Mario Fenech (nicknamed "The Maltese Falcon", “Falcon”, or "Muzza"; born 11 November 1961) is a Maltese Australian

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 ...

personality. He is a former player of the game who had a lengthy career in the New South Wales/Australian Rugby League in the 1980s and 1990s. His favoured position was as hooker, where he represented

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 State of Origin. In his later career, he became a prop-forward. A legendary figure for the

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney District Rugby League Football Club, also known as the South Sydney Rabbitohs, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Maroubra, New South Wales, Maroubra that competes in the Nat ...

, he captained the club for five seasons from 1986 to 1990.

Rugby league career

Fenech made his first grade debut in round 15 of the 1981 NSWRFL season against Western Suburbs at Redfern Oval scoring a try in a 23-17 victory. In 1985, Fenech became captain of the South Sydney club. On 5 July 1988, Fenech (playing at hooker) was given the honour of captaining a Prime Minister's XIII side (a team that included past, current or future internationals

Mal Meninga Malcolm Norman Meninga (; born 8 July 1960) is an Australian professional rugby league coach and a former professional rugby league footballer. Meninga is widely regarded as one of the finest players in the game's history. He enjoyed a long ca ...

, Greg Alexander, Mark Geyer, Gavin Miller, David Gillespie and

Glenn Lazarus Glenn Patrick Lazarus (born 11 December 1965) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer, and a former Australian Senator. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative , Lazarus won premi ...

) against the touring Great Britain Lions. The match, played in wet and muddy conditions at Seiffert Oval in

Queanbeyan Queanbeyan ( ) is a city in south-eastern New South Wales, Australia, located adjacent to the Australian Capital Territory in the Southern Tablelands region. Located on the Queanbeyan River, the city is the council seat of the Queanbeyan-Pale ...

(near

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

), saw the Don Furner-coached side defeat the tourists 24–16. In 1989, Fenech was awarded with Dally M captain of the year as South Sydney claimed the

Minor Premiership A minor premiership is the title given to the team which finishes a sporting competition first in the league standings after the regular season but prior to commencement of the finals in several Australian sports leagues. Origins The etymolo ...

. Fenech also represented New South Wales twice that year during the 1989 State of Origin series. The following year, with Souths in financial crisis, Fenech made the difficult decision to join North Sydney. South Sydney would finish the 1990 season with the

Wooden Spoon A wooden spoon is a Kitchen utensil, utensil commonly used in food preparation. In addition to its culinary uses, wooden spoons also feature in folk art and culture. History The word ''spoon'' derives from an ancient word meaning a chip of woo ...

. In Fenech's first year at North Sydney, he played 24 matches as the club reached the preliminary final but fell short of their first grand final in nearly 50 years losing to Penrith. In 1994, Fenech played 25 matches as North Sydney once again reached the preliminary final where they lost against

. In 1995, Fenech joined the newly admitted South Queensland side and played in their inaugural game against Canberra. After his retirement from the ARL, Fenech represented Malta in a rugby league sevens tournament.Catholic Weekly article

Post-rugby league career

Since retiring from football, Fenech has been involved in the entertainment industry. In 2001, his book ''What's Doing?'' was published. He was a regular contributor (and butt of jokes) on '' The Footy Show'', and has appeared on numerous other TV shows, including ''

Pizza Pizza is an Italian cuisine, Italian, specifically Neapolitan cuisine, Neapolitan, dish typically consisting of a flat base of Leavening agent, leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomato, cheese, and other ingredients, baked at a high t ...

'', and made a brief cameo in the rugby league-based film '' Footy Legends''. During his stint on ''The Footy Show'', footage was repeatedly replayed of him being unwittingly hit on the head with a football during a game between the Crushers and the

Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and ...

in 1995; this clip led to the dubious honour of any inadvertent contact being made between the ball and the head of a player (in any sport, not necessarily rugby league) being dubbed a "Falcon" in the Australian lexicon. In 2022, Fenech's wife Rebecca revealed that Fenech often resented the way he was treated on ''The Footy Show''. Fenech ran as a local candidate in the City of Randwick in the 2012 New South Wales council election.

Personal life

Fenech is an observant

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and was educated in the Catholic School system. He is married and has two children with his wife. In 2016, Fenech revealed that he was suffering from early onset

dementia Dementia is a syndrome associated with many neurodegenerative diseases, characterized by a general decline in cognitive abilities that affects a person's ability to perform activities of daily living, everyday activities. This typically invo ...

, which he believes to be the result of years of head knocks and concussions suffered during his rugby career. By 2022 he had lost most of his memory of his playing career.

References

Sources

Author Profile at penguin.com.au
*

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fenech, Mario 1961 births Living people Australian people of Maltese descent Australian rugby league players Malta national rugby league team players Maltese emigrants to Australia New South Wales City Origin rugby league team players New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players North Sydney Bears players Sportspeople from Valletta Rugby league hookers South Queensland Crushers players South Sydney Rabbitohs captains South Sydney Rabbitohs players 20th-century Australian sportsmen