Alfred “Joe” Smith has been a challenge to identify. With a surname such as Smith, there is often many possibilities. With the assistance of rugby league historian, Tony McCarron, some vital information was found to enable a profile for this player to be built.
It is known that this player was recorded as A. J. Smith in 1912, so an extensive search was undertaken to identify any candidates with the name of A. J. Smith that lived in the Leichhardt/Annandale district or the Concord/Burwood/Ashfield district, circa 1913, that might have been of the right age. This included a search of NSW Birth, Deaths and Marriages, NSW Electoral Rolls and the ancestry.com.au web site.
This narrowed the possibilities and lead to the person known as Alfred James “Joe” Smith.
