A two time South Sydney premiership winner in 1914 and 1918, and played in the 1924 premiership decider. Horder also won the 1912 and 1924 City Cups with South Sydney. As a youth Horder played Cricket and Rugby Union. Horder was a South Sydney junior playing for South Sydney Kinkora and the South Sydney Federals. He was a South Sydney junior representative playing in the 1912 President Cup team. Horder was a junior professional runner as well. Harold Horder joined his brother Clarrie playing for South Sydney Kinkora in 1911. He was playing for B Grade juniors and had just played Prseident Cup in 1912, when he was called into the South Sydney first grade late in the season. Horder made his senior grade and first grade debut in the 1912 last round Round 14 clash against Glebe at Wentworth Park. He scored a spectular try on debut. This is how that try went. 18 year old Harold Horder, one of the recently promoted juniors, caught the ball, and beating man after man with a beautiful swerve, sprinted the whole length of the ground, he was quickly past Bolweski and speeding for the line with Mugivan hot on his heels. The later tackled him near the line, but his impetus carried Horder over and scored the greatest first grade debut try.
Horder had remarkable ability, unsurpased quickness off the mark, exeptional pace running with the ball, an elusive swerve, unapproached side-step at top speed. He also had sure handling and accurate kicking. Horder was in a class of himself and earned the nickname the "Wonder Winger". In 1919 Horder won the fastest man in rugby league race at the SCG.
Horder, in 1913, 1914 and 1918 was the NSWRL leading point scorer. In 1913, 1914 and 1917 he was the NSWRL leading try scorer. In 1914 Horder became South Sydney's greatest try and point scorer after surpasing Arthur McCabe, a record he would hold until 1929. Horder became the first South Sydney payer to score 5 tries in a premiership match in the 1917 Round 5 clash against North Sydney at the Showground. He would repeat the feat in the 1917 Round 12 clash against North Sydney also at the Showground. Horder even to this day, has the best strike rate for tries in premiership games for South Sydney. For South Sydney his strike rate was remarkable scoring 1.18 per game across his South Sydney frist grade premiership career.
During the Great War, Horder served in the Navy Reserves stationed at Garden Island, and would play when available for the Rabbitohs in 1914, and had sought leave to go on the 1918 South Sydney tour of Queensland. In 1920 Horder departed South Sydney with Cec Blinkhorn to play with North Sydney. While at North Sydney, he would tour ENgland as part of the 1921-22 Kangaroos. He would return to South Sydney with Blinkhorn for his final season. In 1923 he became the NSWRL greatest ever career premiership try scorer. A record he would hold until Ken Irvine surpased him in 1968. At the start of the 1923 season Horder bought a block of land in Kensington, and build a home, and returned to South Sydney in 1924, along with Cec Blinkhorn.
Horder played 9 seasons with South Sydney between 1912 and 1924. He played 109 first grade club games for South Sydney. Which included 86 first grade premiership games and 20 first grade cup games for South Sydney. Horder was a prolific try and point scorer. He scored 594 first grade points for South Sydney from 130 first grade tries and 101 first grade goals. This included 462 premiership points for South Sydney, from 102 first grade premiership tries and 78 first grade premiership goals for South Sydney.
Horder made his first grade captaincy debut in the 1924 Round 6 clash against Eastern Suburbs at the Sports Ground. He would captain South Sydney on 5 occassions in first grade in 1924, which included 4 first grade premiership games and first grade cup game.
At representative level, Horder made his representative debut in the 1913 Sydney Metropolis clash against Newcastle in Hamiltion. He was brought into the 1913 New South Wales, New Zealand tour squad making his state debut in the tour match against Taranki. Then playing New Zealand in the 1st clash on tour in Auckland. He would score his first 5 try feet in the 2nd 1913 New South Wales verses New Zealand clash in Wellington NZ. In 1914 he made his international debut for Australia in the 1st Test against England at the Showground. 1915 was a remarkable first two clashes for New South Wales against Queensland, where Horder would score 5 tries in both games, scoring all up 60 points in two games. A record that still stands today. In 1919 Horder would return to New Zealand this time as a Kangaroo tourist. In 1924 Horder captined New South Wales against Queensland and England. He played his final representative game while at South Sydney for New South Wales against Toowoomba in 1924.
Overall Horder would play 38 representative games while at South Sydney, which included 9 games for Australia and 25 games for New South Wales. Scoring 323 points from 75 tries and 49 goals.
Horder played his final first grade premiership game for South Sydney in the 1924 mid season, mid week Premiership Final against Balmain at the Sydney Cricket Ground. He would then continue to play in the City Cup, playing his final first grade cup game in the 1924 City Cup final against University at the Showground. Before leaving to play in Queensland.
