ARNOLD GREEN – KIWI #374

Born: 21 May, 1933
Died: 23 September, 2016 – Coffs Harbour, NSW
Test record: 0 Tests
Tours: 1956 tour of Australia

West Coast winger Arnold Green toured Australia with the Kiwis in 1956.

After representing West Coast against France in 1955, the lightweight Runanga flyer was a bolter in the New Zealand squad the following season after scoring three tries in an early trial and grabbing another in South Island’s heavy defeat to North Island.

Green was overlooked for the Tests with outstanding trio Vern Bakalich, Cryil Eastlake and Tom Hadfield occupying the flanks against Australia, but he managed seven tries in seven minor tour matches.

The 23-year-old debuted against Newcastle, nabbed his first try for New Zealand in his next outing against Brisbane, crossed for a double against North Queensland and blazed over for a hat-trick four days later against Wide Bay.

A coal miner on the West Coast and in Huntly, Green later relocated to Australia and passed away in Coffs Harbour in 2016, aged 83.