Graham Mackay
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Born | Australia | 12 October 1968|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 190 cm (6 ft 3 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 100 kg (15 st 10 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Position | Wing, Centre | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Graham Mackay (born 12 October 1968) is a former international and state representative rugby league footballer whose club career spanned Ten Australian and English clubs, including Western Suburbs, Penrith, Gold Coast Chargers, Hull FC and the Ipswich Jets in a sixteen-year top grade career. His position of choice was on the wing, though he played centre later in his career.
Mackay competed in and won the Gladiator Individual Sports Athletes Challenge in 1995.
Playing career
1980s
Mackay was a schoolboy rugby union representative with the Sydney Combined High Schools side. He was graded by Western Suburbs in 1987 and made his first grade début in round 1 of the 1988 season. He was a regular first-grader in 1989 and a capable goal-kicker booting 19 conversions and scoring six tries in his second top-grade season.
1990s
Indifferent form saw Mackay make only eleven appearances in Wests' run-on side in 1990 and at the end of that season he was swapped by Wests in the short-lived and controversial
Mackay regularly competed for a New South Wales wing spot against Andrew Ettingshausen, gaining selection in State of Origin game III of 1993 and game I of 1994 (NSW selectors though always had the luxury of playing ET at either fullback, wing or centre).
Despite his goal-kicking ability and strong bursts down the flank, his representative form was inconsistent and he was dropped after the
Mackay quit the Panthers at the end of 1994 to link with his former coach Gould at Easts. He spent the 1995 season there and returned to good goal-kicking form booting 20 goals in just 13 games.
In 1996 he joined the South Queensland Crushers for that club's second season in the ARL. Following a pay dispute with the cash-strapped Crushers, he joined the neighbouring Gold Coast Chargers, and captained the Chargers during the final two years of the club's existence. Following the demise of the Gold Coast, Mackay signed with his sixth club, the
2000s
In 2000 he transferred to Super League club, Leeds. In the 2000 Rugby League World Cup tournament Mackay represented Scotland.
Graham represented his heritage in representing
Mackay switched to Bradford Bulls in 2001. He played for them at centre, scoring a try, and kicking a goal in their 2001 Super League Grand Final victory against Wigan.
The swansong of his long and varied first grade career was in 2002 with Hull F.C. In 2003 he joined the Ipswich Jets under coach Trevor Gillmeister. Mackay started coaching the Ormeau Shearers on the Gold Coast in 2012.
References
External links
- Andrews, Malcolm (2006) The ABC of Rugby League Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney
- Big League's 25 Years of Origin Collectors' Edition, News Magazines, Surry Hills, Sydney
- Whiticker, Alan & Hudson, Glen (2006) The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players, Gavin Allen Publishing, Sydney