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Billy Stead, born John William Stead, (18 September 1877 – 21 July 1958) was a rugby union player born in Invercargill who played for New Zealand, the All Blacks, on their 1905–06 tour. Stead also played provincially for Southland, and later coached various teams, including Southland and the New Zealand Māori. A bootmaker by trade, he also co-authored The Complete Rugby Footballer with Dave Gallaher, and was a columnist for the Southland Times, and New Zealand Truth.
Dave Gallaher was named as the tour captain, with Stead as vice-captain. On the voyage to Britain, both players resigned as captain and vice-captain respectively. They had both been appointed by the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU), but believed that the players should have a say in the choice of captain. Although the teams' manager refused to accept the resignations, the team still took a vote; going 17 to 12 in favour of endorsing the NZRFU's selections The tour was highly successful for Stead as he established himself as one of New Zealand's greatest ever first-five-eighths.
Stead participated in 29 of the Originals' matches, and although he only scored 11 tries for the team, his ability to set up tries for other players was vital. Jimmy Hunter, who scored 44 tries on tour, said to him at the Originals' 50-year reunion, "Without you I was nothing". Stead was considered a master tactician, and him missing the teams' Wales Test was considered a major factor in their only loss.
Before the New Zealand squad left Britain, English publisher Henry Leach asked Stead and Gallaher to author a book on rugby tactics and play. They finished the task in under a fortnight and were each paid £50. Entitled The Complete Rugby Footballer, the book was 322 pages long and included chapters on tactics and play, as well as a summary of rugby's history in New Zealand including the 1905 tour. It was mainly authored by Stead, a bootmaker, with Gallaher contributing most of the diagrams. Gallaher almost certainly made some contributions to the text, including sections on Auckland club rugby, and on forward play. The book showed the All Blacks' tactics and planning to be superior to others of the time, and according to Matt Elliott is "marvellously astute"; it received universal acclaim on its publication. According to a 2011 assessment by ESPN's Graham Jenkins, it "remains one of the most influential books produced in the realms of rugby literature".
After the Originals' tour, Stead's next All Blacks' match was not until 1908 when he captained them twice against the Anglo-Welsh.
Following the 1908 season, Stead went into semi-retirement, but was persuaded to play for the New Zealand Māori. The Māori team was formed after a proposal by Ned Parata to the NZRFU, and a tour to New South Wales was organised for 1910. Stead was named vice-captain for the tour, and played in the first ever Māori match, against the Rotorua sub union on 21 May 1910. The side then played a match against Auckland, which they lost, before departing for Australia. He played in 13 of the sides matches on tour, including their 13–8 win against Queensland Reds, which was the first Māori victory over significant opposition. The tour generated a modest profit which was donated to a girls' school, and provided the foundation for the continued existence of the side.
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