Born: c.1890
Died: 7 May, 1967
Test record: 0 Tests
Tours: 1913 tour of Australia

Hawke’s Bay rugby league pioneer Charles Manning played in Canterbury after representing New Zealand in 1913.

Manning toured Australia with the national side that season, the five-eighth scoring tries in two matches against NSW and in the sole clash with Queensland.

He partnered the great Bill Kelly in the centres for New Zealand’s first encounter with the touring NSW side later in 1913.

Hawke’s Bay’s captain against NSW in 1912 and ’13, Manning turned out for his province against England in 1914 before shifting south to Christchurch. He joined Addington and was at five-eighth for Canterbury in its inaugural match against West Coast in Greymouth in 1915.

Returning home, Manning featured in Hawke’s Bay’s two matches against the 1919 Australian tourists, a dominant combination that included legendary figures of the era such as Arthur ‘Pony’ Holloway, Charles ‘Chook’ Fraser and Reg ‘Whip’ Latta.