Graeme O'Grady

Graeme O'Grady is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer in the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) competition. He played for the Western Suburbs Magpies, Newtown Jets and St. George Dragons and one state representative appearance. O'Grady primarily played at lock.

Graeme O'Grady
Personal information
Full nameGraeme O'Grady
Born (1953-08-14) 14 August 1953[1]
 Australia
Playing information
Height173 cm (5 ft 8 in)[1]
Weight79.5 kg (12 st 7 lb)[1]
PositionFive-eighth, Lock
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1974–79 Western Suburbs 95 21 3 3 72
1980–82 Newtown 68 13 7 0 53
1983–85 St George 61 5 0 0 20
Total 224 39 10 3 145
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1981 New South Wales 1 0 0 0 0
Source: [2]

Club career

A small player, even by the standards of his time, O'Grady was described as, "A tough, nuggetty player with a good step and effective kicking game,"[3] and, less flatteringly, as, "a refugee from a garden gnome colony."[4]

After six games with Western Suburbs in 1974, O'Grady spent the following year at Wests Illawarra before being recalled to first grade in 1976. From that point on, O'Grady was a regular in the Magpies team. In 1977, O'Grady was selected as the Amco Cup's Player of the Series after Wests defeated Easts in the Grand Final of the mid-week competition.

In round 14 of 1978, O'Grady scored two tries and a field-goal in a victory over Penrith. He had been heavily tackled earlier in the game, and was, "in considerable pain from a badly bruised neck."[5] He played lock in the semi-finals in 1978, as the Magpies went as far as the preliminary final.

In 1980, he followed his former club-captain Tommy Raudonikis to Newtown as part of, "probably the biggest buying splurge in the club's history."[6] He spent the next three seasons there under former Magpies lower-grade coach Warren Ryan. In his first season at the club, he played 7 games at fullback after Phil Sigsworth suffered a jaw injury.[7] He was a member of the Newtown side that went down by 11–20 to Parramatta in the 1981 Grand Final, scoring a try in the first half.[8]

Joining former coach Roy Masters, O'Grady finished his first-grade career with three seasons with St. George Dragons from 1983. He announced his intention to retire before the 1985 Grand Final, taking his place in the starting team after an injury to John Fifita.[4] The Dragons lost the game by a single point to the Canterbury Bulldogs.

O'Grady retired to the Gold Coast in 1985 and captain-coached a Group 18 team, Cudgen Hornets, to premierships in 1986 and 1988.[2] and remained involved with the club for decades afterwards. He played for the Northern Rivers team in the Country Championships in 1986, and then captained the same side to victory in 1987.[9] O'Grady was named at five-eighth in the Western Suburbs Team of the Seventies.[10]

Representative

O'Grady was selected as a reserve to represent New South Wales in the sole Origin game of 1981, but did not get any time on the paddock.[11]

Footnotes
  1. Gary Lester, ed. (1986). Rugby League Action '85. Sydney, New South Wales: John Fairfax Marketing. p. 57. ISBN 0-909558-29-9.
  2. Whiticker, Alan; Hudson, Glen (2005). The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players – Wests Tigers. Melbourne, Victoria: Bas Publishing. p. 190. ISBN 1-920910-61-1.
  3. Alan Whiticker. "Graeme O'Grady". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
  4. Alan Clarkson (29 September 1985). "Lap of honour would be a fitting reward". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
  5. "O'Grady sparks Wests". The Sydney Morning Herald. 26 June 1978. p. 29.
  6. Alan Clarkson (15 January 1980). "If money wins, Jets can't lose". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
  7. Akan Clarkson (13 May 1980). "O'Grady fullback for Jets". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 28.
  8. Frank Hyde (29 September 1981). "Newtown beaten by late knockout". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
  9. "Retravision Northern League Centenary Squad". Far North Coaster. 8 September 2008. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  10. "WESTERN SUBURBS MAGPIES TEAM OF THE 1970's". westsmapies.net. Archived from the original on 19 August 2010. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
  11. "State Of Origin 1981". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 22 May 2011.

References
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