brother," said The Referee, "but he has the power to field and kick the ball with infinitely greater skill than the average player.” The Referee described Wally as having "infinitely greater skill than the average player. He is a strongly built tricky young man, and is very dangerous." Wally played two tests for Australia in 1914. Tragically, the First World War (1914-1918) intervened and put a stop to his very promising football future. Dally is quoted as saying: "... given my opportunities, Wally would have been a world beater." The Rorke’s Drift Rugby League Test Match of 1914 Wally Messenger was prominent in perhaps the most legendary game of Rugby League ever chronicled. It was described as Rorke's Drift, an analogy to an outnumbered embattled group of British soldiers in Southern Africa who won a victory over a much larger and formidable army of Zulu warriors (1879). It was the third Test Match of Australia versus Great Britain, played in Sydney on the July 4, 1914. Great Britain, playing three men short owing to a string of injuries, nevertheless, by heroic and fiercely resolute play, won the Test, 14 points to 6. On the Australian side Wally Messenger scored one of their two tries. References 1890s births Australian rugby league players Sydney Roosters players New South Wales rugby league team players Australia national rugby league team players 1961 deaths Rugby league wingers Date of birth missing Rugby league players from Sydney Australian people of English descent