Tank van Rooyen

Tank van Rooyen

Personal information
Full name	Gert Wilhelm van Rooyen
Nickname	Tank
Born	(1892-12-09)9 December 1892 Steynsburg, Cape Colony, South Africa
Died	Runcorn, England
Playing information
Rugby union
Position	Lock
Representative
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
1921	South Africa	2	0	0		0
Rugby league
Position	Second-row
Club
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
1922–23	Hull KR	35	7	0	0	21
1923–29	Wigan	178	26	0		78
1929–33	Widnes	74	4	0		12
	Total	287	37	0	0	111
Representative
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
1924	Other Nationalities	1
Source:

Gert Wilhelm "Tank" van Rooyen (9 December 1892 – 21 September 1942), also known as George van Rooyen, was a South African international rugby union and rugby league footballer. His position was at lock.

Club career

At the age of 29, van Rooyen moved to England in 1922 to play rugby league for Hull Kingston Rovers, where he won the 1922–23 league championship. He joined Wigan in November 1923, and went on to win the Challenge Cup in 1924, and two Lancashire League titles in 1923–24 and 1925–26. Tank van Rooyen played Left-Second-row, i.e. number 11 in Wigan's 11-15 defeat by Swinton in the 1925 Lancashire Cup final during the 1925–26 season at The Cliff, Broughton on Wednesday 9 December 1925. He spent six years at Wigan, making a total 178 appearances for the club.

In 1929, he joined Widnes on a free transfer, and became the club's first ever overseas player. In 1930, he won his second Challenge Cup in a shock 10–3 win against St Helens. He continued to play for Widnes before until his retirement in 1933.

Representative career

In rugby union, van Rooyen appeared for South Africa in two Tests in 1921. As a rugby league player, his only appearance at representative level was for Other Nationalities, playing in the team that beat England 23–17 at Headingley in 1924.