Marcus Bai

Marcus "George" Bai (born 11 October 1972) is a Papua New Guinean former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. An international representative winger, he represented Papua New Guinea on numerous occasions including at the 1995 Rugby League World Cup. Bai played club football for English clubs the Hull FC, Leeds Rhinos and the Bradford Bulls, as well as Australian clubs the Gold Coast Chargers and Melbourne Storm. He became the first player to have won the World Club Challenge with three clubs. In 2005 he was minutes away from being the first person to win all of the major domestic competitions in both Australia and England (NRL Premiership, Super League, World Club Challenge, League Leaders Shield and Challenge Cup) however Hull F.C. struck with minutes to go in the Challenge Cup final to deny Leeds Rhinos the Challenge Cup and him a place in the history books.

Marcus Bai
Personal information
Born (1972-10-11) 11 October 1972
Ulamona, Papua New Guinea
Playing information
Height5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight14 st 5 lb (91 kg)
PositionWing
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1997 Hull F.C. 8 2 0 0 8
1997 Gold Coast Chargers 18 5 0 0 20
1998–03 Melbourne Storm 144 70 1 0 282
2004–05 Leeds Rhinos 63 45 0 0 180
2006 Bradford Bulls 26 12 0 0 48
Total 259 134 1 0 538
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1995–06 Papua New Guinea 12 2 0 0 8
1997 Rest of the World 1 0 0 0 0
Source: [1][2]

Early life

Bai was born in Ulamona, Papua New Guinea. He began playing rugby league for the Port Moresby Vipers, and represented Papua New Guinea at the 1995 Rugby League World Cup.[3]

Playing career

Hull

He began his professional career playing for Hull F.C. in England where he made eight appearances for them in 1997.[4]

Gold Coast Chargers

Bai then moved to the Gold Coast Chargers in Australia. He played the final 18 games of the 1997 ARL season, scoring five tries. That year he was selected in the 'Rest of the World' side to play a match against an Australian Rugby League test side.[5][4]

Melbourne Storm

The newly formed Melbourne Storm signed Bai for 1998, their inaugural season.[6] He was named Dally M Winger of the Year in his first year at Melbourne Storm.[7] In his second season for Melbourne he played in every game, culminating in his appearance on the wing in Melbourne's 1999 NRL Grand Final-winning side. Having won the 1999 Premiership, Melbourne Storm contested in the 2000 World Club Challenge against Super League Champions St. Helens, with Bai playing on the wing and scoring a try in the victory.[8] Bai again represented Papua New Guinea, this time at the 2000 Rugby League World Cup playing in all four of Papua New Guinea's games and scoring three tries. That year for the Melbourne Storm, Bai was hampered by injuries, including being cut on his right arm by the steel advertising boards. In all he spent six years playing for the Melbourne Storm, playing 144 first grade games and scoring a total of 70 tries.[8][4][9]

Leeds Rhinos

After displaying his ability with some impressive performances for Melbourne Storm, Bai transferred to English Super League club the Leeds Rhinos. His début for the club was against Castleford Tigers on the Boxing Day Festive Challenge during which he scored a try after coming off the bench. His full first team début came against the London Broncos on the opening day of the 2004 Super League season. He announced his arrival at the club in the best possible fashion, by scoring a hat-trick on his full début in front of the Leeds Rhinos home crowd. Marcus Bai had become an instant hit with the Leeds fans. Later that year in his first full season for Leeds, Marcus Bai scored a hat-trick in the grand final eliminator which helped Leeds on their way to booking their place at Old Trafford. He played for the Leeds Rhinos on the wing in their 2004 Super League Grand Final victory against the Bradford Bulls. As Super League IX champions, the Rhinos faced 2004 NRL season premiers, the Bulldogs in the 2005 World Club Challenge. Bai played on the wing in Leeds' 39-32 victory. Bai played for Leeds in the 2005 Challenge Cup Final on the wing and scored a try in their loss against Hull FC.[10]

In 2005, Bai was again impressive making 32 appearances and scoring 19 tries in all competitions. In all he spent two full seasons with Leeds making 63 appearances and scoring 45 tries including four hat-tricks. He is currently just one of seven players to win a Grand Final in the premier Rugby League competitions in both Super League, and National Rugby League. He played for the Leeds Rhinos on the wing in their 2005 Super League Grand Final loss against the Bradford Bulls.

Bai left the Leeds Rhinos after spending two successful years with them. He penned a contract with the Bradford Bulls for the 2006 Super League season.

Bradford Bulls

Bai scored two tries in his Bradford Bulls début in the 2006 World Club Challenge match against the Wests Tigers in which the Bradford Bulls won 30–10. Although he missed two months of the season with a knee injury,[11] Bai scored 12 tries in 26 appearances for the club, and he was awarded the club's Best Back of the Year Award at the end of the season. Bai signed a new one-year contract extension with Bradford Bulls in September 2006, but changed his mind a few months later and announced his retirement from the sport in December 2006.[12]

Statistics

NRL
Statistics are correct to the end of career[13]
† Denotes seasons in which Bai won an NRL Premiership
Season Team Matches T G GK % F/G Pts W L D W-L %
1997 Gold Coast 1850—02089147.2
1998 Melbourne 27140—056188168.5
1999† Melbourne 28120—048199067.9
2000 Melbourne 18130—05299050.0
2001 Melbourne 21110—044813038.1
2002 Melbourne 2490—036914139.6
2003 Melbourne 261111000461610061.5
Career totals 162 75 1 100 0 302 87 72 3 54.63

Super League
[14]
† Denotes seasons in which Bai won a Super League Championship
Season Team Matches T G GK % F/G Pts W L D W-L %
2004† Leeds Rhinos 29260—0104243286.2
2005 Leeds Rhinos 28160—064217075.0
2006 Bradford Bulls 2490—036158164.6
Career totals 81 51 0 — 0 204 60 18 3 74.07

Papua New Guinea
[15]
Season Team Matches T G GK % F/G Pts W L D W-L %
1995 Papua New Guinea 210—0401125.0
1996 Papua New Guinea 300—000300.0
2000 Papua New Guinea 510—0432060.0
2001 Papua New Guinea 100—000100.0
2007 Papua New Guinea 100—000100.0
Career totals 12 2 0 — 0 8 3 8 1 29.17

References
  1. Rugby League Project
  3. "Melbourne Storm - Player Profile (1999)". melbournestorm.com.au. Archived from the original on 13 September 1999. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  4. "Rugby League Project - Marcus Bai". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  5. Middleton, David (January 1998). Rugby League 1998. Sydney: Harper Sports. ISBN 0732264243.
  6. "Storm players (1998)". melbournestorm.com.au. Archived from the original on 28 January 1999. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  7. Middleton, David (October 1998). Rugby League 1999. Sydney: Harper Sports. ISBN 0732267773.
  8. Middleton, David. Rugby League 2001. Sydney: Harper Sports. ISBN 0732269261.
  9. Whiticker, Alan; Hudson, Glen (2005). Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players - Melbourne Storm. Melbourne: Bas Publishing. p. 10. ISBN 1920910549.
  10. "Hull stun Leeds in Challenge Cup". BBC News. 27 August 2005. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
  11. "Bradford's Bai out for two months". BBC Sport. 17 May 2006. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  12. "Bai announces surprise retirement". BBC Sport. 19 December 2006. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  13. Marcus Bai's NRL player profile at Rugby League Tables Archived 2013-07-31 at the Wayback Machine
  14. Marcus Bai's English League player profile at Rugby League Project
  15. Marcus Bai's International player profile at Rugby League Project
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