Gary Belcher
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| Born |
28 February 1962 Queensland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Height | 183 cm (6 ft 0 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 88 kg (13 st 12 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Fullback | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Gary Belcher (born 28 May 1962)[3] is an Australian rugby league football commentator and former player. An Australian international and Queensland State of Origin representative, he played club football in the Brisbane Rugby League premiership for the Souths Magpies[4] (winning the 1985 grand final) and in the NSWRL Premiership for the Canberra Raiders (winning the 1989 and 1990 grand finals).[5] Belcher's position of choice was fullback.
1980s
Gary Belcher in 1985 played for the Wayne Bennett coached Magpies in the 10-8 BRL grand final win over Wynnum Manly at Lang Park, alongside the centre pairing of Mal Meninga and Peter Jackson. In 1986 he and Meninga signed with the Canberra Raiders, making his début in Round 1 of the season against Manly-Warringah at Brookvale Oval. He also made his State of Origin début for Queensland in 1986, the first year the Maroons lost the series 3-0. Belcher had replaced long-serving Qld fullback Colin Scott.
He won the Raiders 1986 player of the year award and was also selected for the season ending 1986 Kangaroo tour. However, as the understudy to incumbent fullback Garry Jack, he played no test matches on the tour, though he did play in ten matches on the tour scoring 6 tries. Early in the tour Belcher often joined the Channel 10 commentary team for games in which he did not play.
In 1987, Belcher again won the Raiders' player of the year award and played in the grand final against Manly-Warringah. Belcher kicked a goal to convert a late Chris O'Sullivan try, but the Raiders were defeated 18-8 in front of 50,201 in what was the last grand final played at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Post-playing career
Belcher spent time on the Brisbane Broncos coaching staff until a major cleanout by head coach Wayne Bennett at the end of 2005 saw him removed.[6] He has been a commentator for Fox Sports coverage of NRL matches since sometime before 2007.
In 2017, he joined the Seven Network to call matches of the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.
References
- ↑ Rugby League Project
- ↑ Yesterday's Hero
- ↑ http://www.rugbyleagueproject.com/players/Gary_Belcher.html
- ↑ McCoy, John (December 2010). "Brisbane Rugby League Entertainers". Men of League Magazine, Edition 42. Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
- ↑ "ACT Sport Hall of Fame Inductees". ctsport.com.au. ACT Sport. Archived from the original on 1 May 2011. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
- ↑ Dick, Barry (2006-10-01). "Special day for Benny". The Courier-Mail. Queensland Newspapers. Retrieved 2009-12-17.