Graham Olling is an Australian 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 who played in the 1970s and 1980s. An

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

international and

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 ...

interstate representative forward, he played his club football mainly in Sydney's

NSWRFL Premiership The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia and contributor to today's National Rugby League. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League (initially named the New Sout ...

for

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 ...

and Eastern Suburbs.

Playing career

A Parramatta junior, Olling won a Second Division premiership with Wentworthville in 1971 before entering the

with the Eastern Suburbs club the following year. There he played for three seasons before moving back to

. At the end of the

1976 NSWRFL season The 1976 New South Wales Rugby League premiership, New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 69th season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Twelve teams, including six of 1908's foundat ...

he was part of a forward pack which included Ray Higgs,

Geoff Gerard Geoff Gerard (born 10 July 1955) 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 ...

Ron Hilditch Ron Hilditch (born 13 August 1953) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and coach. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative forward, he played club football for the Parramatta Eels w ...

, Denis Fitzgerald and

Ray Price Noble Ray Price (January 12, 1926 – December 16, 2013) was an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His wide-ranging baritone is regarded as among the best male voices of country music, and his innovations, such as prope ...

, which lost the Eels' maiden

grand final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...

13–10 to Manly-Warringah. The following year he played in the drawn grand final with

St. George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

and its replay. In 1977 Olling made headlines when he became the first rugby league player to admit to taking

anabolic steroids Anabolic steroids, also known as anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS), are a class of drugs that are structurally related to testosterone, the main male sex hormone, and produce effects by binding to the androgen receptor (AR). Anabolic steroids ...

. It was a six-week course taken under medical supervision in the off-season and was not illegal at the time. During 1978 he was selected to play for

against

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

and then became Kangaroo No. 506 when he made his international début against the visiting New Zealand side. At the end of that season Olling was selected to go on the

1978 Kangaroo tour The 1978 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France comprised the Australia national rugby league team's fourteenth tour of Great Britain and ninth tour of France and took place from September to December 1978. Coached by Frank Stanton and capt ...

of Great Britain and France, playing in Test matches against both nations. A broken leg reduced the amount of football Olling played in 1980 and he left Sydney.

Coaching career

Olling captain-coached Temora in 1981. He later moved to Brisbane and replaced Darryl van der Velde as coach the

Redcliffe Dolphins Redcliffe Dolphins are a semi-professional rugby league club based in Redcliffe, Queensland, Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1947, they were accepted into the Brisbane Rugby League premiership (rugby league competition), Brisbane R ...

, spending the 1988 and 1989 seasons in the role. He was then replaced by Mark Murray.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olling, Graham 1948 births Living people 20th-century Australian sportsmen Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league players Australian sportspeople in doping cases Country New South Wales rugby league team players Doping cases in Australian rugby league Doping cases in rugby league New South Wales rugby league team players Parramatta Eels players Redcliffe Dolphins coaches Rugby league players from Sydney Rugby league props Sportsmen from New South Wales Sydney Roosters players