Greg Conescu (born 24 May 1960) 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 11 ...

footballer. An Australia national and

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

State of Origin A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco Ov ...

representative , he played all of his club football in Queensland with

Norths Devils The Northern Suburbs Devils, or North Brisbane Devils, or often simply referred to as Norths for short, are a rugby league club representing the northern suburbs of Brisbane, Australia. The team colours are sky blue, navy blue and gold. They pl ...

(with whom he won the BRL premiership in 1980) Gladstone Brothers, Redcliffe and the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite c ...

Playing career

Born to Romanian parents, Conescu achieved Brisbane Rugby League premiership success with the

in 1980 and also played for Gladstone Brothers and

Redcliffe Dolphins The Redcliffe Dolphins are a semi-professional rugby league club based in Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1947, they were accepted into the Brisbane Rugby League (BRL) premiership competition in 1960, and since 1996 have played i ...

. While playing for Norths, Conescu made his debut for both the

Australian Kangaroos The Australian National Rugby League Team, the Kangaroos, have represented Australia in senior men's rugby league football competition since the establishment of the 'Northern Union game' in Australia in 1908. Administered by the Australian ...

and

. In 1987 he played for Redcliffe in the BRL grand final. In 1988, Conescu entered the New South Wales Rugby League premiership with the

, playing in the club's first ever match in

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

. He continued to represent

in the

State of Origin series The State of Origin series is an annual best-of-three rugby league series between two Australian state representative sides, the New South Wales Blues and the Queensland Maroons. Referred to as “Australian sport's greatest rivalry”, the ...

that year, and was again selected in the

side. On 20 July 1988 Conescu played for Australia in their record 62-point win over

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 ...

, 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 ...

. Despite being the incumbent Australian and Queensland hooker, he was surprisingly dropped to reserve grade by coach Wayne Bennett in favour of a young

Kerrod Walters Kerrod Walters (born 20 October 1967) is an Australian former rugby league footballer. A Queensland State of Origin and Australian international representative , he played most of his club football with the Brisbane Broncos, with whom he won the ...

Accolades

In 2000, Conescu was awarded the

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, offi ...

for his contribution to Australia's international standing in the sport of rugby league. As part of State of Origin's 25th anniversary in 2005, the

Australian Rugby League The Australian Rugby League Commission (ARL), formerly the Australian Rugby Football League known as the Australian Rugby League is an Australian rugby league football competition operator. It was founded in 1986 as the Australian Rugby Footbal ...

announced the 25 greatest players for both Queensland and New South Wales, with Conescu named for the Queenslanders. Conescu was named as a reserve in an all-time greatest

team announced in 2008.

References

Sources

External links

Greg Conescu at fogs.com.auQueensland Representatives at qrl.com.au
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conescu, Greg 1960 births Living people Australian people of Romanian descent Australian rugby league players Redcliffe Dolphins players Norths Devils players Brisbane Broncos players Australia national rugby league team players Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Queensland Rugby League State of Origin players Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from Brisbane