Mario Fenech (nicknamed "The Maltese Falcon", “Falcon”, or "Muzza"; born 11 November 1961) is a
Maltese Australian
Maltese Australians are Australian citizens who are fully or partially of Maltese descent or Malta-born people who reside in Australia. While most of them emigrated to Australia from Malta, a number emigrated from the United Kingdom where the ...
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 ...
personality. He is a former player of the game who had a lengthy career in the
New South Wales/Australian Rugby League in the 1980s and 1990s. His favoured position was as hooker, where he represented
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 ...
in
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 Oval ...
. In his later career, he became a prop-forward. A legendary figure for the
South Sydney Rabbitohs
The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional Australian 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 pla ...
, he captained the club for five seasons from 1986 to 1990.
Background
Fenech was living in the Botany region of Sydney at the time of his childhood. His family believed he had the potential to become a great footballer and that his junior team, the
Botany Rams
The Botany Rams has been operating for over 75 years under the names of Botany United and Botany RSL, before becoming Botany Juniors (Rams). Henry Morris, was President of Botany prior to his appointment as President of Souths Juniors. Their fir ...
, would not allow him to fulfill these aspirations, so then transferred him to the
Mascot Juniors
The Mascot Juniors was founded in 1910 Mascot JRLFC are an Australian semi-professional rugby league football team based in Mascot, New South Wales, a suburb of south-eastern Sydney. They are widely acknowledged as the oldest Junior League Club ...
club, as many champion South Sydney players of that era were Mascot Juniors.
Rugby league career
Fenech's playing career spanned from 1981 to 1995. He played for the
South Sydney Rabbitohs
The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional Australian 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 pla ...
from 1981 to 1990 and had a lengthy rivalry with his opposite number from 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 ...
,
Ben Elias
Ben Elias (Arabic: بن الياس; born 15 November 1963 in Tripoli, Lebanon),is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. He played primarily as a for Balmain in the New South Wales Rugby League premi ...
. Fenech was a strong runner from
dummy half and, given his style and size, almost always attracted a number of defenders intent on halting his progress. He was also renowned for his short temper on the field in the first half of his career and was regularly sin-binned, sent off or suspended for disciplinary breaches, acts of aggression or foul play.
From 1986 to 1990, he captained South Sydney. In 1991, after failing to secure an adequate contract with South Sydney (who were in financial trouble at the time and could only afford to offer him a reduced salary), he moved to the
North Sydney Bears
The North Sydney Bears is an Australian rugby league football club based in North Sydney, New South Wales. The club competes in the New South Wales Cup, having exited the National Rugby League following the 1999 NRL season after 90 years in the ...
and played for them until 1994. Fenech played in two preliminary final defeats for Norths in 1991 and 1994, with the club being defeated on both occasions by 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 ...
. These losses, in addition to the two preliminary finals matches South Sydney lost as minor-premiers in 1989, meant that Fenech went through his entire career without playing in a grand final.
His departure from Souths caused significant controversy within the Rabbitohs’ organisation with many ordinary members of the club extremely disappointed with the decision to release a club legend. For his part, Fenech later spoke of how he never wanted to leave the Rabbitohs, but that even at age 28 he felt he still had more to offer as a player and therefore signed with Norths.
In 1995, he moved to Brisbane and ended his career in the inaugural season of new expansion club, 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 ...
, during which injury and poor form restricted him to just 11 games. After his retirement from the ARL, Fenech represented Malta in a
rugby league sevens
Rugby league sevens (or simply sevens) is a seven-a-side derivative of rugby league football, which is usually a thirteen-a-side sport. The game is substantially the same as full rugby league, with some rule changes and shorter games. Sevens is u ...
tournament.
On 5 July 1988, Fenech (playing at hooker) was given the honour of captaining a
Prime Minister's XIII
Prime Minister's XIII, or sometimes informally referred to as the PM's XIII, is the name of a representative rugby league team, comprising Australian players from National Rugby League clubs that did not qualify for the NRL Finals, or whose tea ...
side (a team that included past, current or future internationals
Mal Meninga
Malcolm Norman Meninga (; born 8 July 1960) is an Australian professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of the Australian national team and a former professional rugby league footballer. Meninga is widely regarded as one of the fin ...
,
Greg Alexander
Gregory Peter Stephen Alexander (born 4 March 1965), also known by the nickname of "Brandy" is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s, who has since become a radio, television commentator an ...
