Norman Street
Norman (Norm) Ogilvie Street
1935 - 1977
Rugby International
Norman Ogilvie Street was another product of the mining days at Lucknow, where he represented the village in local matches before progressing to western districts selection. Norm was a teammate of Stan Wickham who also went on to Australian selection. He was small for a front row forward, but his consistent rugged play earned him a place in the New South Wales team at the age of 21 in 1897. He was to continue to represent the State on 18 occasions between 1897 and 1901. On each of his State appearances he was required to make the long and boring trip from Orange to Sydney by train and then return after each match.
His dedication was finally rewarded when he gained a place in the Australian team to play Great Britain in the second test at Brisbane on 22 July 1899. This was only the second tour made by a Great Britain side, and was the first tour in which an official test was played against Australia. Australia lost the match 11 - 0, but reports indicated that Norm had turned in a good performance. In this test only six New South Wales players were selected, and the reason given was it was to save travel costs to Brisbane. However, in the next test, played in Sydney, only three Queenslanders were included in the side. For some inexplicable reason, Norm was dropped from the team, and even though he continued his good form, and represented New South Wales for a further two years.
Norm Street was never again selected for Australia, and finally he dropped out of first class football at the age of 25 and continued his work in the goldfields at Lucknow