Horder was a remarkable, player he was awarded Life Membership of the NSWRl in 1933. Then in 1967 he was awarded life membership of the South Sydney DRLFC. In 1938 he was named in the RL News greatest Australian pre WWII Team. In 1992 he was named in the Rugby League Week Dream Team on the wing. In 2004 he was entered the ARL Hall of Fame and International RL Hall of Fame. In 2004 he was named in the South Sydney Dream Team and in 2008 he was named in the South Sydney Juniors Team of the Century, both times on the wing.
In 1924, Horder became one of the first players to publish a Football Handbook on the game of Rugby League. Providing his unique views on how to play the game of rugby league.
Harold Horder is one of South Sydney's greatest ever players.
Player Relatives
Brother - Horder, Clarrie
Brother - Horder, Roy
Playing - Height / Weight
5ft 6in(168cm) / 10st 8lb(67kg)
Representative Qualification
NSW City
Date of Birth
Surry Hills - 23rd February 1894 (Died - 1978)
South Sydney Junior Club
South Sydney Kinkora
South Sydney Federals
Previous Clubs First Grade
(FG) Premiership : (FG) Cup : (FG) Tour
M T G FG Pt : M T G FG Pt : M T G FG Pt
South Sydney Kinkora
South Sydney Federals 2G (1912)
Military Service (1914) (Navy Reserves)
North Sydney (1920-23) 50 50 73 - 296 : 21 21 39 - 141 : 2 6 3 - 24
Previous Rep Honours M T G FG Pt : M T G FG Pt
NSW City (1920) 2 3 4 - 17
New South Wales (1920-23) 3 1 2 - 7 : 7 12 8 - 52
Australia (1920-22) 7 3 2 - 13 : 22 34 12 - 126
Kangaroos (1922) 1 3 3 - 15
Playing Career at South Sydney
South Sydney First Grade Debut
1912 Aug 24 Rd14 Went v Glebe (18y 183d)
First Grade
Premiership : City Cup : Aust Championship : Tour
M S R T G/A FG Pts : M S R T G/A FG Pts : M S R T G/A FG Pts : M S R T G/A FG Pts
1912 1 1 - 1 1 - 5 : 3 3 - 4 11 - 34
1913 12 12 - 13+ 12 1 65+: - - - - - - -
1914 13 13 - 19+ 16 - 89+: 3 3 - 3 4 - 17 : : - - - - - - -
1915 12 12 - 8 23 - 70 : 1 1 - 1 - - 3
1916 8 8 - 7 3 - 27 : - - - - - - - : : 1 1 - 2 1 - 8
1917 10 10 - 17+ - - 51 : 3 3 - 6 - - 18
1918 13 13 - 21 12 - 87+: 1 1 - 1 1/3 - 5 : 1 1 - 2 1 - 8 : 2 2 - 2 - - 6
1919 8 8 - 9 1 - 29 : 1 1 - - - - -
1924 9 9 - 7 9 - 39 : 7 7 - 7 6 - 33 : : - - - - - - -
TOTAL 86 86 - 102 77 1 462 : 19 19 - 22 22 - 110 : 1 1 - 2 1 - 8 : 3 3 - 4 1 - 14
SS Cup 20 20 - 24 23 - 118
SS FG 109 109 - 130 101 1 594
+ - Top NSWRL Try / Pointscorer
Short Form
Short-Game Knockout
M S R T G/A FG Pts
1915 - - - - - - -
TOTAL - - - - - - -
SS SF - - - - - - -
Captaincy Record at South Sydney
South Sydney First Grade Captaincy Debut
1924 Rd06 v Norths
First Grade
Year Premiership( W- D-L %) : Other( W- D-L %)
1924 4( 4- 0-0 100%) : 1( 1- 0-0 100%)
TOTAL 5( 5- 0-0 100%) :
SS CAREER 5( 5- 0-0 100%)
Suspension Record at South Sydney
Year Grade v Wk CHARGE 1917 Rd08 FG Wests
Player Awards
Year Award 1933 - NSWRL Life Membership 1938 - RL News Greatest Australian Team (Wing) 1952 - Rugby League News Immortal 1967 - South Sydney Life Membership 1978 - ARL Top 40 Greatest Players 1992 - Rugby League Week Dream Team (Wing) 1992 - Rugby League Week Top 100 (#12) 1996 - Randwick Council Hall of Fame 2003 - ARL Greatest Kangaroo Tourists 2004 - ARL Hall of Fame 2004 - International RL Hall of Fame 2004 - South Sydney Dream Team 2008 - South Sydney Juniors Team of the Century
Representative Honours at South Sydney
Domestic CvC / Interstate : Tourists : Other
M S R T G/A FG Pts : M S R T G/A FG Pts : M S R T G/A FG Pts
Sydney Metropolis 1913-15 : 1 1 - 2 - - 6 : 4 4 - 10 10 - 50
