Bill Lawry
Lawry was born in the Melbourne suburb of Thornbury. He was given the names William Morris after the early Prime Minister of Australia, William Morris Hughes. His father Alfred played amateur cricket until the age of 51. Bill never saw his father play, who was aged 47 when Bill was born. Aged nine, he played competitive cricket for the first time with the Thornbury Presbyterian Church team. He spent three years there, as well as playing for Preston Technical School. When he was twelve, he entered Melbourne's district competition playing for Northcote's fourth team, working his way up to the First XI by the age of sixteen. At the time, he was apprenticed as a plumber and attending Preston Technical College. Lawry was selected for Victoria's Second XI at the age of seventeen. He made a duck against the South Australians and did not see any further action for the Seconds for the rest of the summer of 1954–55. The following season, Lawry was recalled to the Seconds and scored 183 against South Australia.
Sonny Bill Williams
In 2004, when nineteen years old, Williams made his NRL debut for the Bulldogs against the Parramatta Eels at Telstra Stadium. In 2004 he was selected by New Zealand after only a handful of NRL games and on 23 April made his debut for the Kiwis as their youngest-ever Test player in the 2004 ANZAC Test against Australia. He had previously played for the Junior Kiwis. Williams played fifteen NRL matches during the season—establishing himself in the Bulldogs squad. He experienced premiership success in his debut season and became the youngest person to play for the Bulldogs in a grand final when playing off the bench in the Bulldogs' 16–13 victory over the Sydney Roosters in the 2004 NRL Grand Final. Williams capped a successful debut season by receiving the 2004 RLIF Awards' "International Newcomer of the Year Award" and being named in "Rugby League World" magazine's 2004 World XIII. As 2004 NRL premiers, the Bulldogs faced Super League IX champions, the Leeds Rhinos, in the 2005 World Club Challenge, which the Bulldogs lost 32–39.