Greg Smith (born January 16, 1972) is an American track and field coach who is well known for playing a single rugby league game for the Newcastle Knights in Australia's National Rugby League in 1999.

Playing career

American football

Smith attended Fort Hays State University and

Western State College of Colorado Western Colorado University (Western) is a public university in Gunnison, Colorado. It enrolls approximately 2,600 undergraduate and 400 graduate students, with 25 percent coming from out of state. Western offers more than 100 undergraduate areas ...

, where he played American football as a wide receiver. He signed with the Philadelphia Eagles as a free agent in 1996, but was later cut from the squad and did not appear in the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

Rugby league

Smith represented the at the 1997 Rugby League World Sevens. He subsequently joined the Western Suburbs Magpies and played in the Metropolitan Cup (reserve grade). Warren Ryan, who had coached the United States at the World Sevens, brought Smith to the Newcastle Knights as a pre-season trialist in 1999. During an injury crisis at the club, Smith made his one and only NRL appearance in Newcastle's 26–28 loss to Canterbury in round 3. He is remembered for his poor performance, in which he dropped the ball multiple times, missed multiple tackles, and allowed Canterbury to score two tries as Newcastle surrendered a 24–4 lead. Smith was accused of misrepresenting his time with Philadelphia in order to earn a contract with Newcastle after the media learned he had not actually played in the NFL. Smith maintains that no such claim was ever made. Smith is reputed to have vanished from rugby league circles after the match. However, he continued to play in the Metropolitan Cup after he was released by Newcastle mid-season.

Post-playing career

Smith is now a full-time track and field coach in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

at junior and elite level. He has coached

Anthony Alozie Anthony Alozie (born 18 August 1986 in Aba, Abia, Nigeria) is an Australian track and field sprinter. He was a member of the Australian 4 × 100 m relay team that equalled the Australian record when they qualified for the finals at the 2012 ...

, Taylor Doyle, and

Bendere Oboya Bendere Opamo Oboya (born 17 April 2000) is an Australian athlete. She competed in the women's 400 metres event at the 2019 World Athletics Championships. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Oboya competed in both the women's 400 meters and was a membe ...

. Smith was a running coach on the set of the 2014 film '' Unbroken''. Smith's coaching accreditation was suspended in June 2018 during an ASADA investigation. He successfully appealed the decision, arguing that he was not an athlete when he tested positive for Ligandrol.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Greg Living people 1972 births People from DeRidder, Louisiana American rugby league players African-American rugby league players Newcastle Knights players Rugby league wingers American expatriate sportspeople in Australia American track and field coaches 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople