Paul McGregor (rugby league)

Paul McGregor
Personal information
Born (1967-12-31) 31 December 1967
Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
Height 192 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Weight 96 kg (15 st 2 lb)
Position Centre

Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1991–98 Illawarra Steelers 124 44 0 0 176
1999–01 St. George Illawarra 34 13 0 0 52
Total 158 57 0 0 228
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1992–97 Country Origin 5 1 0 0 4
1992–98 New South Wales 14 4 0 0 16
1994–97 Australia 3 1 0 0 4
Coaching information

Club
Years Team Gms W D L W%
2014– St. George Illawarra 111 56 0 55 50
Source: [1][2]

Paul "Mary" McGregor (born 31 December 1967) is the head coach of the St. George Illawarra Dragons in the National Rugby League and an Australian former professional rugby league footballer. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative centre, McGregor played his club football for the Illawarra Steelers and then the merged St George Illawarra Dragons at the commencement of their joint venture in 1999. He remained with the club and was appointed interim coach following the sacking of Steve Price part-way through the 2014 NRL season.

Background

McGregor was born in Dapto, New South Wales, Australia.

Playing career

McGregor played five seasons of first grade at Dapto before being signed by the Steelers at age 23 in 1991. He made his first grade debut in round 1 against the Penrith Panthers at WIN Stadium on 17 March.

McGregor represented the NSW Blues in fourteen State of Origin games between 1992 and 1998. He added a touch of class to the Blues backline in the 1990s with his trademark step and wonderful offloads. He was a powerful runner of the football out wide and provided a great combination with his club teammate, Blues winger Rod Wishart.

Paul McGregor made his Test debut for Australia from the bench in a one-off Test against France on 6 July 1994, scoring a try in the Kangaroos record 58-0 win at the Parramatta Stadium in Sydney. At the end of the 1994 NSWRL season, he was selected to the 1994 Kangaroo tour, though his tour came to a premature end with a hamstring injury suffered in the Kangaroos 80-2 win over the Sheffield Eagles.

He was Man of the Match in Game II of the 1997 State of Origin series.

He had played 124 games with the Steelers club from 1991 to 1998, scoring 44 tries. He was a part of the Steelers 1992 Tooheys Challenge winning side that defeated the Brisbane Broncos.

McGregor was the foundation captain of the St.George-Illawarra joint venture from 1999, leading the team into the 1999 NRL Grand Final against the Melbourne Storm.[3] He spent time on the sidelines with injury that year and following a shoulder reconstruction he did not play during the entire 2000 NRL season. McGregor returned to the club in 2001 on an incentive based contract and retired at the end of the season, having played 34 games with the joint venture club.

McGregor was sidelined by a shoulder injury and so could not represent Scotland at the 2000 Rugby League World Cup[4]

In 2011, the Illawarra Rugby League's centenary year, McGregor was named at centre in the Illawarra 'team of the century'.[5]

Coaching career

McGregor joined the Dragons' coaching staff in 2002 as a strength and conditioning coach, a position he also held with the NSW Blues.[6]

In 2009, with Wayne Bennett joining the club, McGregor left and took up the head coaching job at the Western Suburbs Red Devils club in the Illawarra Rugby League competition.[7]

McGregor coached the Illawarra NSW Cup team in 2012 and 2013 before taking up the assistant position at St George Illawarra. His successor at the Illawarra Cutters was another former Illawarra player, Ian Millward.

Following the announcement of the sacking of incumbent first grade coach, Steve Price, McGregor was elevated to coach of the top tier team in May 2014, initially until the end of the 2014 season.[8] Following improved form, McGregor was announced as the full-time head coach for the next three seasons until the end of 2017.[9]

In 2015, McGregor coached the Dragons to finish in 8th position. This was the club's first finals appearance since 2011.

In 2017, many predicted the Dragons to finish in the bottom four, due to a disappointing 2016 season, where the Dragons were extremely poor in attack. In Round 1 2017, St George Illawarra beat the Penrith Panthers 42-10.[10] St George Illawarra would go on to lose in Round 2, but win the next 5 games in a row. Due to improved form, the McGregor was re-signed by the Dragons on the 8th of June 2017, until the end of 2019.[11]

References

  1. ↑ "Paul McGregor - Career Stats & Summary (Player)". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  2. ↑ "Paul 'Mary' McGregor - Summary (Coach)". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  3. ↑ Matt Logue. "Legend Q&A". Rugby League Week. Sydney, NSW: PBLMedia (5 March 2008): pgs 30–31. |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  4. ↑ French, Ray. "The Teams: Scotland". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 16 December 2000. Retrieved 26 March 2008.
  5. ↑ "Illawarra rugby league names 'team of the century'". ABC News. 21 July 2011. Retrieved 19 November 2011.
  6. ↑ Masters, Roy (15 February 2007). "Dragons put premiership before Origin". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 17 February 2007. Retrieved 26 July 2008.
  7. ↑ "Cleared Crockett still without NRL club". Sydney Morning Herald. Stuff.co.nz. 31 January 2009. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  8. ↑ Carayannis, Michael (26 May 2014). "Steve Price sacked by Dragons". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 7 October 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  9. ↑ "Dragons Appoint McGregor Full-Time". St George Illawarra Dragons. Telstra Media. 22 August 2014. Archived from the original on 24 August 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  10. ↑ "St George Illawarra Dragons defeat Penrith Panthers 42-10 in Round One boilover". The Daily Telegraph. News Corp. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  11. ↑ Bailey, Scott (7 June 2017). "St George Illawarra Dragons coach Paul McGregor signs contract extension". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 4 August 2018. Retrieved 4 August 2018.

Sources

  • Alan Whiticker & Glen Hudson (2007). The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players. Wetherill Park, New South Wales: Gary Allen Pty Ltd. ISBN 978-1-877082-93-1.
  • Matt Logue. "Legend Q&A". Rugby League Week. Sydney, NSW: PBLMedia (5 March 2008): pgs 30–31. |access-date= requires |url= (help)
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