of the British Empire and a place in the Sport Australia Hall of Fame and the Australian Commercial Radio Industry Hall of Fame. Hyde's contribution to Rugby League is celebrated each year with the Frank Hyde Shield, a three match tournament played between the Newtown Jets and North Sydney Bears.

Born Francis Patrick Aloysius Hyde in 1916, he grew up in inner-city Sydney in The Rocks. Residential rules of the time required him to play for the Balmain club, but he preferred to play with Newtown and managed two seasons there before the rule was enforced upon him.

During his playing career, Hyde represented the Newtown Bluebags, (now Newtown Jets), the Balmain Tigers, the North Sydney Bears and, at the state level, New South Wales. He scored a try for the Balmain Tigers in their winning grand final of 1939, and was captain-coach of the North Sydney Bears when they reached the grand final in 1943 when defeated by Frank Farrell's Newtown. However, due to World War II, he was unable to represent the Australian national team. Frank Hyde married Gaby Schofield at Waverley in 1942. He retired as a player in 1944.