Allan Fitzgibbon is an Australian former

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer and coach. He played for the

Balmain Tigers The Balmain Tigers (also known as the Sydney Tigers from 1995–96) are a rugby league club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and one of the most successful in t ...

between 1968 and 1970, and appeared in the 1969 Grand Final where the Tigers won in an upset against the

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional Australian rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen pla ...

, and for

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challeng ...

during the 1972–73 season. His son,

Craig Fitzgibbon Craig Fitzgibbon (born 16 June 1977) is an Australian professional rugby league coach and a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s and is the current head coach of Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks. A Ne ...

, became an international representative rugby league player, and will be head coach of the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks from 2022, the same role Allan held in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Following his playing career with Balmain, Fitzgibbon coached Dapto between 1971 and 1981, from which he represented Country in 1973. In 1982, he became the first coach of the

Illawarra Steelers The Illawarra Steelers are an Australian rugby league football club based in the city of Wollongong, New South Wales. The club competed in Australia's top-level rugby league competition from 1982 until 1998. On the 13th of December 1980, the ...

and guided the team through their first two seasons in the

New South Wales Rugby League premiership The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia and contributor to today's National Rugby League. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League (initially named the New Sout ...

. He would later coach the

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Cronulla, in the Sutherland Shire, Southern Sydney, New South Wales. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugby league ...

between 1988 and 1991, taking the club to its inaugural minor premiership in his first year at the helm, although consecutive post-season losses left the Sharks unable to advance beyond the semi-finals. In 1995, he took charge of the Steelers once again, becoming their caretaker coach following the mid-season sacking of

Graham Murray Graham Ernest Murray (6 January 1955 – 28 July 2013) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s, and coached in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. A New South Wales State of Origin head coach, Murray c ...

References

Living people Australian rugby league coaches Australian rugby league players Balmain Tigers players Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks coaches Hull Kingston Rovers players Illawarra Steelers coaches Place of birth missing (living people) Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Wollongong Year of birth missing (living people) {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-stub