Joel Caine (born 18 September 1978) 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 112 ...

footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s and works as a presenter for Sportsbet. Caine's position of choice was as a or on the .

Rugby League career

Caine played for the

St. George Dragons The St. George Dragons is an Australian rugby league football club from St George District in Sydney, New South Wales that played in the top level New South Wales competition and Australian Rugby League competitions from the 1921 until the ...

, the

Balmain Tigers The Balmain Tigers (also known as the Sydney Tigers from 1995–96) are a rugby league club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and one of the most successful in t ...

and the

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers are an Australian professional Rugby league, rugby league football team, based in the Inner West and South West Sydney. They have competed in the National Rugby League since being formed at the end of the 1999 NRL season as a j ...

in the

NRL The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

. In the

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 ...

he played for the

London Broncos The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club in London, England. The club competes in the RFL Championship. It was a member of Super League from its inaugural season in 1996 until the end of the 2014 season, when they were relegat ...

and the

Salford City Reds The Salford Red Devils are a professional rugby league club in Salford, Greater Manchester, England, who play in the Super League. Formed in 1873, they have won six Championships and one Challenge Cup. Their home ground since 2012 has been t ...

. Caine made his debut for

St. George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

in round 23 of the

1998 NRL season 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

against the

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby ...

Bruce Stadium Canberra Stadium (GIO Stadium for commercial reasons) is a facility primarily used for rugby league and rugby union games, located adjacent to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, the capital of Australia. It is the largest sports v ...

. Caine played in St. George's final game before they formed a joint venture with the

Illawarra Steelers The Illawarra Steelers are an Australian rugby league football club based in the city of Wollongong, New South Wales. The club competed in Australia's top-level rugby league competition from 1982 until 1998. On the 13th of December 1980, the ...

to become

St. George Illawarra The St. George Illawarra Dragons is an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League since 1999 after a joint-ve ...

. A semi-final loss to

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 o ...

Kogarah Oval Jubilee Stadium, also known as Kogarah Oval or by its sponsored name Netstrata Jubilee Stadium, is a multipurpose stadium in Carlton, New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. The stadium is mainly used for rugby league and the A-League, and is one ...

. In 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 ...

, Caine joined Balmain. He finished as the club's top point scorer in their final season as a stand-alone entity in the competition. Caine played in the club's final game in the

which was a 42–14 loss against Canberra at

. Balmain would then merge with fellow foundation club Western Suburbs to form the

as part of the

's rationalisation policy. In the inaugural

game in February 2000, Caine scored three tries and kicked four goals against 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 com ...

. The 20 points scored was a club record for over five years, and it was over two years later before another Wests Tigers players scored a treble. Caine held the

' records for most total points scored by a player and most points scored in a season (224 in 2000). All records were later surpassed by

Brett Hodgson Brett Hodgson (born 12 February 1978) is an Australian rugby league coach and former professional player during the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. A New South Wales State of Origin representative goal-kicking , he played his club football in the NRL ...

. He remains the third highest point-scorer for the club, having scored 526 points during his 4 years with

. Caine later played some country rugby league with the

Parkes Spacemen The Parkes Rugby League Football Club (nicknamed the Spacemen) is a rugby league club that plays in Group 11. The Spacemen gained media attention when they recruited a number of Fiji national rugby league team players prior to the 2008 Rugby L ...

. He was chosen to represent Western Division, but withdrew due to overseas travel.

Post Rugby League career

Caine has previously worked with radio's

2GB 2GB is a commercial radio station in Sydney, Australia owned by parent company Nine Radio, a division of Nine Entertainment Co., who also own sister station 2UE. 2GB broadcasts on 873 kHz, AM. In 2010, 2GB held 14.7% of the total rad ...

as a sideline reporter, and with television's ONE HD on '' Thursday Night Live'' (2009–10) and

Sportsbet Sportsbet, is an online gambling company owned by Flutter Entertainment, primarily targeting the Australian market. Sportsbet is licensed as a corporate bookmaker in the Northern Territory under the ''Racing and Betting Act 1993'' (NT). Sportsb ...

. In 2011, he began co-hosting

The Game Plan (NRL) ''The Game Plan'' was an Australian sports television program, that focused on the National Rugby League competition. It aired on One every Thursday night. Broadcast history The show premiered on One on 10 March 2011, airing at 8:30pm in fron ...

, which began airing on ONE HD and switched networks to Channel Ten in mid-2012. In 2014, Caine became the face of

Sportsbet.com.au Sportsbet, is an online gambling company owned by Flutter Entertainment, primarily targeting the Australian market. Sportsbet is licensed as a corporate bookmaker in the Northern Territory under the ''Racing and Betting Act 1993'' (NT). Sportsb ...

for rugby league telecasts. This also sees him have a role on the

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

with '' The Footy Show''. In 2015, he was working as a rugby league commentator with

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the Fo ...

. In 2018, Caine became the lead commentator for Channel 9's coverage of The

Intrust Super Premiership NSW 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 2019, Caine was announced as one of the lead callers for 2GB's

Continuous Call Team The ''Continuous Call Team'' is an Australian radio sports program, covering the news and live games of the National Rugby League. It is produced and broadcast by 2GB Sydney, and is relayed to stations in New South Wales, the ACT, Queensland, Vi ...

. Caine was chosen to call games mainly on a Saturday and Sunday.

Personal life

He is older brother of the

Cronulla Sharks The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Cronulla, in the Sutherland Shire, Southern Sydney, New South Wales. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugby league ...

player,

Tony Caine Tony Caine (born 15 October 1986), is an Australian former rugby league football player. He played in just 16 games in the National Rugby League in 2006, 2007 and 2009 for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks and St George Illawarra Dragons. He is th ...

References

External links

NRL statsNRL duo join BroncosCaine leaves Salford
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20090807151746/http://geocities.com/darrylbradford/2006_mov.htm Player Movements for 2006br>Yesterdays Hero
* Middleton, David (Editor); ''2008 Official Rugby League Annual''; published 2009 for the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

by News Magazines, 170-180 Bourke Rd, Alexandria NSW, 2015 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Caine, Joel 1978 births Living people Australian rugby league commentators Australian rugby league players Australian television personalities St. George Dragons players Balmain Tigers players Wests Tigers players London Broncos players Salford Red Devils players Continuous Call Team Rugby league wingers Rugby league fullbacks Place of birth missing (living people) Australian sports broadcasters