Brett Hodgson
Brett Hodgson (born 12 February 1978) is an Australian rugby league coach and former professional player during the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. A New South Wales State of Origin representative goal-kicking , he played his club football in the NRL for the Western Suburbs Magpies, the Parramatta Eels and the Wests Tigers, with whom he won the 2005 NRL premiership. He played in the Super League for the Huddersfield Giants, with whom he won the 2009 Man of Steel Award, and the Warrington Wolves, with whom he won both the Challenge Cup and the Lance Todd Trophy. Hodgson also gained representative selection for the Exiles and City NSW. Background Hodgson was born in Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia. Playing career Western Suburbs Magpies An Ingleburn RSL ( Campbelltown) junior, Hodgson was graded to the Western Suburbs Magpies. He made his first-grade début under coach Tommy Raudonikis in round 11 of the 1997 ARL season, when Wests met the South Queensland Crushers at C ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Wests Tigers
The Wests Tigers is an Australian professional rugby league football team, based in the Inner West of Sydney and South Western Sydney. The Tigers have competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) since being formed at the end of the 1999 NRL season as a joint-venture club between the Balmain Tigers and the Western Suburbs Magpies. The Wests Tigers started playing in the 2000 NRL season and they won their maiden premiership in 2005. The club also won the final edition of the World Sevens in 2004. The club has only qualified for three finals series since their inception (2005, 2010 and 2011). The Wests Tigers play home games at two grounds: Leichhardt Oval (the home ground of Balmain) and Campbelltown Stadium (the home ground of Western Suburbs). They are currently coached by Benji Marshall. The club CEO is Shane Richardson. History Background In Australia, the game of rugby league began in 1908; the New South Wales Rugby League premiership (NSWRL) had nine teams from t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Challenge Cup
The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's oldest cup competition in either rugby union, code of rugby. A concurrent Women's Challenge Cup and Wheelchair Challenge Cup have been held since 2012 and 2015 respectively. The competition is open to all eligible clubs down to British rugby league system, Tier 5. Some amateur clubs have to qualify to enter in Round One while others can apply through the RFL to enter. The final is traditionally played at Wembley Stadium. Despite having been played at other venues, Wembley is generally seen as the home of the competition. "Abide with Me", sung before the game, has become a rugby league anthem. The current holders of the Challenge Cup are Hull Kingston Rovers, winning the competition for the 2nd time, beating Warrington Wolves 8-6 in the 2025 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Ray Cashmere
Ray Cashmere (born 12 January 1980) is an Australian former rugby league footballer. He previously played for the Wests Tigers and North Queensland Cowboys in the NRL and the Salford City Reds in the Super League. Background Ray Cashmere was born in Kogarah, New South Wales, Australia. Career A Campbelltown junior at City Kangaroos, ESA, Collies and Macarthur Saints, Cashmere was just 19 when he made his début for a struggling Western Suburbs Magpies in 1999. A 56-16 loss to Canterbury Bulldogs was to be his only appearance for them. The club merged at the end of the season (joining the Balmain Tigers to become the Wests Tigers), seeing Cashmere sign at Parramatta Eels for 2000. The young prop would become the last former Magpie player to be in the NRL in 2012. Disillusioned after a bad season at Parramatta Eels in 2000, Cashmere returned to his roots, spearheading Macarthur Saints to the Wests A Grade title. After a formative period playing in France, Cashmere joined the W ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
John Skandalis
John Skandalis (born 16 June 1976) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. He played for the Western Suburbs Magpies and for the Wests Tigers in two separate spells in the National Rugby League (NRL). Skandalis also played for the Huddersfield Giants in the Super League and City Origin between 2002 and 2006. Background Skandalis was born in Sydney, New South Wales. The Skandalis family home in Lightning Ridge burnt down when John was six, causing the family to move to Ashfield, and later Minto. Skandalis' mother died when he was in his teens, leaving his father to raise Skandalis and his sisters. He was "taken in" by Josie McGuinness, the mother of Kevin and Ken McGuinness, who, he says, "treated him like son." Playing career Skandalis signed on for the Magpies in the early 1990s after playing out his junior years with the Minto Cobras, and attending Sarah Redfern High School. His first grade début came ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Wayne Pearce
Wayne John Pearce (born 29 March 1960 in Balmain, New South Wales) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and coach. A for the Balmain Tigers, he was known as Junior. Pearce represented New South Wales in the State of Origin Series as well as the Australian national rugby league team. Pearce also made an appearance the 1988 Australian television movie ''The First Kangaroos'', which depicted the 1908–09 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain. Coaching career Pearce took over as Balmain coach in 1994, and coached Balmain for six seasons before they merged with the Western Suburbs Magpies. In 2000, Pearce became the inaugural coach of the Wests Tigers but stepped down after one season. Pearce also coached New South Wales for three seasons and in 2000 led New South Wales to a clean sweep winning the series 3–0. In 2001, Pearce coached NSW in what would prove to be his last series. His last game in charge resulted in a 40–14 defeat by Queensland. Accolades In ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Balmain Tigers
The Balmain Tigers (also known as the Sydney Tigers from 1995 to 1996) are a rugby league club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain, New South Wales, Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and one of the most successful in the history of the premiership, with eleven titles. In 1999 they formed a joint venture club with the Western Suburbs Magpies club to form the Wests Tigers for competition in the National Rugby League (NRL). They no longer field any senior teams in the lower divisions. At the time of the joint venture only South Sydney Rabbitohs and the St George Dragons had won more titles than the Tigers. The club's home grounds are at present Leichhardt Oval, in Lilyfield, and T.G Milner Sportsground, in Marsfield. History Foundation club In 1908, Australia's first season of rugby league began in Sydney and the Balmain club was one of nine foundation clubs. One of the club's founders was future Premier of New South Wales Jo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Adelaide Rams
