page_title: Ray Morris
section_title: Funeral and Legacy
hierarchical_section_title: Ray Morris / Funeral and Legacy
caption_attribution_description: Ray Morris. Headstone at Waverley Cemetery
context_page_description: Ray Morris was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1920s and 1930s. A New South Wales representative three-quarter back, he played his club football in Sydney for Western Suburbs, then for Sydney University until his death on the 1933-34 Kangaroo tour.
context_section_description: Morris' body was returned to Sydney for burial. A very large funeral service place at Sydney Town Hall on 23 September 1933. The burial later took place at Waverley Cemetery. Four members of the University Rugby League Club -- Ross McKinnon, Tom Monaghan, Gordon Favelle and G.Sullivan acted as pall-bearers together with four members of the Western Suburbs Club. Thousands of people attended the service. Among those who attended were a famous New South Wales Rugby League administrators such as Harry Jersey Flegg (president), W.A. Billy Cann (vice president), Bill Kelly (vice president) and J J Giltinan (Founder). Every club in the New South Wales Rugby League were represented by their executives. Many notable former players attended including Dally Messenger, Denis Lutge, Alex Burdon, Charles 'Boxer' Russell, William "Webby" Neill, Cec Blinkhorn, Claud O'Donnell, Clarrie Prentice, Harry Finch, Arthur Justice, Eddie Root and Benny Wearing. Large crowds gathered outside the Town Hall, and when the cortege moved off, the traffic was blocked for some time. The route to the Waverley Cemetery was lined with crowds of people and there was a large gathering at the graveside. The outpouring of grief in Sydney was enormous and the New South Wales Rugby League sent flowers to the graveside for many decades afterward. On arrival in Sydney on 26 February 1934, many team-mates from the 1933-34 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain visited the grave to pay their last respects. The grave of Ray Morris is situated at Waverley Anglican Cemetery, Section 15, Row 24, Grave number 6636.
  The headstone reads :- "Ray Morris. Who died at Malta while on tour with Aust. Rugby League Team. (KANGAROOS) 10th August 1933. Aged 25 Years. Loved and Remembered By All." The gravesite is considered an Australian rugby league shrine.
  The "Ray Morris Medal", which is awarded by the Malta Rugby League to the Maltese player of the year has been named in Morris's honour since 2008.
caption: The Ray Morris headstone
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