Mark Edward Broadhurst (born c. 1955) is a New Zealand 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 112 ...

footballer. He played professionally in Australia and the United Kingdom, and played for

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

from 1979 to 1983.

Playing career

He was a Schoolboy Kiwi in 1970 and played in the

Canterbury Rugby League Canterbury Rugby League is the regional body that administers rugby league in Canterbury, New Zealand. CRL manages local competitions from senior level down to age group competitions. Canterbury Rugby League also manages the Canterbury rugby lea ...

competition for Papanui. Broadhurst represented

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

, the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

and

before moving overseas to play for the

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...

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 ...

and

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challeng ...

. One of the most memorable incidents in his career was his brawl with

Newtown Jets The Newtown Jets are an Australian rugby league football club based in Newtown, a suburb of Sydney's inner west. They currently compete in the NSW Cup competition, having left the top grade after the 1983 NSWRFL season. The Jets' home ground ...

player Steve Bowden during the minor semi-final match of the 1981 NSWRFL season.

County Cup Final appearances

Mark Broadhurst played left-, i.e. number 8, in

' 12–29 defeat by

Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and were ...

in the

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

County Cup The county football associations are the local governing bodies of association football in England and the Crown dependencies. County FAs exist to govern all aspects of football in England. They are responsible for administering club and player ...

Final during the 1984–85 season at

Boothferry Park Boothferry Park was a football stadium in Hull, England, which was home to Hull City A.F.C. from 1946 until 2002, when they moved to the KC Stadium. In later years, financial constraints forced Hull City to allow Kwik Save and Iceland superma ...

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-east ...

, on Saturday 27 October 1984.

John Player Special Trophy Final appearances

Mark Broadhurst played left-, i.e. number 8, in

' 12–0 victory over

in the 1984–85 John Player Special Trophy Final during the 1984–85 season at

on Saturday 26 January 1985.

Later years

Broadhurst later coached Papanui in the

competition.Coffey, John. ''Canterbury XIII'', Christchurch, 1987. In 2020, Broadhurst revealed that he had been diagnosed with

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

Honours and legacy

In 2013, Broadhurst was inducted as a New Zealand Legend of League. Since 2018, the

Manly Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...

and the

New Zealand Warriors The New Zealand Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as ...

have played for the Broadhurst-Shelford trophy, named for Mark Broadhurst and the late Kiwis prop

Adrian Shelford Adrian Tremain Shelford (4 January 1964 – 19 September 2003) was a New Zealand rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. He played at representative level for New Zealand, and at club level for Wigan and Wakefield Trinity ( H ...

References

External links

Mark Broadhurst
Era of the Biff profile 1950s births Living people Canterbury rugby league team players Hull Kingston Rovers players Illawarra Steelers players Manly Warringah Sea Eagles players Marist-Western Suburbs players New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand rugby league coaches New Zealand rugby league players Papanui Tigers players Rugby league players from Christchurch Rugby league props South Island rugby league team players Year of birth missing (living people) {{NewZealand-rugbyleague-bio-stub