Mitch Brennan (born 30 October 1954) is a retired 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 ...

footballer and former coach. A Queensland State of Origin representative three-quarter, he played club football during the 1970s, and 1980s in Queensland for Souths and Redcliffe and in New South Wales for South Sydney, Canberra and St. George, with whom he won the 1979 premiership. After playing he became coach of

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home fixtures at the DIY Kitchen Stadium, Belle Vue (Wakefield), Belle Vue and currently compete in the Super League, the top tier o ...

from 1996 to 1997.

Club career

A stylish three-quarter with a great turn of pace, Mitch Brennan trialed with the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

side the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Argonauts compete in the East Division (CFL), East Division of t ...

in 1975 and was offered a contract before visa restrictions prevented his Canadian football career. He returned to Australia and was graded with Brisbane Souths. St. George Dragons His NSWRL career began controversially when in the 1977 pre-season, he was coaxed by his former coach Harry Bath to play for

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 R ...

in a trial match at Grafton. Brennan played under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

'Mickey Lane' because he was still in contract negotiations with Brisbane Souths. He was recognised and fined $500. He joined St George in 1978. He was a twice winner of the mid-week competition's 'golden try' award in 1978 & 1981. He was the NSWRL's equal leading try-scorer (16t) in season 1979 and played on the wing and scored a try in St George's 1979 Grand Final win over

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

.Alan Whiticker/Glen Hudson: Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players, 1995. Souths and Canberra Brennan switched to 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 ...

in 1981 and played 41 first grade matches over two seasons. He returned to Queensland in 1983 and played with 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 ...

and captaining them until 1985. In 1986 Brennan returned to the NSWRL with 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 ...

. His three seasons there up till retirement in 1988 were significantly interrupted by injury and he made only 8 first grade appearances.for Canberra.

Origin career

He made his State of Origin debut for

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 ...

in the sole game played under Origin criteria in 1981. He appeared in games I and III of 1982 at centre and full-back respectively and in game III of 1983 on the wing. He scored three tries in his four Origin appearances.

References

Sources

http://www.showroom.com.au/dragons/dragonshistory Dragons History site
https://web.archive.org/web/20070817154435/http://www.bulldogs.com.au/main.php Bulldogs Player Histories (Official Site)
https://web.archive.org/web/20070829213148/http://www.raiders.com.au/www/history/alltime/ Canberra Raiders All Time Player List (Official Site)

External links

*
Queensland Representatives at qrl.com.au
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brennan, Mitch 1954 births Living people Australian rugby league coaches Australian rugby league players Canberra Raiders players Queensland Rugby League State of Origin players Redcliffe Dolphins players Rugby league centres Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Brisbane Rugby league wingers South Sydney Rabbitohs captains South Sydney Rabbitohs players Souths Logan Magpies players St. George Dragons players Wakefield Trinity coaches Expatriate rugby league coaches 20th-century Australian sportsmen