Herb Steinohrt

Herb Steinohrt

Steinohrt in 1925
Personal information
Full name	Herb Steinohrt
Born	21 October 1899 Pittsworth, Queensland, Australia
Died	27 December 1985(1985-12-27) (aged 86)
Playing information
Position	forward
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1922–33 Valleys (Toowoomba) Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P Toowoomba 59 24 1925–33 Queensland 51 21 1928–32 Australia 9 0 0 0 0

Herb Steinohrt (21 October 1899 – 27 December 1985) was an Australian rugby leaguefootballer of the 1920s and 1930s who played as a front row forward for the Australian national team. He played in 9 Tests between 1928 and 1932 as captain on 3 occasions.

Born in Pittsworth, Queensland he moved to Toowoomba in 1921 and forged an identity there in football and later in real estate as a man of honour and discipline.

Steinhort's father had emigrated to Australia in the late 19th century. He was graded by the Valleys club of the Toowoomba rugby League in 1922 as a centre but soon moved to the forwards. He was known throughout his career for his uncompromising heavy tackling style. Along with his 1928 Kangaroo captain Tom Gorman, Steinohrt was a member of the 1924-25 world class Toowoomba side that beat all comers including Sydney premiers Souths, Brisbane, Ipswich and representative sides including New South Wales, Victoria, Great Britain and New Zealand.

Although he did not first represent his State till age 26, from 1925 to 1933 he had an uninterrupted run as a Queensland Maroon representative, setting the then record of playing 30 consecutive interstate matches. In 1931 and 1932 he captained Queensland to series victories over NSW. In 1933 he was part of a Queensland squad that included the entire Toowoomba representative team and Steinhort lead a "Clydesdales XIII" against NSW. His brother Arch was also part of this team.

Aged 29 in 1928 Herb was selected to play for the Australian team. He played in all 3 games of each of the three consecutive Test series against Great Britain in 1928, 1929–30 and 1932. On the 1929–30 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain he played in 3 Tests and 18 other Tour matches. In 1932 at home against the visiting English he captained the Kangaroos in all three Tests. Steinohrt was the last Queensland based player to captain a Kangaroo Tour until Wally Lewis did so in 1986.