,
Mark Geyer
Mark Bradley Geyer (born 7 December 1967) is an Australian radio host and former
professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative se ...
,
Gavin Miller
Gavin John Miller (born 4 January 1960) is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1970's and '80s. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative forward, he played the majority of his cl ...
,
David Gillespie
David "Cement" Gillespie (born 22 March 1964) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a and forward in the 1980s and 1990s. Gillespie played for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, Western Suburbs Magpies, ...
and
Glenn Lazarus
Glenn Patrick Lazarus (born 11 December 1965) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer, and a former Australian Senator. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative , Lazarus won premier ...
) against the
touring Great Britain Lions
The Great Britain national rugby league team represents Great Britain in rugby league. Administered by the Rugby Football League (RFL), the team is nicknamed The Lions.
For most of the 20th century, the Great Britain team toured overseas, ...
. The match, played in wet and muddy conditions at
Seiffert Oval
Seiffert Oval is an enclosed rectangular playing field in Queanbeyan, New South Wales. It has a grass playing surface and an official capacity of 15,000, 1,500 of which is seated capacity in the grandstand. The oval boasts lighting, toilets, k ...
in
Queanbeyan
Queanbeyan ( ) is a city in the south-eastern region of New South Wales, Australia, located adjacent to the Australian Capital Territory in the Southern Tablelands region. Located on the Queanbeyan River, the city is the council seat of the ...
(near
Canberra
Canberra ( )
is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...
), saw the
Don Furner
Don Furner (26 December 1932 – 24 February 2020) was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach. As a player, he represented Queensland on nine occasions and also toured with the 1956–57 Kangaroos.
He began his coaching career as a pl ...
-coached side defeat the tourists 24–16.
This would be as close as Fenech would go to playing for Australia, although his nickname of “Test Match” stemmed from his habit of competing with such intensity each time he took the field for his club that it was said he treated every game like a Test match. Fenech did start for New South Wales at hooker in the first two games of the 1989 State of Origin series, but a broken hand cost him both his place in the third match of the series and a spot in the
Australian touring team which travelled to New Zealand that season, with the role of
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 ...
’ deputy going to his Blues replacement
David Trewhella.
Post-rugby league career
Since retiring from football, Fenech has been involved in the entertainment industry. In 2001, his book ''What's Doing?'' was published. He was a regular contributor (and butt of jokes) on ''
The Footy Show'', and has appeared on numerous other TV shows, including ''
Pizza
Pizza (, ) is a dish of Italian origin consisting of a usually round, flat base of leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomatoes, cheese, and often various other ingredients (such as various types of sausage, anchovies, mushrooms, onions ...
'', and made a brief cameo in the rugby league-based film ''
Footy Legends
''Footy Legends'' is a 2006 Australian film, directed and co-written by Khoa Do, produced by Megan McMurchy, starring Khoa's older brother and co-writer Anh Do, Angus Sampson, Emma Lung and Claudia Karvan. It was filmed in and around the Sydne ...
''. During his stint on ''The Footy Show'', footage was repeatedly replayed of him being unwittingly hit on the head with a football during a game between the Crushers and the
Parramatta Eels
The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League.
The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and their ...
in 1995; this clip led to the dubious honour of any inadvertent contact being made between the ball and the head of a player (in any sport, not necessarily rugby league) being dubbed a "Falcon" in the Australian lexicon. In 2022, Fenech's wife Rebecca revealed that Fenech often resented the way he was treated on ''The Footy Show''.
[
Fenech ran as a local candidate in the ]City of Randwick
The City of Randwick is a local government area in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established in 1859, Randwick is the second-oldest local government area in New South Wales, after the City of Sydney. It comprises an ...
in the 2012 New South Wales council election.
In 2016 Fenech revealed that he was suffering from early onset dementia
Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...
, which he believes to be the result of years of head knocks and concussions suffered during his rugby career. By 2022 he had lost most of his memory of his playing career.
Fenech remains a loyal supporter of the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
References
Sources
Author Profile at penguin.com.au
*
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fenech, Mario
1961 births
Living people
Australian people of Maltese descent
Australian rugby league players
Malta national rugby league team players
Maltese emigrants to Australia
New South Wales City Origin rugby league team players
New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players
North Sydney Bears players
People from Valletta
Rugby league hookers
South Queensland Crushers players
South Sydney Rabbitohs captains
South Sydney Rabbitohs players