Career
Edgar Newham played his first game of Rugby League at 19 years of age. By the time he was 24, Edgar Newham joined Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs from Cowra, New South Wales and played 9 seasons with the club between 1938-1945 and 1948. Newham played on the wing in the Final.
Four years later in 1942, Newham crossed for 5 tries in a mid-week match against the Balmain Tigers that decided the minor-premiership.
His five try record in this game was only equaled in 2002 by Nigel Vagana. The war years interrupted his Canterbury-Bankstown career.
In 1946 he returned to Captain-Coach the Cowra league team and in 1947 he played in Queensland. In 1948, Newham briefly returned to Canterbury as a 34-year-old.
He played half of the season with Canterbury before a hip injury forced him to retire as a player.
Newham joined the Royal Australian Air Force as a paratrooper and traveled to club games during the 1942 season while stationed in Newcastle before leaving for active duty overseas, as a gunner. After returning to Australia, he was again playing for Cowra in 1946 when he was again selected to play for the New South Wales rugby league team and ultimately went on to play Great Britain in the 1946 Ashes series. Newham represented New South Wales in 1941 but had to wait until after the War to represent Australia.
When he was selected for the Kangaroos at 32 years of age, he became the oldest ever player to make his Test debut.
He played two Tests for the Australian national side in 1946.
