Gus Risman learned to sidestep in Tiger Bay and went on to become one of the most revered rugby men in the
world. At 11 he moved from Cardiff’s dockland area to Barry, where he was in the same class as Charlton and Wales soccer star George Green and Ryder Cup golf captain Dai Rees.
He was good enough to earn a trial for the Welsh Schools Under 15 soccer side at 13. A few years later he gained a Welsh Schools Under 19 rugby trial. He left school at the height of the depression, worked as a mess-room boy
on a boat and turned out for Dinas Powys and Cardiff Scottish at rugby union.
His dream was always to play for Wales at Cardiff Arms Park. As a teenager he was offered a trial with Spurs and invited to play for Cardiff Rags. Those offers, though, came at a time when he was in Manchester having trials for
a rugby league club.
In 1929 he signed on for Salford for a fee of £52, with £3 per win and 35 shillings for a defeat. He scored a try on his debut as a wing, but was moved back to full back for the very next game.
It was the start of one of the greatest careers in the history of rugby league. Over the next 24 years he won four Rugby League Championships, went to Wembley three times, picked up five Lancashire League titles and three Lancashire Cup winners medals. He was inducted into the Rugby League Hall of Fame in 1988.
He scored more than 4,000 points in 873 first-class games, captained Wales (18 caps) and Great Britain (17 caps) and went on three British tours to Australia. During the Second World War he was picked as the captain of the Welsh rugby union team that played in the Services internationals and, at the age of 41, lifted the Challenge Cup as captain of Workington Town.
His two sons both became international rugby league players. Bev Risman played rugby union for England and the British Lions before joining Leeds and winning caps for Great British and England, while John played for Workington and Wales.
Augustus John Ferdinand Risman (Rugby Player) Born in Cardiff on 21 March, 1911; died in Whitehaven on 17 October 1994
