Name Charlie Seeling Weight 86 kg | Height 1.83 m | |
Died May 27, 1956, Stalybridge, United Kingdom | ||
Charles Edward "Bronco" Seeling (born 14 May 1883 – 27 May 1956) was a New Zealand international rugby football player of the early 20th century. He played in the forwards for the original All Blacks. Between 1904 and 1908 he played 39 matches for New Zealand which included 11 tests.
Seeling then traveled to Great Britain in 1910 armed with a 'letter of introduction' from a colleague. He signed with English rugby league club, Wigan in 1910. From then until 1913 he scored 54 tries for Wigan and appeared in three consecutive championship finals. Charlie Seeling played Left-prop, i.e. number 8, and scored a try in Wigan's 21-5 victory over Rochdale Hornets in the 1912 Lancashire Cup final during the 1912–13 season at Weaste, Salford, on Wednesday 11 December 1912. Seeling went on to make over 200 first grade appearances for the club over thirteen years, playing as captain for three of them. Noted British rugby writer, E. H. D. Sewell, wrote of Seeling: "Search where one may, a better forward than Seeling does not exist."
He spent the rest of his life in Britain, dying in 1956 at the age of 73 in a car accident.
In 1996 Seeling was inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame as well as the international Rugby League Hall of Fame. In 2001 he was inducted as one of the NZRL Legends of League. Seeling's son, Charlie Jr. also played rugby league, becoming captain of Dewsbury. A shared benefit for; Percy Coldrick, Charlie Seeling, and Frank Walford[1] took place in April 1925.