Ewan McGrady (born 6 July 1964) is an Australian 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 1990s. He played for the

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilita ...

, and the

Western Suburbs Magpies The Western Suburbs Magpies (legal name: Western Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club Ltd) 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 r ...

Background

Ewan McGrady was born in Moree, New South Wales, Australia

Playing career

During the

1988 Great Britain Lions tour The 1988 Great Britain Lions tour was the Great Britain national rugby league team's 18th tour of Australasia and took place from May to July 1988. It started with a Test match against Papua New Guinea before the best-of-three series against Austr ...

McGrady played at halfback for Northern Division, scoring two tries in his team's 36–12 win over the Lions. McGrady made his first grade debut for Canterbury-Bankstown against

Eastern Suburbs Eastern Suburbs may refer to: Places *Eastern Suburbs (Mumbai), India *Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Australia **Eastern Suburbs railway line, Sydney, Australia Sports clubs ;Association football *Eastern Suburbs AFC, Auckland, New Zealand * Eastern ...

in round 6 1990 at the

Townsville Sports Reserve Townsville Sports Precinct is a multi-use stadium located in Townsville, Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Aust ...

. McGrady finished the 1990 season as the club's top try scorer. In the 1991 season McGrady was widely regarded as the best player 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 ...

, winning the

Rothmans Medal The Rothmans Medal was the premier individual award in the New South Wales Rugby League and Brisbane Rugby League competitions, and later in the Australian Rugby League, which was given to the player voted by referees as the best and fairest in ...

. McGrady was a reluctant winner of the medal as it was reported that he did not want to attend the presentation. He kept organizers and guests waiting for more than an hour before arriving at Sydney's Hilton Hotel with a police escort to accept the award. McGrady's acceptance speech was only eight seconds long with McGrady saying "I'd just like to thank Rothmans and the Canterbury-Bankstown rugby league club for a great year. Thanks a lot,". For a second consecutive season, McGrady finished as the club's top try scorer. and was also named ''

Rugby League Week ''Rugby League Week'' (frequently abbreviated to RLW) was the highest selling Australian rugby league magazine, ahead of major competitor ''Big League''. It was published weekly (on Wednesdays) during the Australian rugby league season, which ru ...

's'' player of the year. McGrady left Canterbury-Bankstown at the end of the 1993 season and joined Western Suburbs for 1994. McGrady only made 4 appearances for Western Suburbs and departed the club and never played first grade rugby league again.

References

External links

Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org
1964 births Australian rugby league players Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs players Country New South Wales Origin rugby league team players Indigenous Australian rugby league players Living people People from Moree, New South Wales Rugby league halfbacks Western Suburbs Magpies players Rugby league players from New South Wales {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1960s-stub