Geoffrey Lazarus "Geoff" Selby (11 April 1965 – 13 February 1989) was an 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 players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who played in the 1980s.

Career

Geoff Selby was of Jewish descent. He was a promising junior player at James Cook High School at

Kogarah, New South Wales Kogarah () is a suburb of Southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Kogarah is located 14 kilometres (9 miles) south-west of the Sydney central business district and is considered to be the centre of the St George area. L ...

, and on the recommendation of his teacher, Brian Smith, he joined 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 ...

for two seasons in 1984–1985. Selby was also a member of the 1983 Australian Schoolboys team. Selby then moved to the St. George Dragons. A promising lock forward, Selby was held in such high esteem, he came under the personal guidance of the legendary Johnny Raper. With a promising career in front of him, the community was deeply saddened by Selby's premature death just before the start of the

1989 NSWRL season The 1989 NSWRL season was the 82nd season of professional rugby league football in Australia. Sixteen clubs competed for the New South Wales Rugby League's J.J. Giltinan Shield and Winfield Cup Premiership during the season, which culminated i ...

Death

Geoff Selby was killed in a car accident on 13 February 1989 when a car he was traveling in hit a tree on Burraneer Bay Road, Cronulla at 2.30am. Selby was not the driver. Two other St. George Dragons players,

Peter Gentle Peter Gentle (born ) is an Australian rugby league coach and former footballer who played in the 1980s. Gentle is currently the Assistant Coach at the St. George Illawarra Dragons. Club career A halfback and St. George junior, Gentle played t ...

and Shaun O'Bryan were also injured in the same accident. He was cremated at Northern Suburbs Crematorium on 16 February 1989, and his wake was held at St. George Leagues Club.

Accolades

Geoff Selby was a reserve for the St. George Dragons side that won the

1988 Panasonic Cup The 1988 Panasonic Cup was the 15th edition of the NSWRL Midweek Cup, a NSWRL-organised national club Rugby League tournament between the leading clubs and representative teams from the NSWRL, the BRL, the CRL and Papua New Guinea. A total of ...

.Alan Whiticker/Glen Hudson: Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players. () The

St. George Illawarra Dragons The St. George Illawarra Dragons is an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League since 1999 after a joint-ve ...

annually present the "Geoff Selby Memorial Coach's Award" to recognise the player who is the most valuable during the season.

References

1965 births 1989 deaths Australian people of Jewish descent St. George Dragons players Illawarra Steelers players Australian rugby league players Salford Red Devils players Road incident deaths in New South Wales Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Sydney {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1960s-stub