BIO

The child of an elite pioneering family, Ronald Glen played just one game with Norwood before making his name in Western Australia.  His father, George, the son of a London doctor, arrived in the new colony of South Australia as a youth in 1845 and at one stage rented a vast stretch of the South-East, lying between Tantanoola on the east and Rendelsham on the west, with Lake Bonney and the Wattle Range on either side.

Employed initially by his brother-in-law Sir Samuel Davenport, landowner and colonial politician, George Glen developed Mayurra Station with the Reverend William Vansittart, who lost his life in a riding accident while chasing cattle in thick scrub in 1854.  There was friction when Booandik tribesmen speared stock.  George married the eldest daughter of the first Bishop of Adelaide, Dr Augustus Short, and her name, Millicent, was adopted for the emerging principal town.  Hit hard by bad seasons and proliferating rabbits, George withdrew from primary production and in 1893 retired to Mount Gambier, where he continued as a stipendiary magistrate until shortly before his death at 81 in 1908.  He was survived by his widow, five daughters and three sons.

His youngest son Ronald, born at Mayurra on 30 March 1880, showed athletic prowess at St Peter's College, winning sprints and jumping events between 1893 and 1898. He contributed to three successive intercollegiate football triumphs, with St Peter's whipping Prince Alfred 6.8 to nil in 1896, 8.8 to 4.7 in 1897 and 10.15 to 2.10 in 1888.  His work as a follower earned him plaudits.

After his debut with Norwood in 1905, he moved to WA and played 55 games in four seasons with South Fremantle from 1906 to 1909. He was a good enough full back to be selected for WA's carnival team in 1908 but an injury prevented him from making the trip to Melbourne.

He pursued a career in banking in WA and died there on 10 May 1954

P Robins Aug 2018