Trevor Gillmeister (born 13 March 1964) 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 is employed as a rugby league analyst at Channel 7 Brisbane. During his playing days, Gillmeister played for the

Eastern Suburbs 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 Lea ...

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Greater Western Sydney suburb of Penrith, New South Wales, Penrith that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The team is based west of the cen ...

and the

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 par ...

, as well as representing

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

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 ...

. He played mostly in the second row, though he also spent time at

prop A prop, formally known as a (theatrical) property, is an object actors use on stage or screen during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

, hooker and

lock Lock(s) or Locked may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainme ...

. Gillmeister was known as The Axe to fans of the game because of his punishing tackles. "The Axe" was also the name of the column he wrote for '' The Sunday Mail'' in Brisbane. Today, Gillmeister works as the Asbestos Awareness Ambassador for the Queensland Government and works alongside Accent Benchtops. He has also been the Queensland Maroons' defensive coach since 2006.

Background

Gillmeister was born in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, Australila. Growing up, Gillmeister played football with the

Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

club in central Queensland.

Playing career

Gillmeister's first-grade debut in the

Brisbane Rugby League premiership The Brisbane Rugby League premiership was a rugby league football competition in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was first held in 1922 and for every year until 1997. The competition was reinstated in 2001, known as the FOGS premiership und ...

came in Round 5 of the 1983 season for

Northern Suburbs Northern Sydney is a large metropolitan area in Greater Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on the north shore of Sydney Harbour and Parramatta River. The region embraces suburbs in Sydney's north-east, north and inner north west. Northern Sy ...

at nineteen years of age.

Eastern Suburbs

In 1986, Gillmeister moved to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, joining the

Arthur Beetson Arthur Henry "Artie" Beetson Medal of the Order of Australia, OAM (21 January 1945 – 1 December 2011

-coached

. Early on in his career, he forged a reputation for being a tough, fearless and hard-hitting

tackler A tackler was a supervisor in a textile factory responsible for the working of a number of power looms and the weavers who operated them. The title derived from the job, which was to "tackle" any mechanical problems encountered with the looms i ...

, earning him the nickname 'The Axe'. After spending five years at the Roosters, Gillmeister signed a two-year deal with his hometown club, the

Brisbane Broncos

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

, his first year at the Broncos, he won the club's player of the year award. The following season, Gillmeister put in an impressive defensive display in the club's 28-8

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 ...

victory over the

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 ...

. In the weeks following the grand final, Gillmeister travelled with the Broncos to

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

in England, where he played in the

1992 World Club Challenge The 1992 World Club Challenge match was contested by the 1991–92 Rugby Football League season champions Wigan Warriors, Wigan and the 1992 NSWRL season's premiers, the Brisbane Broncos. The match took place on Friday night, 30 October in Engla ...

final against British champions

at their famous ground,

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

. In this game, he helped the Broncos become the first Australian club to win the

World Club Challenge The World Club Challenge is an annual rugby league competition between the winners of the Australian National Rugby League and the British Super League, for the de facto club world championship of the sport. Super League sides have won the c ...

in Britain, with a 22–8 win in front of 17,764 fans. In

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

, Gillmeister again helped the Broncos to a 14-6

win against their same opponents from the previous year's decider, the St. George Dragons. Prior to the 1993 grand final victory, the Broncos announced that they could not re-sign Gillmeister due to salary cap restrictions, prompting him to move on to the

after playing 72 games for Brisbane and scoring eight tries for a total of 32 points.

Penrith Panthers

The Penrith Panthers, coached by Phil Gould, quickly signed Gillmeister after he was not offered a contract by the Broncos. His return to Sydney, however, was a brief one, only making 22 appearances for the club and scoring one try in

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

. He was released from the second year of his contract to sign for the newly formed second Brisbane-based team, the

South Queensland Crushers

To start the

1995 ARL season The 1995 ARL premiership was the 88th season of professional rugby league football in Australia, and the first to be run by the Australian Rugby League following the hand-over of the Premiership's administration by the New South Wales Rugby Lea ...

, Gillmeister had the honour of scoring the club's first-ever try in its season-opening 24–6 loss at

Suncorp Stadium Brisbane Stadium (Lang Park), currently known as Suncorp Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Milton, Queensland, Milton, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Nicknamed The Cauldron, it is a three-tiered rect ...

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 ...

. In 1995, he became the first and only ever South Queensland Crushers player to be selected for Australia. At the end of 1996, Gillmeister decided to retire from playing rugby league. In his time as a player, Gillmeister named his most-respected opponents as NSW Origin forwards David "Cement" Gillespie (

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 ...

, Wests and Manly) and Les Davidson ( Souths and

Cronulla Cronulla is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Boasting numerous surf beaches and swimming spots, the suburb attracts both tourists and Greater Sydney residents. Cronulla is 26 kilometres south of the Sydney central ...