The Adelaide Rams was an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Adelaide, South Australia. The team was formed in 1995 for the planned rebel Super League competition. The Rams lasted two seasons, the first in the Super League competition in 1997 and the second in the first season of the National Rugby League (NRL) in 1998. The Rams were not a successful club, winning only 13 out of 42 games. However crowd numbers in the first season were the fifth highest of any first-grade club that year, but dwindled to sixteenth in the second season. The Adelaide club was shut down at the end of the 1998 season as a result of poor on-field performances, dwindling crowd numbers, financial losses and a reduction in the number of teams in the NRL. They remain the only team from the state of South Australia to have participated in top-level rugby league in Australia. History Background Australian rules football (later, Australian Football League FL The Australian rules ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Sydney Roosters
Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club, known as the Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won fifteen New South Wales Rugby League premiership, New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) and National Rugby League titles, and several other competitions. First founded as the Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club (ESDRLFC), it is the only club to have played in every season at the elite level. The Sydney Roosters have won 15 premierships, equal to the record of the St George Dragons. Only the South Sydney Rabbitohs have won more premierships. The club holds the record for having won more matches than any other in the league, the most minor premierships and the most World Club Challenge trophies. Currently coached by Trent Robinson and captained by James Tedesco, the Roosters play hom ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Paul Langmack
Paul Langmack (born 10 May 1965) is an Australian former rugby league coach and representative and premiership-winning player. Langmack won three premierships with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the mid-eighties. He later joined the Western Suburbs Magpies to become just the fifth player to play 100 games with two different teams. Playing career While attending Patrician Brothers' College, Fairfield, Langmack captained the Australian Schoolboys team in 1982. Langmack won three premierships as a member of the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in 1984, 1985 and 1988, and later played for and captained Western Suburbs. In 1987, he became the youngest player in history to register 100 top-grade games at the age of 22 years 26 days. Langmack was named ''Rugby League Week'' player of the year in 1992. In 1999 former teammate Phil Gould brought Langmack to the Sydney City club, he played one final season – a season that didn't reach any great heights, only appearing in three f ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Campbelltown Stadium
Campbelltown Sports Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Leumeah, a suburb in South Western Sydney, Australia, owned by Campbelltown City Council. Formerly known as Orana Park and Campbelltown Sports Ground, it is currently the home ground of the Western Suburbs Magpies, Wests Tigers and Macarthur Bulls FC. The stadium has a nominal capacity of 17,500, with a recorded highest crowd figure of 20,527 for a game between Wests Tigers and North Queensland Cowboys in the 2005 NRL season. It is located adjacent to Leumeah railway station and Wests Leagues Club. Stadium usage Rugby league In the National Rugby League, the stadium was home to the Western Suburbs Magpies club from 1987 until 1999 and was one of the home grounds for the Newtown Jets in 1983. The Magpies had merged with the Balmain Tigers for the 2000 season to form the Wests Tigers, and thus, since 2000, this ground is being used on an occasional basis by the Wests Tigers, with four of their twelve annual home g ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
South Queensland Crushers
South Queensland Crushers was an Australian rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. In 1992 it was decided that the team would be admitted into the New South Wales Rugby League competition, along with three other teams, as part of the League's expansion plans for professional rugby league in Australia. The competition was re-branded the Australian Rugby League competition in 1995, which was the Crushers' first season. The Crushers, whose whole existence was against the backdrop of the Super League war, were an unsuccessful club. They had to compete for support with the other Brisbane-based club, the Brisbane Broncos, who were already well-established. The Crushers only competed in the three seasons of the Australian Rugby League's premiership, winning the wooden spoon twice for being last in the competition. Despite the wealth of star players the Crushers managed to attract, they were financially unsustainable and competitively unsuccessful, which ultimately ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
1997 ARL Season
The 1997 Australian Rugby League season was the 90th season of professional rugby league football in Australia, and the third season run by the Australian Rugby League. While several clubs had left the League to compete in the 1997 Super League (Australia) season, 1997 Super League season, twelve ARL-loyal teams – eight from across Sydney, two from greater New South Wales and two from Queensland (Brisbane and Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast) – competed for the Optus Cup Trophy. The top seven teams then played a series of knock-out finals which culminated in a September grand final played in Sydney between the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles and the Newcastle Knights. Newcastle won its first ever premiership, staging a comeback from 8–16 behind to defeat Manly 22–16. Pre season The season is most notable for being run parallel to the rival Super League (Australia) season 1997, Super League competition. This was the only season when the two competitions actually ran, notwith ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |