 His prematurely grey hair made him appear much older than he was.He maintained an active involvement in sports after completing his schooling and participated in cricket, swimming and rugby union playing first grade with the Endeavour Rugby Club at Newtown in Sydney.In 1903 he was captain of that club and made his representative debut for New South Wales against Queensland and the touring New Zealand national rugby team before being selected for Australia in the first test of 1903 at Sydney on 15 August, against those same All Blacks.