Greg Alexander
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| Full name | Gregory Alexander | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Height | 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 84 kg (13 st 3 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Halfback | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Greg Alexander (born 4 March 1965 in Penrith, New South Wales) is an Australian former rugby league footballer of the 1980s and 90s who has since become a commentator. A goal-kicking half-back, in his career he played for and captained the Penrith Panthers and the Auckland Warriors clubs and also represented his country and state on several occasions. Alexander's position for the majority of his career was at half-back, however early in his career - particularly in representative sides - he was moved to fullback.
Playing career
Alexander began his rugby career at schoolboy level where he quickly established himself as a star player for his side. Alexander attended St Dominic's College, then, while attending Patrician Brothers, Alexander played for the Australian Schoolboys team in 1983.[1] He was later signed on as a junior to his local club side the Penrith Panthers.
Penrith Panthers
Alexander made his first grade debut for the Panthers in the 1984 season as an elusive and quick thinking half-back. His talent quickly became clear and by the end of the season he took out the Rookie of the Year award. The following year Greg continued his good form throughout the season tallying up 194 points (a club record at the time) and earning himself the 1985 Dally M. player of the year award.
Greg continued playing with the Panthers for the next several years and become known for his unique ability to score and set up tries, his excellent attacking kicking and his solid defence. 1989 saw him rise to Test selection in New Zealand, but he was regarded as a disappointment after his exceptional form for Penrith earlier in the year: his pace and skill had made Penrith the second most dangerous attacking team in the competition (after Canberra) and Alexander was the leading try-scorer for much of the year - scoring ten tries in eight games at one point. He captained the Panthers in 1991 to a premiership title and was also rewarded by being called up to both his state and national side.
In June 1992 his younger brother and fellow Panthers team-mate Ben Alexander was killed in a car accident[1]. Alexander missed the majority of fixtures that year and continually fell beyond his usual playing weight and ended the season ten kilograms lighter.[2]
Auckland Warriors
At the end of the 1994 season, Alexander joined the New Zealand side the Auckland Warriors. He spent most of his first season at halfback for the Warriors, and began to recapture some of his previous form. In his second season with the club, he was awarded the captaincy after Dean Bell retired. However, he could not secure his preferred halfback position due to the rise of Stacey Jones and ended up playing most of his two years at five-eighth and fullback.
Return to the Panthers
Alexander eventually returned to Penrith in 1997 after his stint in New Zealand and stayed on till his retirement in 1999. In total, Alexander played 220 games for the Panthers and scored over one hundred tries, tallying over a thousand career points for the club. To date, he is only the second player ever to accomplish this in Australian rugby league.
Life after football
After his retirement from football in 1999, Alexander embarked on a media career in both radio and television. He currently works as a host and commentator for Foxtel's Fox Sports station. He also hosts the nightly Sports Today program with John Gibbs on Sydney radio station 2UE.
Alexander is a member of the Penrith Panthers board of directors. He also had a small coaching role for the Panthers in 2003 when they won the premiership title.
Private life
Alexander is the brother-in-law of fellow former Penrith, NSW and Australian Rugby League player, Mark Geyer and the brother-in-law of former Penrith, Perth Reds and Newcastle Second Rower, Peter Shiels.
References
- ^ "SportingPulse Homepage for Australian Secondary Schools Rugby League". SportingPulse. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
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Sources
- Australian Associated Press (January 29, 2006) "Mourning Mat's biggest battle", Sydney Morning Herald.
- Fox Sports NRL team profiles
Further reading
- Larry Writer (1991). Five star brandy: the story of Greg Alexander & the rise of the Penrith Panthers. Ironbark Press. ISBN 1875471030, 9781875471034.
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