Graeme Norton is a New Zealand 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 11 ...

footballer and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. He became coach of the

New Zealand national rugby league team The New Zealand national rugby league team ( Māori: Tīma rīki motu Aotearoa) has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the native bird of ...

in 1997.

Initial career

After a playing career with the

Northcote Tigers The Northcote Tigers are a rugby league club based in Northcote, New Zealand. The club was founded in 1910 as the Northcote Warriors though they became known as the Northcote Ramblers shortly afterwards.John Haynes ''From All Blacks to All Gol ...

, Norton became the Tigers' head coach. He led Northcote to two Fox Memorial grand final wins and a National Club knockout championship. Norton first came to national attention while in charge of the

North Harbour Sea Eagles The North Harbour Sea Eagles were a New Zealand rugby league club that represented North Harbour in the Lion Red Cup from 1994 to 1996. For the first two seasons they were coached by Graeme Norton. There two main feeder clubs were the Northcot ...

in the

Lion Red Cup The Lion Red Cup was a New Zealand domestic rugby league competition that ran from 1994 to 1996 sponsored by brewers Lion Nathan. It was created due to the increase in public awareness of domestic rugby league due to the Auckland Warriors being a ...

. He was in charge for both the 1994 & 1995 seasons, in which they won back-to-back premierships. In both years he also won the Sam Johnson Cup for Harbour Sports' Coach of the Year. With the

New Zealand Rugby League The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in New Zealand. SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a tour of Great Britain that same year.Coffey and Wood ''T ...

joining

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

, Norton was appointed to coach the

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

nines team in the

Super League World Nines The Super League World Nines (known as the ''Gatorade Super League World Nines'' due to sponsorship), was a pre-season rugby league nines tournament between national sides. Set up in the midst of the Super League war and created in opposition to t ...

competition. The team won the competition in

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

in 1996 and again in

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

in 1997.World Nines Squads
''The Vault'' In 1997, he also coached the New Zealand side in the Super League Tri-series.Hunt for Kiwi coach likely
''nzherald.co.nz'', 22 January 1999 The team lost to both Queensland and New South Wales. After this, Norton all but retired from coaching. His contribution to the game was limited to his son's Under-16s team.

Later years

Norton returned to national prominence when he was appointed assistant coach of the

Brian McClennan Brian "Bluey" McClennan (born 16 February 1962) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer and coach. He was previously the head coach of the New Zealand national team (with whom he won the 2005 Tri-nations) and then England' ...

in 2005. The Kiwis were hugely successful, winning the 2005 Rugby League Tri-Nations tournament. In 2007, he stepped down from this position to coach the

Auckland Lions The Auckland Lions were a rugby league club that had teams in both the New Zealand Bartercard Cup and the NSWRL Premier League. They were mostly drawn from the Mt Albert Lions Rugby League club. Mt Albert had a proud tradition in Auckland and had ...

club in the

NSWRL Premier League The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserv ...

. In 2014, he again coached the Northcote Tigers in the Auckland Rugby League competition.Team Lists Round 13 - July 5
''aucklandleague.co.nz''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norton, Graeme Living people Year of birth missing (living people) New Zealand rugby league coaches New Zealand national rugby league team coaches New Zealand rugby league players Northcote Tigers coaches Auckland rugby league team coaches Northcote Tigers players