Wilf Hassan

Wilfred Thomson Hassan (9 February 1910 – 10 September 1967) was a rugby league footballer who represented New Zealand in 1932 in a test match against England thus becoming Kiwi #221. He was also a champion diver and was Auckland diving champion on several occasions and New Zealand champion in 1934 and 1935.

Wilfred was born on 9 February 1910 in Wingate, Durham, England, the son of Patrick Columkill (Colin) Hassan, who was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1886. Wilfred died on 10 September 1967, according to New Zealand Births, Deaths and Marriages. His father, Colin, had a number of occupations including iron roller (Glasgow), Canadian soldier (WW1), painter (Sydney Nova Scotia), mechanic and bricklayer (Auckland NZ). Wilfred was raised by his grandparents, Jane Kingswell and John Thomas Hassan with financial support from his father. The Hassan name originated in Ireland from where Wilfred's great great grandparents had migrated to England around 1838. In 1911 when he was aged 1 the England/Wales census recorded him as living at 19 Burleigh Street, South Shields, Durham, England. At some point in 1911 he moved with his family to Canada. In the 1911 Canadian census their residence in June was recorded as "Dominion No 6 Polling District No 11, Cape Breton South, Nova Scotia, Canada". In 1921, Wilfred moved to New Zealand with his grandmother, Jane Hassan, arriving in Auckland on board the Niagara on 28 May 1921, from Vancouver. Also on board were some of Wilfred's young uncles.

Wilfred Hassan was educated at Sacred Heart College on Richmond Road in Ponsonby (before it later relocated to Glendowie in 1955). He was heavily involved in sports while at the school, placing highly in athletic events such as running, long jump and shot put, while also boxing successfully as a welterweight. He also played halfback for the first fifteen rugby union team in his final two years. In his final year at Sacred Heart in 1927 he scored a try in a 6–4 win against Mount Albert Grammar School. The match was played on Eden Park as part of the annual ‘Schools Day’ where 8,000 spectators were present.

At the start of the 1928 season Hassan joined the catholic Marist Old Boys rugby league club. He debuted in their first match of the season in the halfback position where he was to spend the majority of his career. His first match was against Devonport United at Carlaw Park before a crowd of 10,000 on a benefit match day for Richard Stack. It was reported that Hassan "was clearly concerned by the big crowd, and although his handling was weak, his tackling was particularly effective". In his championship debut on 5 May against Richmond Rovers he was said to have played well. The New Zealand Herald wrote that "the player who caught the eye was the youthful Hassan. On his form on Saturday he should have a career in front of him as a footballer. He was here, there and everywhere, being prominent both on attack and defence". His first ever try for Marist came in an 18–14 win over Ponsonby in round 4. He scored the final try of the match 3 minutes before the finish after "he beat the opposition in a brilliant run to score between the posts" after "racing hard from a bad position". The New Zealand Herald said that regarding tackling Hassan "was the shining star, his hard, low tackled being a treat to witness. His effort which stopped Hutt right on the line when a try looked certain was a brilliant one". His final match of the season came in the Stormont Shield final win over Devonport by 9 to 8. He finished the season having played 14 matches and scoring the 1 try.

In 1929 he again started the season at halfback for Marist. He played 20 matches for them and scored 4 tries. They could only manage a mid table finish in the championship but were victorious in the Roope Rooster knockout competition and the Stormont Shield champion of champions final. Following their semi final Roope Rooster win over City Rovers it was said of Hassan that he "served his backs well. This Sacred Heart College old boy is a clever little player". In the final against Ponsonby United he scored a try in a 17–9 win. He set up a try for Clarke before later scoring the "finest try of the match" which sealed the victory. He also played in the 28–14 win over Stormont Shield final. Hassan's final 2 matches of the season were for Marist against the touring South Sydney. They scored an upset 10–9 win in the first match at Carlaw Park before a crowd of 15,000. A week later however they were defeated 21–5, again before a crowd of 15,000. Auckland played 2 matches during the season but Hassan was unable to break into the side with current New Zealand players Frank Delgrosso, Tim Peckham, Stan Prentice and Allan Seagar all ahead of him in the halfback and standoff positions.

In 1930 Hassan played 13 games for Marist, scoring 3 tries. His tries all came in the first six matches of the season and his form was good enough to be named as an emergency player for the New Zealand Possibles v Probables match on 14 June. The match was a trial played as curtain-raiser to the North Island v South Island match, however Hassan was not required to play. He was selected again as an emergency player, this time however for Auckland in their 23 August match with the New Zealand side who were returning from their tour of Australia. Riley and Brady had to leave the field injured early and Hassan took the latter's place to make his Auckland debut. It was said that he "proved his worth. He "sent Ruby in for an unconverted try" and then scored himself towards the end of the match which was won by the New Zealand side 34–27.

The 1931 season saw Hassan play 16 times for Marist and he scored 2 tries. Notably the team won the championship for the first time since 1924. It took until the final round for them to secure the title when they defeated Devonport United 12-5 who finished just 2 points behind them. Hassan was then picked for the North Island side to play the South Island in their annual fixture. He was picked at halfback with Hec Brisbane captaining the side at standoff. The North Island won the match easily on 15 August by 52 points to 23. It was reported that he "justified his selection as half, and, besides showing up for several fine dashes from the base of the scrum, combined sweetly with his club mate, Brisbane. They totally outplayed their opposing halves, Johnny Dodds, and McKewen and "it was a simple matter for Brisbane and Hassan to beat the visitors’ five eighths" while he also "over-shadowed Masters" who was the South Island halfback.

On 26 June he made his second appearance for Auckland in their match with Northland at Carlaw Park. The visitors surprised the Auckland side with the match drawn 19-19. It was said that W. Shortland, the Northland halfback was "superior to Hassan behind the scrum". The following weekend he was part of the Marist side who lost the Stormont Shield final to Devonport by 25 to 6.