)

Representative career

Queensland

Gillmeister made his State of Origin debut playing in the second row for

in Game 1 of the 1987 Origin series in front of an overflow crowd of 33,411 at Brisbane's

Lang Park Brisbane Stadium (Lang Park), currently known as Suncorp Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Milton, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Nicknamed The Cauldron, it is a three-tiered rectangular sporting st ...

. He would go on to make 22 State of Origin appearances for Queensland between 1987 and 1996, captaining the Queensland team to an improbable 3–0 series victory in

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

under the coaching of his former Queensland and Eastern Suburbs teammate,

Paul Vautin Paul Vautin (born 21 July 1959), nicknamed Fatty, is a former Australian rugby commentator and former professional rugby league player, captain and coach. He has provided commentary for the Nine Network's coverage of rugby league since joining ...

. Gillmeister battled a blood disorder prior to the third and final match of the series in Melbourne and, after taking the field to lead Queensland to victory, Gillmeister was rushed back to hospital to be treated again. In 1996, he captained Queensland in the first State of Origin match of the series but Gillmeister was dropped from the team after the game and was never selected to represent Queensland again. At State of Origin level, Gillmeister defied his stature by continually hurting the Blues' forwards with stinging defence throughout his career. In particular, he is remembered for his ongoing fiery attacking and defensive clashes with New South Wales hardman

Paul Harragon Paul William Harragon OAM (born 12 October 1968), nicknamed Chief or Chief Harragon, is an Australian rugby league football identity. A former Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative forward, he played rug ...

Australia

In 1995, after nearly ten years in the New South Wales Rugby League, including two grand final victories with the Broncos, and 21 State of Origin games for Queensland, Gillmeister made his Australian debut when he was selected as a reserve forward for the first Trans-Tasman Test match against

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

at Suncorp Stadium. At 31 years of age, he became the oldest ever forward to make his international debut. Gillmeister played all three Tests against the Kiwis from the bench as the Australians, minus the Super League-aligned players, won the series 3–0. Despite good performances throughout the remainder of the 1995 season, Gillmeister missed out on a place in Australia's

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

winning team at the end of the year, leaving his three Tests against New Zealand as the only time he was selected to represent his country. In 2000, Gillmeister was awarded the

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, off ...

for his contribution to Australia's international standing in the sport of rugby league.

Coaching career

Gillmeister has worked as assistant coach for the

Queensland State of Origin team The Queensland rugby league team represents the Australian state of Queensland in rugby league football. Nicknamed the "Maroons" after the colour of their jersey, they play three times a year against arch-rivals New South Wales in the State of ...

. In 2006 it was announced that he had been signed as an assistant coach by the newly formed

Gold Coast Titans The Gold Coast Titans are a professional rugby league football club, based on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership, Australia's elite rugby league competition. Since 2008, the ...

, who were to enter the NRL competition at the start of the 2007 season. Upon his signing at the club, Gillmeister commented, "It's a thrill and honour to be part of a brand new organisation. It's also a huge challenge but something I'm looking forward to." In 2008, Gillmeister was named at second-row in an all-time greatest

Norths Devils The Northern Suburbs Devils, or North Brisbane Devils, or often simply referred to as Norths for short, are a rugby league club representing the northern suburbs of Brisbane, Australia. The team colours are sky blue, navy blue and gold. They pl ...

team.

Charity

Following the death of his father Ron from

mesothelioma Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that develops from the thin layer of tissue that covers many of the internal organs (known as the mesothelium). The area most commonly affected is the lining of the lungs and chest wall. Less commonly the lini ...

in 2009, which he contracted while working in

in the 1970s, Gillmeister became an ambassador for the Asbestos Related Disease Support Society Queensland. In 2014, Gillmeister held the "Taking an Axe to Asbestos"

fundraising Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

walk. Beginning in

Townsville The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...

on 26 September 2014, Gillmeister walked down the Queensland coast, reaching Brisbane on 27 October 2014. During the walk, Gillmeister collected donations for the organisation while raising awareness of

asbestos-related diseases Asbestos-related diseases are disorders of the lung and pleura caused by the inhalation of asbestos fibres. Asbestos-related diseases include non-malignant disorders such as asbestosis (pulmonary fibrosis due to asbestos), diffuse pleural thicke ...

References

External links

Official Coaching Profile at titans.com.auQueensland representatives at qrl.com.auOfficial Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gillmeister, Trevor 1964 births Living people Australia national rugby league team players Australian people of German descent Australian rugby league coaches Australian rugby league journalists Australian rugby league players Brisbane Broncos players Norths Devils players Penrith Panthers players Queensland Residents rugby league team coaches Queensland Rugby League State of Origin captains Queensland Rugby League State of Origin players Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from Brisbane Rugby league props Rugby league second-rows South Queensland Crushers players Sydney Roosters players 20th-century Australian sportsmen