Steve Martin (rugby league)

Steve Martin
Personal information
Full name Steven Martin
Born (1957-01-07) 7 January 1957
Wagga Wagga, New South Wales[1]
Playing information
Height 165 cm (5 ft 5 in)
Weight 70 kg (11 st 0 lb)
Position Halfback
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1975–76 Barrow
1978–81 Manly-Warringah 70 21 0 2 65
1982–84 Balmain Tigers 53 10 0 1 38
Leeds
Total 123 31 0 3 103
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1978–80 New South Wales 2 1 0 0 3
1978–80 Australia 1 0 0 0 0
Coaching information
Club
Years Team Gms W D L W%
1990–92 North Sydney Bears 69 35 2 32 51
1993–94 Featherstone Rovers
1998 South Sydney Rabbitohs 18 3 0 15 17
Total 87 38 2 47 44
Source: NRL Stats, RLP

Steve Martin (born 7 January 1957) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer of the 1970s and '80s, and coach of the 1990s. He was a representative player at both state and international levels and played in the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) competition for Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles and the Balmain Tigers. Martin primarily played in the halfback position.

Playing career

Martin was originally an Australian Rules footballer in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales but switched to rugby league with Wagga Wagga Kangaroos. He spent 1975–1976 playing for Barrow in English club football. He came to the notice of first-grade clubs in Australia when he represented Riverina in the 1976 Amco Cup competition.

Martin débuted for Manly in 1978 and was selected for New South Wales as five-eighth. In the same year he played in both the grand final and the grand final replay win over Cronulla. Martin finished his début season as the NSWRL Rookie of the Year. He was then selected to go on the 1978 Kangaroo tour, playing in eleven tour matches and one Test against France.

Martin was selected to represent New South Wales as an interchange for the inaugural State of Origin game in 1980.[2]

After several positional changes at Manly, Martin moved to Balmain in an effort to consolidate his career at halfback but a series of shoulder injuries kept him from his previous form. In 1983–1984, Martin played for Leeds in England.

Coaching career

In 1986–1987, Martin captain-coached West Tamworth to two premierships but two shoulder dislocations forced his retirement as a player. Moving to the North Sydney Bears in 1990, Martin coached the club to the 1991 preliminary-final but they lost to the Canberra Raiders.

1992 was a disappointing season for the Bears and Martin resigned at the end of the year, being succeeded by Peter Louis. An appointment as coach of Featherstone Rovers in England followed before Martin returned once more to Australia and took up the coaching position at the South Sydney Rabbitohs in 1998. His tenure at the club was brief. Martin was sacked after a disagreement over the disciplining of controversial five-eighth, Julian O'Neill, late in the season and handed the position over to Craig Coleman.[3]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ wagga.nsw.gov.au. "Steve Martin". Sporting Hall of Fame. Museum of the Riverina. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  2. ↑ "State Of Origin - Game 1, 1980". Rugby League Tables. Retrieved 2007-12-16.
  3. ↑ "Season by Season - 1998". South Sydney Rabbitohs. Retrieved 2007-12-16.

References

Preceded by
Frank Stanton
1987–1989		 Coach
North Sydney Bears
1990–1992 		Succeeded by
Peter Louis
1993–1999
Preceded by
Ken Shine
1994–1997		 Coach
South Sydney Rabbitohs
1998 		Succeeded by
Craig Coleman
1998–1999
2002
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