New South Wales 1913-24 6 6 - 17 15 - 81 : 9 9 - 18 9 - 72 : 8 8 - 15 5 - 55
Possibles 1924 : : 1 1 - 1 2 - 7
TOTAL 29 29 - 63 41 - 271
International Internationals : Other
M S R T G/A FG Pts : M S R T G/A FG Pts
Australia 1914-24 7 7 - 9 8 - 43 : 2 2 - 3 - - 9
TOTAL 9 9 - 12 8 - 52
ALL REPS 38 38 - 75 49 - 323
Captaincy CvC/Interstate/Internationals : Tourists : Other
M( W- D-L %) : M( W- D-L %) : M( W- D-L %)
New South Wales 1924 3( 0- 0-3 0%) : 2( 1- 0-1 50%) : 3( 2- 0-1 67%)
TOTAL 8( 3- 0-5 38%)
Year Pos Team Versus Match T G/A FG
1913 Cntr Sydney Metropolis v Newcastle 2 - -
1913 Cntr Sydney Metropolis v Hunter 3 -/1 -
1913 New South Wales (New Zealand Tour Squad)
1913 Wing New South Wales v Taranki Tour Match - 1 -
1913 Wing New South Wales v Rotorua Tour Match 3 1 -
1913 Cntr New South Wales v New Zealand 5th Match 2 1 -
1913 Cntr New South Wales v Wanganui Tour Match 3 2 -
1913 Cntr New South Wales v Wellington Tour Match 3 - -
1913 Cntr New South Wales v New Zealand 6th Match 5 - -
1913 Cntr New South Wales v Nelson Tour Match 3 1 -
1914 Wing Sydney Metropolis v England Tour Match 2 - -
1914 Wing New South Wales v England 1st Match 3 - -
1914 Wing Australia v England 1st Test - - -
1914 Res Australia v England 2nd Test (Selected but DNP)
1915 Wing Sydney Metropolis v Newcastle 1st Match 3 4 -
1915 Wing New South Wales v Queensland 1st Match 5 8 -
1915 Wing New South Wales v Queensland 2nd Match 5 7/8 -
1915 Wing Sydney Metropolis v Newcastle 3rd Match 2 6 -
1917 Wing New South Wales v Kangaroos (Withdrew due to injury)
1919 Wing New South Wales v New Zealand 1st Match 3 3 -
1919 Wing New South Wales v New Zealand 2nd Match 1 2 -
1919 Wing New South Wales v New Zealand 3rd Match 2 2 -
1919 Wing New South Wales v New Zealand 4th Match 2 - -
1919 Wing New South Wales v Queensland 1st Match 2 - -
1919 Wing Australia v New Zealand 1st Test 2 - -
1919 Wing Australia v New Zealand 2nd Test 2 2 -
1919 Wing Australia v New Zealand 3rd Test 2 5 -
1919 Wing Australia v New Zealand 4th Test 3 1 -
1919 Wing Australia v Auckland Tour Match - - -
1919 Wing Australia v Wellingon Tour Match 3 - -
1924 Cntr New South Wales v Queensland 1st Match 2 - - (c) L
1924 Cntr New South Wales v Queensland 2nd Match 1 - - (c) L
1924 Cntr New South Wales v England 1st Match - 1 - (c) L
1924 Cntr New South Wales v England 2nd Match - - - (c) W
1924 Cntr Australia v England 1st Test - - -
1924 Wing Australia v England 2nd Test - - -
1924 Wing Possibles v Probables 3rd Match 1 2 -
1924 Wing New South Wales v Cnrtl-Nthrn NSW Qld Tour 2 1 - (c) W
1924 Wing New South Wales v Ipswich Qld Tour 1 - - (c) W
1924 Wing New South Wales v Queensland 3rd Match 2 - - (c) L
1924 Wing New South Wales v Toowoomba Qld Tour - - - (c) L
After Leaving South Sydney
Subsequent Clubs First Grade
M T G FG Pt
Coorparoo-Bris (1925-26) 19 15 23 - 91 (Captain-Coach)
Subsequent Rep Honours M T G FG Pt
Brisbane (1925-26) 5 2 4 1 16
Queensland (1925) 1 1 3 - 9
After retiring as a player, Harold Horder would coach Coorparoo as a non-player coach in 1926-27. In 1928 he became a referee / linesman in Brisbane until retiring in 1930.
First Class Playing Career (1912-26)
M T G FG Pts
Total FG Premiership 136 152 150 1 758
Total BRL Premiership 19 15 23 - 91
Total FG Cup 41 45 62 - 259
Total FG Club Tour 5 10 4 - 42
Total Internationals 14 12 10 - 56
Total State 19 37 29 - 169
Total Other Representative 53 85 48 1 353
TOTAL FIRST CLASS 287 356 326 2 1728
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