Geoff Toovey
Geoff Toovey was an Australian rugby league player. He was a Half Back then later a Hooker for the Australia national team. He played in 13 Tests between 1991 and 1998 as captain on 1 occasion in 1996.
Born in Sydney on 17 June 1969 , he was graded by the Manly Sea Eagles in 1988. At 168cm Toovey was small for a rugby league player but over the next 13 years in the top grade he demonstrated tremendous courage in spite of stature primarily through his courageous leadership, low tackling and clever attack.
Club Career
He debuted in May 1988 as a replacement for Cliff Lyons then was picked a few weeks later for Manly's 30-0 upset against a touring Great Britain side. Lyons at five-eighth and Toovey at halfback formed a long standing and strong partnership enabling Manly to be consistent finals contenders all through the 1990s.
He took over as Manly captain from Michael O'Connor in 1993 and led the side to three Grand Final appearances from 1995 to 1997. He won one premiership against St George in 1996 playing the match with a fractured eye socket and was honoured on the day as winner of the Clive Churchill Medal.
At the end of 1999 series with those clubs who were financially struggling needing to make changes to stay part of the new post-Super League amalgamated competition, Toovey was chosen as foundation captain of the Northern Eagles merger between Manly and the North Sydney Bears. He played in every match of the Northern Eagles first two seasons.
Representative Career
He debuted for the New South Wales Blues in 1990 and gained selection at years end for a tour of Papua New Guinea playing in all tour and Test matches.
During the 1995 season at the commencement of the Super League war, Toovey again played State of Origin and in 4 of Australia's 5 matches in their successful World Cup campaign in England.
In the 1996 State of Origin series Toovey and Andrew Johns experimented with the now commonplace hooker/half back positional & role interchange and Toovey showed himself to be a world class dummy half runner as he had ever been a exceptional grass-cutting defender.
In 1997 Toovey captained New South Wales to a State of Origin series victory and played a Test match against a Rest of the World side.
In 2000 he was hooker in NSW's clean sweep against Queensland.
Captaincy
At the height of the Super League war Toovey was honoured as Australian Test captain for the 1996 one-Test against the Papua New Guinea Palais (the ARL loyalist side).
Post Playing
Toovey retired at the end of 2001. He is an accountant by profession and stood for a position on the board of the NRMA. He joined the Manly coaching staff when Des Hasler took over as coach in 2004. During the 2005 and 2006 seasons he has been criticised as an on-field trainer for spending too much match time on ground often barking orders and directing formation of the Manly defensive and attacking lines.
Matches played
| Team | Matches | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Manly | 230 | 1988-99 |
| Northern Eagles | 48 | 2000-01 |
| New South Wales | 14 | 1991-2000 |
| Australia (Tests) | 13 | 1991-1998 |
Sources
- Whiticker, Alan (2004) Captaining the Kangaroos, New Holland, Sydney