Graham Mackay is an Australian former national and state representative
rugby leagueRugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
footballer whose club career spanned nine Australian and English clubs, including
Western SuburbsThe Western Suburbs Magpies are an Australian rugby league football club based in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Formed in 1908, Wests, as they are commonly referred to, were one of the nine foundation clubs of the first New South Wales Rugby League competition in Australia...
,
PenrithThe Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football team based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith. They compete in the National Rugby League premiership, the top rugby league football competition in Australasia. For the 2012 NRL season they will be coached by Ivan...
,
Gold Coast ChargersGold Coast were a professional Rugby league football club which played in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership from 1988 to 1994, the Australian Rugby League premiership from 1995 to 1997, and the National Rugby League premiership in 1998...
and Hull F.C. in a fifteen year top grade career. His position of choice was on the wing.
Club career
Mackay was a schoolboy
rugby unionRugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
representative with the Sydney Combined High Schools side. He was graded by
Western SuburbsThe Western Suburbs Magpies are an Australian rugby league football club based in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Formed in 1908, Wests, as they are commonly referred to, were one of the nine foundation clubs of the first New South Wales Rugby League competition in Australia...
in 1987 and made his first grade debut 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. Indifferent form saw him 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
draft systemA draft is a process used in the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, Russia and the Philippines to allocate certain players to sports teams. In a draft, teams take turns selecting from a pool of eligible players...
which existed in Australian rugby league solely in the
1991 seasonThe 1991 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership season was the eighty-fourth season of professional rugby league football in Australia. This year the League experimented with a draft system for the first time....
.
Mackay was 31st draft choice when snapped up by
PenrithThe Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football team based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith. They compete in the National Rugby League premiership, the top rugby league football competition in Australasia. For the 2012 NRL season they will be coached by Ivan...
coach
Phil GouldPhil Gould is an Australian rugby league broadcaster, journalist, administrator and former player and coach. Since the 1990s he has had a prominent role in Channel 9's coverage of rugby league, as a commentator on their match-day coverage, and appears on The Sunday Footy Show and The Sunday Roast...
. His Penrith years were the highlight of his career and from there he made his state and national representative debuts. A strong runner and defender Mackay added the strength of an extra forward to the backline. He was a member of the Panthers successful
1991 premiershipThe 1991 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership season was the eighty-fourth season of professional rugby league football in Australia. This year the League experimented with a draft system for the first time....
side. Following the grand final victory he travelled with the Panthers to England for the
1991 World Club ChallengeThe 1991 World Club Challenge was contested by 1990–91 RFL Championship winners, Wigan and 1991 NSWRL season premiers, the Penrith Panthers. The match was played on a dry Wednesday the 2nd of October, 1991 at Anfield, Liverpool...
which was lost to Wigan.
Mackay quit the Panthers at the end of 1994 to link with his former coach Gould at
EastsThe Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League and is one of the oldest and most successful clubs in Australian rugby league history, having won twelve New South Wales Rugby League...
. 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 CrushersThe South Queensland Crushers were an Australian rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. In 1992 it was decided that the team would be admitted into the New South Wales Rugby League competition, along with three other teams, as part of the League's expansion plans for professional...
for that club's second season in the ARL. Following a pay dispute with the cash-strapped Crushers, he joined the neighbouring
Gold Coast ChargersGold Coast were a professional Rugby league football club which played in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership from 1988 to 1994, the Australian Rugby League premiership from 1995 to 1997, and the National Rugby League premiership in 1998...
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
Manly-Warringah Sea EaglesThe Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. They compete in the National Rugby League's Telstra Premiership, the premier rugby league competition of Australasia...
for the 1999 season.
In 2000 he journeyed to English rugby league playing with the
Leeds RhinosLeeds Rhinos is an English professional rugby league football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The club won the 2011 Super League and became the most successful club in the Super League era, beating St Helens 32-16 on 8th October 2011. Formed in 1890, Leeds competes in Europe's Super League...
in 2000 and with the eventual English Super League premiers
BradfordBradford Bulls is a professional rugby league club based in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. They play in the European Super League and are currently joint 10th in the league....
in 2001. The swansong of his long and varied first grade career was in 2002 with Hull F.C.
Representative career
Under Gould as State coach, Mackay made his representative debut for
New South WalesThe New South Wales rugby league team has represented the Australian state of New South Wales in rugby league football since the sport's beginnings there in 1907. Administered by the New South Wales Rugby League, the team competes in the annual State of Origin series against arch-rivals, the...
on the wing in game I of the
1992 Rugby League State of Origin seriesThe 1992 Rugby League State of Origin series was the eleventh annual interstate representative rugby league series between New South Wales and Queensland based on "state of origin" selection rules...
. He also played in game II of 1991, game III of 1993 and game I of 1994 regularly competing for a wing spot against
Andrew EttingshausenAndrew Ettingshausen is an Australian former rugby league footballer of the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s. He played his first grade Australian club football for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, retiring with the record of most games at a single club, with 328...
. Despite his goal-kicking ability and strong bursts down the flank, his representative form was inconsistent and he was dropped after the
Blues'The New South Wales rugby league team has represented the Australian state of New South Wales in rugby league football since the sport's beginnings there in 1907. Administered by the New South Wales Rugby League, the team competes in the annual State of Origin series against arch-rivals, the...
game I loss of 1994.
In 1992 he made his Australian national debut in a Test match against Papua New Guinea in Townsville. Mackay scored two tries in a man-of-the-match performance on debut. He was chosen in Australia's
World CupThe Rugby League World Cup is an international rugby league competition contested by members of the Rugby League International Federation . It has been held nearly once every 4 years on average since its inaugural tournament in France in 1954...
squad at year's end, he did not play in the final.
In the 2000 World Cup competition Mackay represented Scotland.
Sources
- 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
Alan J. Whiticker is an Australian non-fiction author with currently over 30 published books.Whiticker writes primarily on matters pertaining to the history of the sport of rugby league in Australia, but has also published works on subjects as diverse as the Wanda Beach Murders and an adaptation...
& Hudson, Glen (2006) The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players, Gavin Allen Publishing, Sydney
External links