The rugby league world was saddened to hear of the recent passing of former North Queensland, Queensland and Australian centre / five-eighth Alan Gil, aged 86.
Gil made history in 1961 by becoming the first Australian rugby league representative from Cairns.
Born in 1938 to a Spanish father and Irish mother, Gil made his first-grade rugby league debut as a 17-year-old with the Cairns kangaroos club in 1956.
During his playing career, Gil had the distinction of winning major premierships in two distinct Queensland-based competitions – the Foley Shield with Cairns and the Bulimba Cup with Toowoomba, as well representing North Queensland, Far North Queensland, Queensland and Australia.
In 1957, he played in the first of his six Foley Shield grand finals for Cairns; and in 1958 made his representative debut for Far North Queensland against the touring Great Britain side.
For season 1959, he moved to Toowoomba, joining the All-Whites club and was part of the club’s 1959 and 1960 premiership sides.
He also represented Toowoomba in the Bulimba Cup competition and was in fact the Toowoomba captain when they defeated Ipswich to win the 1960 Bulimba cup.
From Toowoomba, Gil (pictured on right) made the first of his 16 appearances for Queensland in 1960, and after moving back to Cairns for season 1961 continued to represent Queensland.
It was also during this time that he formed a wonderful centre partnership with Innisfail (and Rockhampton) player Ron Tait (pictured on left).
The “Tait and Gil” centre pairing became well known in the game for both North Queensland and Queensland.
He made history in 1961 when selected, from Cairns in the Australian squad tour to NZ, playing eight games on tour.
Season 1962 was also a significant one for Gil, when after representing Queensland, he was selected for Australia in the Second and Third Tests against Great Britian, ironically replacing fellow Queenslander Bob Hagan, who played in the First Test of that series, from Townsville.
During the 1960s, Gil represented NQ many times, including matches against the touring New Zealand and French sides and he led Cairns to Foley Shield victory in 1966.
He finished his playing career in 1970 as part of the Cairns Foley Shield winning side.
After retiring as a player, Gil continued to contribute as a coach and mentor to younger players for decades and was coach of the Queensland Under 18 side in the 1980s. He was also coach of the 1982 Australian Under 18 side, which included a young Martin Bella.
Gil was still managing Cairns’ representative sides in 2007 and in 2008 was named in the North Queensland team of the century.
He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Janice, whom he met while playing in Toowomba, and a large extended family.
