Arthur Stephen "Ash" Hennessy (24 September 1876 – 19 September 1959) was an Australian pioneer rugby league identity. He was a seminal figure in the creation of the South Sydney Rabbitohs for whom he played and later coached. He was a state and national representative hooker/forward and was the first captain of the Australian national rugby league team. He played for New South Wales in the first rugby match run by the newly created 'New South Wales Rugby Football League' which had just split away from the established New South Wales Rugby Football Union. He later coached at club, state and national representative levels.
Background
Born in Sydney, New South Wales, Hennessy played his junior rugby football in the centres for the Boys Brigade in 1895. He then played for Bayview in 1896 and became a South Sydney junior.
Rugby union career
By 1901 Hennessy was a regular first grade rugby union player for Souths. He represented New South Wales in 1901, 1902 and 1904, and he was a rugby union coach at The King's School, Sydney in 1905. A flanker, and later hooker in rugby union (with Souths), when in 1902 Hennessy represented against New Zealand, the All Blacks mistook him for a halfback as he lacked the size they deemed necessary for a forward. His enthusiastic foraging and tackling soon changed Kiwi minds. In 1907 he was made Souths' captain.
Rugby league career
Playing
When the New Zealand All Golds toured in 1907, Hennessy joined the breakaway New South Wales Rugby Football League and was selected as the new code's first New South Wales captain. In October of that year Hennessy chaired a meeting of rugby identities with a view to creating a South Sydney rugby league club. The club was formed on 17 January 1908 and Hennessy was the inaugural captain-coach. For rugby league, Hennessy's place in the scheme of things is nothing less than extraordinary. When the new game of Northern Union (rugby league) arrived in Australia in the late winter of 1907, he enthusiastically stepped on board and when the New Zealand All Golds came to play the first of their historic three-game series against the locals at the Agricultural Ground (Sydney Showground) in August 1907, he was the NSW captain and coach. The games were played under rugby union rules as no one had a copy of the new code's laws. Hennessy subsequently read the rule book which arrived in Australia and declared: "This is a game for racehorses". Along with his fellow pioneers Hennessy was prepared to accept the ill-will that accompanied the splitting of the rugby code. "You had to take it on the chin and give it on the chin," he said. "Many good friendships tumbled to dust when we switched football codes." Hennessy stands as a monumental figure in the South Sydney story. It was at his home at 9 Chapman St, Surry Hills in October 1907 that the meeting was held which led to the formation of the Rabbitohs. Hennessy has sent a circular to all rugby union clubs in the district, convening the meeting. Because of that day and the events that followed, he can be fairly rated as the club's founder.
In 1908, Hennessy was Souths' first hooker and, with Billy Cann, one of the club's first two delegates to the New South Wales Rugby Football League. He coached Souths in their 1908 NSWRFL season's final. In that foundation season he also had the honour of captaining Australia in its first ever rugby league Test – against New Zealand. Hennessy played in both Tests in May against New Zealand as captain, both of which Australia lost. Hennessy was selected to play in the first ever trans-Tasman test, which was the debut match of the Australia national rugby league team. He is listed in the Australian Players Register as Kangaroo No. 1. In July of that inaugural season he made another representative appearance captaining New South Wales in a 43-0 whitewash of Queensland in the first ever Australian interstate match.
Hennessy won a place on the inaugural Kangaroo tour of 1908–09, but came under criticism since he also doubled as a selector. He suffered a luckless campaign. Battling with his teammates through the British winter, his jaw was broken and then his cheekbone in minor matches and he played only seven games on tour. In 1909 Hennessy made three appearances for the Eastern Suburbs club, including that year's semi-final against Balmain in which he was named as captain.