Craig Hancock (born 10 June 1969) is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer. A , he played club football for the

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Manly club debuted in the 1947 New South Wales Rugby Football League sea ...

and

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 on ...

. He played one game for

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

in the State of Origin.

Playing career

Manly-Warringah

Hancock made his debut for Manly in Round 3 of the 1989 season against the

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league team based in Newcastle, New South Wales that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, the Knights joined the top-tier competition in New ...

at the Knights home ground,

Marathon Stadium Newcastle International Sports Centre, currently known as McDonald Jones Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose sports stadium located in Newcastle, Australia. The ground is home to the Newcastle Knights (National Rugby League) an ...

. For the next 10 years he was a regular player for the Sea Eagles, playing at the end of their backline. He was selected to represent New South Wales as a winger for game I of the

1995 State of Origin series The 1995 State of Origin series was the 14th annual three-game series between the Queensland and New South Wales representative rugby league teams. Due to the Australian Rugby League's ongoing conflicts with Super League, they ruled that no Sup ...

Matthew Ridge Matthew John Ridge (born 27 August 1968) is a New Zealand television presenter, and a former rugby union and rugby league footballer. A fullback in both codes, Ridge played rugby union for Auckland and became an All Black, but never won an ...

, Manly's fullback since 1990, had signed with

Super league Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

in 1995 and was off to the

Auckland Warriors The Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as the Aucklan ...

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

. Manly coach

Bob Fulton Robert Fulton (1 December 1947 – 23 May 2021), also nicknamed "Bozo", was an Australian rugby league footballer, coach and later commentator. Fulton played, coached, selected for and commentated on the game with great success at the highest ...

moved Hancock to fullback for the season as a replacement for Ridge until the Round 17 match with

Parramatta Parramatta (; ) is a suburb (Australia), suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney. Parramatta is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It is co ...

Brookvale Oval Brookvale Oval, currently known as 4 Pines Park for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Brookvale, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The ground is owned by Northern Beaches Council and is primarily used by the M ...

where Hancock broke his ankle thus ending his season and causing him to miss the Sea Eagles 3rd Grand Final in succession where they were defeated by

. With Grand Final fullback Shannon Nevin moving to Balmain, Hancock was moved back to his preferred wing position in 1998 after the club signed goal-kicking fullback Luke Phillips from the

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest city in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...

. In a frustrating season, Manly's form of the previous 3 seasons dropped alarmingly and the club only scrapped into the finals in 10th place before being eliminated by Canberra in the Qualifying Finals with Hancock floating between the wing, fullback, and bench, scoring only 4 tries for the year. Following the

1998 NRL season The 1998 NRL season was the 91st season of professional rugby league football in Australia, and the inaugural season of the newly formed National Rugby League (NRL). After the 1997 season, in which the Australian Rugby League and Super League (Au ...

, Hancock, after 10 seasons, 172 games and 64 tries for Manly, signed to play for the Balmain Tigers in

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

Balmain

Hancock played 20 games for Balmain during 1999, adding a further 7 tries to his career total. Hancock played in Balmain's final game as a stand-alone entity which was against the

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugb ...

Bruce Stadium Canberra Stadium, commercially known as GIO Stadium Canberra, is a facility primarily used for rugby league and rugby union games, located adjacent to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, the capital of Australia. It is the largest sp ...

in Round 26 1999. Balmain lost the match 42–14. Following the end of the 1999 season, Balmain and Western Suburbs entered into a merger to become the

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 N ...

and Hancock, after 192 senior games for Manly and Balmain as well as state of Origin selection for NSW in 1995 and the 1996 premiership, retired from rugby league at the age of 30.

Highlights

* ''First Grade Debut:'' 1989 – Round 3, Manly vs

, 2 April * ''Representative Selection:'' 1995 – State of Origin Game 1, 15 May, at the

Sydney Football Stadium Sydney Football Stadium may refer to: * Sydney Football Stadium (1988), the original stadium which was demolished in 2019. * Sydney Football Stadium (2022) Sydney Football Stadium, currently known as Allianz Stadium for sponsorship reasons, i ...

. * ''Premierships:'' 1996 – member of the Manly premiership winning team that defeated

St. George Dragons The St. George Dragons are an Australian rugby league, rugby league football club from the St George, Sydney, St George District in Sydney, New South Wales that played in the top level New South Wales Rugby League, New South Wales competition ...

, 20–8

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hancock, Craig 1969 births Living people Australian rugby league players New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players Manly Warringah Sea Eagles players New South Wales City Origin rugby league team players Balmain Tigers players Rugby league wingers Rugby league fullbacks Place of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Australian sportsmen