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Born | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | 10 October 1953||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Position | Five-eighth | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: [1] As of 31 October 2019 |
Alan Thompson (born 10 October 1953 in Sydney, New South Wales) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and coach. He played for the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) competition from 1973 to 1984 and coached the club in 1989. He primarily played at Five-eighth.
Thompson was a local Manly district junior from Narrabeen, who could also play at Halfback or in the Centres. He was graded by the Sea Eagles in 1973 and played in the club's Reserve Grade premiership win that year (the first grade team also won their second straight premiership in 1973). Thompson went on to play five-eighth in Manly's 1976 Grand Final win over Parramatta, and their 1978 Grand Final win over Cronulla.
After Manly's 1978 premiership, Thompson was selected for the 1978 Kangaroo tour and made his test debut for Australia from the bench in the second Ashes series test against Great Britain at Bradford's Odsal Stadium. Thompson played from the bench in the Kangaroos' 18–14 loss to the Lions, but retained his place for the deciding test at Headingley where Australia won convincingly 23–6. He played another six tests in his career, with his last being the second test of the 1980 Trans-Tasman series against New Zealand at Carlaw Park in Auckland.
Thompson was selected to represent New South Wales as five-eighth on ten occasions, seven of which were State of Origin matches. He played in the inaugural 1980 game, the complete 1982 series, games I and II of the 1983 series and game I of the 1984 series, the final year of his playing career.
At the time of his retirement in 1984, Thompson held the record for the most Manly club games: 261 with 62 tries and two field goals.
Thompson moved into coaching and took the Manly reserve grade side to the Grand Final in 1987 (losing to Penrith), before winning the Reserve Grade Grand Final in 1988. In 1989, following Bob Fulton's appointment as Australian coach, Thompson was appointed as first grade coach but a turbulent and unsettled year within the club which saw 1987 premiership and long serving Australian test players Dale Shearer, Noel Cleal and team captain Paul Vautin leave the club at season's end, led to a disappointing season for Thompson with Manly failing to make the finals and he was replaced at the end of the season by former New Zealand and Wigan coach Graham Lowe. [2]
Paul Vautin nicknamed Fatty, is an Australian football commentator and formerly a professional rugby league footballer, captain and coach. He has provided commentary for the Nine Network's coverage of rugby league since joining the network in 1992 and also hosted The Footy Show from its beginnings in 1994 opposite co-host Peter Sterling, until 2017. An Australian Kangaroos test and Queensland State of Origin representative lock or second-row forward, Vautin played club football in Brisbane with Wests, before moving to Sydney in 1979 to play with Manly-Warringah, whom he would captain to the 1987 NSWRL premiership. He also played for Sydney's Eastern Suburbs, and in England for St Helens.
Steven Frederick Rogers was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. He played for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks and St. George Dragons teams in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership competition and for Widnes in the English Championship, usually in the position of centre. Rogers represented New South Wales and Australia captaining the national team once in 1981.
Gregory Stuart Pierce was an Australian rugby league player, coach and administrator. He played as a lock for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the National Rugby League competition and for Australia. He captained his country on one occasion.
Terence John Lamb, also nicknamed "Baa", is an Australian former rugby league footballer and coach. He played 350 games, with the Western Suburbs (1980–1983) and Canterbury (1984–1996).
Christopher Anderson is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s, and coached in the 1990s and 2000s. An Australian Kangaroos and New South Wales Blues representative winger, he featured in Canterbury-Bankstown's third grand final win and captained Halifax to both League and Cup success.
Robert Fulton, also nicknamed "Bozo", was an Australian international rugby league footballer, coach and later commentator. Fulton played, coached, selected for and has commentated on the game with great success at the highest levels and has been named amongst Australia's greatest rugby league players of the 20th century. As a player Fulton won three premierships with the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in the 1970s, the last as captain. He represented the Australian national side on thirty-five occasions, seven times as captain. He had a long coaching career at the first grade level, taking Manly to premiership victory in 1987 and 1996. He coached the Australian national team in thirty-nine Tests. He was a New South Wales State selector and a national selector. He was a radio commentator with 2GB at the time of his death in 2021, aged 73. In 1981, he was selected as one of the initial four post-war "Immortals" of the Australian game and, in 2008, he was named in Australia's team of the century.
Graham "Wombat" Eadie, is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. He has been named amongst Australia's finest of the 20th century. A New South Wales State of Origin and Australian international representative fullback, he played in Australia during Manly-Warringah's dominance of the NSWRFL competition during the 1970s. He won four premierships with them and his 1,917 points in first grade and 2,070 points in all grades were both records at the time of his retirement. Eadie also played in England for Halifax, winning the Challenge Cup Final of 1987 with them. He also won World Cups with Australia and collected awards such as the Rothmans Medal and Lance Todd Trophy.
Stephen John Ella is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. He was a utility back for the Parramatta Eels, New South Wales and Australia, playing in 4 Tests for Australia between 1983 and 1985. He is a cousin of the Ella brothers who were prominent in Australian rugby union in the 1980s.
David "Cement" Gillespie is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a second-row and prop forward in the 1980s and 1990s. Gillespie played for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, Western Suburbs Magpies, Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, New South Wales and for the Australian national side.
Dennis Ward was an Australian professional rugby league footballer. He was a halfback who played first grade in the NSWRFL Premiership for Canterbury-Bankstown and Manly-Warringah from 1965 to 1972, winning the 1972 Grand Final with Manly. He also played for City Firsts, New South Wales and Australia in representative football.
Johnny Mayes is an Australian former rugby league halfback who represented Australia in the 1975 World Cup. He also played in three consecutive premiership-winning teams from 1973 to 1975, the first for Manly-Warringah and the latter two for Eastern Suburbs. His feat of playing in three consecutive premiership sides for different clubs is comparable only with Glenn Lazarus in the early 1990s for Canberra and the Brisbane Broncos, who played in four premiership sides between 1989 and 1993 and with Cooper Cronk who won three premierships with the Melbourne Storm and the Sydney Roosters from 2017 to 2019.
Wally O'Connell OAM was an Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s and 1950s, and coached in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. He was a five-eighth for the Australian national team. He played in ten Tests between 1948 and 1951 as captain on one occasion. Wally's younger brother Barry also played first grade football for Easts and Manly.
Terry William "Igor" Randall is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played for the Manly-Warringah club in the New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership. He is regularly named in all-time great teams and polls. He also represented New South Wales and Australia. He began his career in 1970 as a Centre, but soon after in 1972 was switched to the forwards by coach Ron Willey, primarily playing in the second-row. His nickname was Igor.
Noel Harvey "Crusher" Cleal is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and coach. A destructive second-row for the Manly Sea Eagles, he also represented New South Wales in the State of Origin Series and the Australian national rugby league team.
Max Krilich is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. He was a hooker for the Australia national team, playing in thirteen Tests from 1978 to 1983 and as captain on ten consecutive occasions in 1982 and 1983. He was the captain of the 1982 “Invincibles” Australian touring side. Krilich received the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours for service to rugby league.
Cliff Lyons is an indigenous Australian former international rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. A Clive Churchill Medalllist and two-time Dally M Medallist, he made 309 first-grade appearances with the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles, winning grand finals with them in 1987 and 1996. Lyons also represented New South Wales and Australia, being part of the successful 1990 Kangaroo Tour of Great Britain and France.
Geoff Gerard is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. An Australia international and New South Wales State of Origin representative forward, he played his club football with Sydney clubs Parramatta, Manly Warringah and Penrith, and also spent time with English clubs Wakefield Trinity and Hull FC. From the time of his retirement in early 1989 to mid-1994 he held the record for the most career New South Wales Rugby League premiership first-grade games until overtaken by Terry Lamb. He holds the distinction of playing in the most first-grade grand finals (five) without ever winning one.
Frank Stanton, also known by the nickname of "Biscuits", is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s, and was a successful club and national representative coach in the 1970s and 1980s. He was educated at North Sydney Boys High School. Both his playing and his club coaching careers were with the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles, although he later also went on to coach the Balmain Tigers and North Sydney Bears. He enjoyed success as coach of the Australian national side from 1978 to 1984, being at the helm in the period when the Kangaroos began to consistently dominate the other rugby league playing nations. Since the death of Norm Provan on 13 October 2021, Stanton is both the oldest and earliest winning of all the living premiership winning coaches.
Steve Martin is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s, and coached in the 1990s. He was a representative player at both state and international levels and played in the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) competition for Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, and the Balmain Tigers. Martin primarily played in the halfback position.
Russel Gartner, also known by the nickname of "Frog eyes", is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. An international representative three-quarter, He played for Manly, Balmain and Easts in the NSWRFL premiership.