Ben Alexander (rugby league): Difference between revisions

Ben Alexander
Personal information
Born	13 September 1971; Penrith, New South Wales, Australia
Died	21 June 1992 (aged 20); Colyton, New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
Position	Halfback, Hooker
Club
	Source: Yesterday's Hero

Browse history interactively

← Previous edit Next edit →

Content deleted Content added

VisualWikitext

Inline

Revision as of 10:41, 22 November 2023

Ben Alexander (13 September 1971 – 21 June 1992) was an Australian rugby league footballer for the Penrith Panthers in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership. He was the younger brother of Australian Rugby League international Greg Alexander. His position of choice was at hooker, or as a five-eighth, or halfback.

Football

Ben Alexander made his first grade debut in the 1990 season and was a non-playing reserve in the Panthers inaugural Grand Final winning team in 1991 (the Panthers were captained by his brother Greg).

Career playing statistics

Point scoring summary

Games	Tries	Goals	F/G	Points
36	7	3	1	35

Matches played

Team	Matches	Years
Penrith Panthers	36	1990 - 1992

Death

On 21 June 1992, at the age of 20, Alexander was killed in a car crash in Colyton, a suburb in Western Sydney. It was later reported that his blood alcohol level was 0.148, almost three times the legal limit of 0.05.^[1]^[2] The tragic event occurred on a night that was meant to be a celebration for the Panthers, as it was the night they had been presented with premiership blazers for their 1991 success.^[3]

Alexander's death had a profound effect on not only his family, but also the Penrith Panthers. While the Panthers form in their premiership defence was inconsistent prior to 21 June, the Panthers then failed to reach the 1992 Finals series, finishing in 9th place with an 11–11 record. For Ben's older brother, Greg, his death had a longer term effect. Greg missed most of the second half of the season, and endured (by his standards) run of the mill 1993 and 1994 seasons.

He then decided he needed time away from Sydney and joined a new club, the New Zealand-based Auckland Warriors for both 1995 and 1996, before returning to the Panthers for the inaugural Super League season in 1997. Ben and Greg's brother-in-law, Panthers international second-rower Mark Geyer (who is married to their sister), also decided he needed a change and left the Panthers after 1992 to join the Balmain Tigers in 1993.

References

^ Allison, Col (9 July 1992). "Death of innocence: The truth about Ben's crash". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 1. In an unusual step, the Westmead Coroner, Mr John Hiatt, released details yesterday of the post-mortem examination on the 20-year-old Penrith rugby league player. It showed that he had a blood alcohol reading of 0.148 - nearly three times the legal limit of 0.05 - when his Honda collided with another car and then hit a power pole in Colyton on the night of June 21.
^ Allison, Col (26 June 1992). "Penrith weeps for a kid called Bood". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 1.
^ Dodds, Troy (25 June 2017). "25 years since Panthers lost Ben". The Western Weekender. Retrieved 19 July 2020.

External links

This rugby league football biography relating to an Australian born in the 1970s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] Allison, Col (9 July 1992). "Death of innocence: The truth about Ben's crash". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 1. In an unusual step, the Westmead Coroner, Mr John Hiatt, released details yesterday of the post-mortem examination on the 20-year-old Penrith rugby league player. It showed that he had a blood alcohol reading of 0.148 - nearly three times the legal limit of 0.05 - when his Honda collided with another car and then hit a power pole in Colyton on the night of June 21.

[2] Allison, Col (26 June 1992). "Penrith weeps for a kid called Bood". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 1.

[3] Dodds, Troy (25 June 2017). "25 years since Panthers lost Ben". The Western Weekender. Retrieved 19 July 2020.

