League great dies at 83

Ron McGregor

League has lost one of its great statesmen with the death of Ron McGregor in Auckland yesterday.

McGregor - a former Kiwi, NZRL president and International Rugby League Federation secretary - was 83.

McGregor played five tests for the Kiwis, all on the 1947-1948 tour of Britain and France.

He made 23 appearances on that tour, scoring 10 tries.

A broken jaw forced him to miss the 1948 Kiwi trip to Australia.

In 1949 he was appointed secretary of Auckland Rugby League.

He was NZRL president from 1970 to 1986 and IRLF secretary from 1986 to 1995. In 1978 McGregor received a Queen's Jubilee Medal and five years later he was made a member of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).

He is survived by wife Hazel, son Cameron and daughter Karen.