Craig Grauf (born 24 July 1967) is a former professional

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 who played in the 1980s and 1990s.

Playing career

Grauf, a talented halfback or five-eighth, started his first-grade career in the

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

competition in 1986 for the

Norths Devils The Northern Suburbs Devils, or North Brisbane Devils, or often simply referred to as Norths for short, are a rugby league club representing the northern suburbs of Brisbane, Australia. The team colours are sky blue, navy blue and gold. They pl ...

when coach

Greg Oliphant Greg Oliphant (born 22 June 1950) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer, a state and national representative who made one Kangaroo tour. Oliphant played in the New South Wales Rugby League for the two seasons of 1978-197 ...

decided to give the then 18-year-old a shock call-up. Not only was he promoted to the top-grade, but he also became the BRL's youngest-ever captain in the process. Grauf cemented his spot in first-grade for Norths and was instrumental in the club's much improved 1987 season which saw them reach the preliminary final. He also played for Fulham RLFC ( Heritage № 189) in England during the Australian off-season of 1987-88. He was then signed by the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite com ...

for their inaugural season, coming off the bench in the club’s maiden premiership game and producing the bomb that led to Brisbane's first-ever try (scored by Brett Le Man) in the NSWRL competition against Manly in round one at

Lang Park Lang Park, also known as Brisbane Football Stadium, by the sponsored name Suncorp Stadium, and nicknamed: 'The Cauldron', is a multi-purpose stadium in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Milton. The current facility co ...

. After playing only five first-grade games over two seasons at the Broncos, due to being stuck behind the likes of

Allan Langer Allan Jeffrey "Alfie" Langer AM (born 30 July 1966) is an Australian former multi-award-winning rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s and worked as an assistant coach for the Australian national team, the Queensland ...

and

Wally Lewis Walter James Lewis AM (born 1 December 1959) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and coached in the 1980s and 1990s. He became a commentator for television coverage of the spo ...

in his chosen positions, Grauf went back to Norths in the BRL, where he would go on to star in season 1992, before moving on to the

Souths Magpies The Souths Logan Magpies, more commonly referred to by their former names Southern Suburbs Magpies, or South Brisbane Magpies, or often simply referred to as Souths, are a rugby league football club based in the southern suburbs of Brisbane, Au ...

, where he also excelled. After an eight-year drought in first grade (NSWRL/ARL), he played for the

Gold Coast Chargers The Gold Coast Chargers were a professional rugby league club which played in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership from New South Wales Rugby League season 1988, 1988 to New South Wales Rugby League season 1994, 1994, the Australian Ru ...

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

, but only featured in seven first-grade games before retiring. His final game in first grade was in Round 22, 1996 against North Sydney at

North Sydney Oval North Sydney Oval is a multi-use sporting facility in North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, owned and operated by North Sydney Council. First used as a cricket ground in 1867, it is also used for Australian rules football, rugby league, rug ...

, where the Gold Coast lost the match 38-8.

Representative career

Grauf was selected for, and captained, the Queensland Residents side from 1992 to 1995.

References

External links

1967 births Living people Australian rugby league players Australian expatriate rugby league players in England Brisbane Broncos players Gold Coast Chargers players London Broncos players Norths Devils players Rugby league players from Brisbane Souths Logan Magpies players {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1960s-stub