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Graham Mackay (born 12 October 1968) is a former international and state representative
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 whose club career spanned Ten Australian and English clubs, including Western Suburbs, Penrith,
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 ...
,
Hull FC Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and wer ...
and the
Ipswich Jets The Ipswich Jets are an Australian rugby league football club based in Ipswich, Queensland. Their name comes from nearby RAAF Base Amberley, one of the largest airbases in Australia. The Jets compete in the Queensland Cup competition. Originall ...
in a sixteen-year top grade career. His position of choice was on the , though he played later in his career. Mackay competed in and won the Gladiator Individual Sports Athletes Challenge in 1995.


Playing career


1980s

Mackay was a schoolboy
rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
representative with the Sydney Combined High Schools side. He was graded by Western Suburbs in 1987 and made his first grade début in round 1 of the 1988 season. He was a regular first-grader in 1989 and a capable goal-kicker booting 19 conversions and scoring six tries in his second top-grade season.


1990s

Indifferent form saw Mackay make only eleven appearances in Wests' run-on side in 1990 and at the end of that season he was swapped by Wests in the short-lived and controversial draft system which existed in Australian rugby league solely in the
1991 season File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, 1991 Russian presidential election, elected as Russia's first President of Russia, president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated ...
. A strong runner and defender Mackay added the strength of an extra forward to the backline. He was a member of the Panthers successful 1991 premiership side. Following the grand final victory he travelled with the Panthers to England for the
1991 World Club Challenge The 1991 World Club Challenge (marketed as the Foster's World Club Challenge due to sponsorship from the brewer) was contested by 1990–91 RFL Championship winners, Wigan and 1991 NSWRL season premiers, the Penrith Panthers. The match was play ...
which was lost to Wigan. Mackay was 31st draft choice when snapped up by Penrith coach Phil Gould. Under Gould as State coach, Mackay made his representative début for
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
on the wing in game I of the
1992 State of Origin series The 1992 State of Origin series saw the 11th time that the annual three-game series between the New South Wales and Queensland representative rugby league football teams was contested entirely under "state of origin" selection rules. It was the ...
. He also played in game II of 1992. In 1992 he made his Australian national début in a Test match against Papua New Guinea in Townsville. Mackay scored two tries in a man-of-the-match performance on début. He was chosen in Australia's
World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
squad at year's end, he did not play in the final. Mackay regularly competed for a New South Wales wing spot against
Andrew Ettingshausen Andrew "ET" Ettingshausen (born 29 October 1965) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s. He played his first grade Australian club football for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks ...
, gaining selection in State of Origin game III of 1993 and game I of 1994 (NSW selectors though always had the luxury of playing ET at either fullback, wing or centre). Despite his goal-kicking ability and strong bursts down the flank, his representative form was inconsistent and he was dropped after the Blues' game I loss of 1994. Mackay quit the Panthers at the end of 1994 to link with his former coach Gould at Easts. He spent the 1995 season there and returned to good goal-kicking form booting 20 goals in just 13 games. In 1996 he joined the
South Queensland Crushers The South Queensland Crushers were an Australian rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. In 1992 it was decided that the team would be admitted into the New South Wales Rugby League competition, along with three other teams, a ...
for that club's second season in the ARL. Following a pay dispute with the cash-strapped Crushers, he joined the neighbouring
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 ...
, and captained the Chargers during the final two years of the club's existence. Following the demise of the Gold Coast, Mackay signed with his sixth club, the
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...
for the
1999 NRL season The 1999 NRL season was the 92nd season of professional rugby league football in Australia, and the second to be run by the National Rugby League. With the exclusion of the Adelaide Rams and Gold Coast Chargers, and the joint venture of the St. Ge ...
.


2000s

In 2000 he transferred to
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 ...
club,
Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
. In the 2000 Rugby League World Cup tournament Mackay represented
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
. Mackay switched to
Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is predom ...
in 2001. He played for them at centre, scoring a
try Try or TRY may refer to: Music Albums * ''Try!'', an album by the John Mayer Trio * ''Try'' (Bebo Norman album) (2014) Songs * "Try" (Blue Rodeo song) (1987) * "Try" (Colbie Caillat song) (2014) * "Try" (Nelly Furtado song) (2004) * " Try (Ju ...
, and kicking a goal in their
2001 Super League Grand Final The 2001 Super League Grand Final was the Fourth official Grand Final and the conclusive and championship-deciding match of Super League VI. The match was held on Saturday 13 October 2001 at Old Trafford, Manchester, and was contested by Bradf ...
victory against
Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...
. The swansong of his long and varied first grade career was in 2002 with
Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and were ...
In 2003 he joined the
Ipswich Jets The Ipswich Jets are an Australian rugby league football club based in Ipswich, Queensland. Their name comes from nearby RAAF Base Amberley, one of the largest airbases in Australia. The Jets compete in the Queensland Cup competition. Originall ...
under coach
Trevor Gillmeister Trevor Gillmeister (born 13 March 1964) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who is employed as a rugby league analyst at Channel 7 Brisbane. During his playing days, Gillmeister played for the Eastern Suburbs Roosters, ...
. Mackay started coaching the Ormeau Shearers on the Gold Coast in 2012.


References


External links

* Andrews, Malcolm (2006) ''The ABC of Rugby League'' Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney * ''Big League's 25 Years of Origin Collectors' Edition'', News Magazines, Surry Hills, Sydney * Whiticker, Alan & Hudson, Glen (2006) ''The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players'', Gavin Allen Publishing, Sydney {{DEFAULTSORT:Mackay, Graham 1968 births Living people Australia national rugby league team players Australian people of Scottish descent Australian rugby league players Bradford Bulls players Gold Coast Chargers players Hull F.C. players Leeds Rhinos players Manly Warringah Sea Eagles players New South Wales City Origin rugby league team players New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players Penrith Panthers players Rugby league wingers Scotland national rugby league team players South Queensland Crushers players Sydney Roosters players Western Suburbs Magpies players