Born: May 25, 1897 – Sydney, NSW
Died: November 15, 1961 – Sydney, NSW
Test record: 0 Tests
Tours: 1919 tour of Australia, 1921 tour of Australia

Sydney-born Harry Tancred toured Australia twice with the New Zealand rugby league team, while he later returned to rugby union and represented Australia and became a prominent figure in Sydney horse racing.

Moving to New Zealand with his family while still at school, Tancred played rugby union with the Petone club and represented Wellington.

The strapping forward switched codes with Petone in 1919 and earned a spot in the New Zealand squad for the trip to Australia that year, playing in eight of the 11 fixtures.

Tancred spent the following season in Sydney, playing eight games for Western Suburbs in the NSWRL premiership. He joined Auckland club City Rovers in 1921 and was named captain of the New Zealand side to tour Australia.

Like 1919, no Tests were scheduled on the tour but he led the team impressively, including in a 25-12 win over Queensland and a 27-14 victory over Newcastle. He also turned out for a Combined NZ and Queensland team that faced a star-studded NSW line-up at the SCG.

Tancred returned to Sydney and rugby union in 1922, playing two matches for NSW against the visiting New Zealand Māori team in 1923 that were retrospectively given Test status by the Australian Rugby Union in 1986. Younger brothers Arnold and Jim would tour Britain with the 1927-28 Waratahs.

Tancred served as Sydney Turf Club chairman from 1953-59 and was inducted to the organisation’s Hall of Fame as an associate in 2007.