He started playing senior rugby league in 1937 for the Northern Suburbs club, but with the outbreak of World War II he joined the Australian Imperial Force.

He served as a Warrant Officer for five years, before being honourably discharged after service in the Middle East and New Guinea with the 2/2 Casualty Clearing Station.

In the late 1940s he moved to Fortitude Valley's Brunswick Street, sharing a flat Roy Westaway, a former international representative playing for the Diehards.

Ron McAuliffe became secretary to the organisation and began negotiations with the Brisbane City Council to lease Lang Park.

His funeral was held on 17 August 1988 at St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church in Fortitude Valley and he was buried in Nudgee Cemetery.