[1]

[2]

[3]

@@ Line 52: / Line 52: @@
 ==Death==
-On 21 June 1992, at the age of 20, Alexander was killed in a car crash in [[Colyton, New South Wales|Colyton]], a suburb in western Sydney. It was later reported that his blood alcohol level was 0.148, almost three times the legal limit of 0.05.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Allison |first=Col |date=9 July 1992 |title=Death of innocence: The truth about Ben's crash |page=1|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|quote=In an unusual step, the Westmead Coroner, Mr John Hiatt, released details yesterday of the post-mortem examination on the 20-year-old Penrith rugby league player. It showed that he had a blood alcohol reading of 0.148 - nearly three times the legal limit of 0.05 - when his Honda collided with another car and then hit a power pole in Colyton on the night of June 21.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Allison |first=Col |date=26 June 1992 |title=Penrith weeps for a kid called Bood |pages=1 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald}}</ref> The tragic event occurred on a night that was meant to be one of celebration for the Panthers, as it was the night they had been presented with premiership blazers for their 1991 success.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Dodds|first=Troy|title=25 years since Panthers lost Ben |date=25 June 2017|work=The Western Weekender|url=https://westernweekender.com.au/2017/06/25-years-since-panthers-lost-ben/|access-date=2020-07-19|language=en-US}}</ref>
+On 21 June 1992, at the age of 20, Alexander was killed in a car crash in [[Colyton, New South Wales|Colyton]], a suburb in Western Sydney. It was later reported that his blood alcohol level was 0.148, almost three times the legal limit of 0.05.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Allison |first=Col |date=9 July 1992 |title=Death of innocence: The truth about Ben's crash |page=1|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|quote=In an unusual step, the Westmead Coroner, Mr John Hiatt, released details yesterday of the post-mortem examination on the 20-year-old Penrith rugby league player. It showed that he had a blood alcohol reading of 0.148 - nearly three times the legal limit of 0.05 - when his Honda collided with another car and then hit a power pole in Colyton on the night of June 21.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Allison |first=Col |date=26 June 1992 |title=Penrith weeps for a kid called Bood |pages=1 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald}}</ref> The tragic event occurred on a night that was meant to be a celebration for the Panthers, as it was the night they had been presented with premiership blazers for their 1991 success.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Dodds|first=Troy|title=25 years since Panthers lost Ben |date=25 June 2017|work=The Western Weekender|url=https://westernweekender.com.au/2017/06/25-years-since-panthers-lost-ben/|access-date=2020-07-19|language=en-US}}</ref>
-Alexander's death had a profound effect on not only his family, but also the Penrith Panthers. While the Panthers form in their premiership defence was inconsistent prior to 21 June, the Panthers then failed to reach the [[1992 NSWRL season#Finals|1992 Finals series]], finishing in 9th place with an 11–11 record. For Ben's older brother, Greg, his death had a longer term effect. Greg missed most of the second half of the season, and endured (by his lofty standards) run of the mill [[1993 NSWRL season|1993]] and [[1994 NSWRL season|1994]] seasons. He then decided he needed time away from Sydney and joined a new club, the New Zealand-based [[Auckland Warriors]] for both [[1995 ARL season|1995]] and [[1996 ARL season|1996]], before returning to the Panthers for the inaugural [[1997 Super League (Australia) season|Super League season]] in 1997. Ben and Greg's brother-in-law, Panthers international second-rower [[Mark Geyer]] (who is married to their sister), also decided he needed a change and left the Panthers after 1992 to join the [[Balmain Tigers]] in 1993.
+Alexander's death had a profound effect on not only his family, but also the Penrith Panthers. While the Panthers form in their premiership defence was inconsistent prior to 21 June, the Panthers then failed to reach the [[1992 NSWRL season#Finals|1992 Finals series]], finishing in 9th place with an 11–11 record. For Ben's older brother, Greg, his death had a longer term effect. Greg missed most of the second half of the season, and endured (by his standards) run of the mill [[1993 NSWRL season|1993]] and [[1994 NSWRL season|1994]] seasons.
+He then decided he needed time away from Sydney and joined a new club, the New Zealand-based [[Auckland Warriors]] for both [[1995 ARL season|1995]] and [[1996 ARL season|1996]], before returning to the Panthers for the inaugural [[1997 Super League (Australia) season|Super League season]] in 1997. Ben and Greg's brother-in-law, Panthers international second-rower [[Mark Geyer]] (who is married to their sister), also decided he needed a change and left the Panthers after 1992 to join the [[Balmain Tigers]] in 1993.
 ==References==