Fry seated 3rd from left, NSW team who met the All Golds in Sydney 1907
Fry was one of the New South Wales rugby union players who matched up against the first professional New Zealand team, Albert Baskiville's 'All Golds' in three matches in Sydney in August 1907. The New South Wales rugby union side had defeated the All Blacks 14–0 in their second of two matches in 1907 and so were expected to be tough opponents. The first professional game was played on the Royal Agricultural Society Ground to a sell-out crowd of 20,000. Played under rugby union rules, the All Blacks led 6–0 at halftime and closed out the match, winning 12–8.[2] The game was deemed to be a great success, as the organisers had not expected more than 12,000 people.[2] The second game, a mid-week game, was held in front of a crowd of 3,000. The All Golds, who had made several changes, defeated the "All Blues" 19–5. They then won the third match of the series 5–3 in front of a crowd of 8,000.
Ed Fry played in all three matches and along with the other Australian rebel players was promptly blacklisted by the New South Wales Rugby Union for breaching its fundamental principle of amateurism.
In 1908 Fry was also selected in the first New South Wales side to play a national selection series against a Queensland side. The New Zealand AtoZ website reports that in the first ever interstate clash a particular Queensland tackle rendered one NSW player – Ed Fry – completely naked from the waist down although it did not stop him from scoring a try.[7]
In the 1910 season, Fry turned out for North Sydney making just one first grade appearance. In retirement he remained actively involved with the South Sydney club through till his death in 1968.[8]
