Greg Brentnall (born 5 December 1956 in

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's la ...

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 ...

) is an Australian former

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 who played in the 1970s and 1980s. An

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

international and

representative and , he played for

Canterbury-Bankstown Canterbury-Bankstown is a customary region of Sydney, Australia, in the south-western suburbs. The area is located around the Bankstown railway line, to the west of the St George region and to the south of the Inner West region. The suburbs ...

in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership, winning the 1980 grand final with them.

Playing career

In the 1960s Brentnall played Australian rules football with the Turvey Park Bulldogs in the

Riverina Football League The Riverina Football Netball League (RFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball competition containing nine clubs based in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The league features three grades in the Australian rules footbal ...

Representing New South Wales in the

Teal Cup The AFL Under-19 Championships (for sponsorship reasons, the NAB AFL Under-19 Championships) is an annual Australian national underage representative championship in Australian rules football tournament. It is seen as one of the main pathways ...

, Brentnall caught the eye of talent scouts from the then struggling South Melbourne Football Club in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

(VFL). Instead, he switched to rugby league, taking up a contract with 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 facilit ...

in the New South Wales Rugby League competition. In 1973 he also played for

Turvey Park Turvey Park is an inner southern suburb of Wagga Wagga in southern New South Wales, Australia. Its boundaries are defined by Fernleigh Road to the south, Glenfield Road to the west, Coleman Street to the north and to the east by Willans Hill. Tu ...

in the Group 9 Country Rugby League competition. His ability to catch the high ball made him a valuable fullback for many rugby league representative teams, and he represented Australia. Brentnall played on the wing for New South Wales in the inaugural

1980 State of Origin game The 1980 State of Origin game was the first game between the Queensland Maroons and the New South Wales Blues rugby league teams to be played under "state of origin" selection rules. It was the third match of 1980's annual interstate series betwee ...

and scored the first try in Origin history. Later that year played in Canterbury-Bankstown's Grand Final-winning side. In 1982, he became Canterbury's first

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 ...

winner and also toured with that year's undefeated Kangaroos, "The Invincibles", playing all 6 tests on tour, including Australia's first ever test against

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

which was played immediately prior to the tour. In 2004, Greg was named as a reserve in the Berries to Bulldogs 70 Year Team of Champions. On 1 April 2007, he was inducted into the Bulldogs Ring of Champions.

Post-playing

Brentnall retired from playing after the 1983 NSWRL season at the age of just 26 to take up the position of RL development officer in the Riverina for thirteen years. Brentnall joined the newly formed

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm are a rugby league club based in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia that participates in the National Rugby League. The first fully professional rugby league team based in the state, the Storm entered the competition in 1998. ...

as assistant coach under former team-mate

Chris Anderson Chris Anderson may refer to: Sports * Chris Anderson (baseball) (born 1992), American baseball player * Chris Anderson (cheese roller), 22-time winner of annual cheese rolling * Chris Anderson (footballer, born 1925) (1925–1986), Scottish footb ...

. Later appointed football development manager, he continues to work there and the club have honoured him by naming the young achiever (under 18 player) trophy after him. He was also appointed chairman of the

Victorian Rugby League NRL Victoria (abbreviated as NRLVic, and formerly the Victorian Rugby League) is responsible for administering the game of rugby league in the Australian state of Victoria. Victoria is an Affiliated State of the overall Australian governing body t ...

References

External links

Bulldogs profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brentnall, Greg 1956 births Living people Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league players Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs players New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Wagga Wagga