Steven "Steve" Bell (born 28 May 1976) 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 last played for the

Catalans Dragons The Catalans Dragons (French: ''Dragons Catalans'', Catalan: ''Dracs Catalans'') are a professional rugby league club from Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales department, France. The team competes in the Super League and are the only team from ou ...

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 ...

. A Queensland State of Origin representative three-quarter, he previously played club football in the NRL for the

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm are a rugby league club based in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia that participates in the National Rugby League. The first fully professional rugby league team based in the state, the Storm entered the competition in 1998 ...

, then 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 rug ...

(with whom he won the 2008 NRL Grand Final).

Early life

Bell was born in

Rockhampton, Queensland Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. The population of Rockhampton in June 2021 was 79,967, Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. making it the fourth-largest city in the state outside of t ...

and was raised in

Emerald, Queensland Emerald is a rural town and locality in the Central Highlands Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Emerald had a population of 14,906 people. The town is the headquarters for the Central Highlands Regional Council. Geography Emerald li ...

. He played junior rugby league for Emerald Tigers, winning premierships in under-15s and under-17s. Crossing to Emerald Seagulls, he also represented the Central Queensland side in 1996.

Playing career

Early career

Bell moved to

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 p ...

in 1998, playing in the

1998 Queensland Cup The 1998 Queensland Cup season was the 3rd season of Queensland's top-level statewide rugby league competition. The competition was contested by sixteen teams over a 27-week long season (including finals), with the Norths Devils defeating the ...

Premiership for Norths. In 2000, he scored a club high 18 tries from 22 games, earning representative selection for the Queensland City and Queensland Residents rugby league team. Bell was named the Norths Player of the Year in 2000 and scored 45 tries for the club in the

Queensland Cup The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by fo ...

Melbourne Storm 2001-2005

Bell earned a contract with

for the 2001 season, winning Melbourne's

Rookie of the Year Award A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 2006-2008

Leaving Melbourne at the end of the

2005 NRL season The 2005 NRL season was the 98th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the eighth run by the National Rugby League. The lineup of clubs remained unchanged from the previous year, with fifteen teams contesting the 2005 Telst ...

Bell played 64 first grade games for the

, scoring 31 tries. In 2006, he played only 17 out of 26 games for the club as he earned selection for the

Queensland rugby league team The Queensland rugby league team represents the Australian state of Queensland in rugby league football. Nicknamed the "Maroons" after the colour of their jersey, they play three times a year against arch-rivals New South Wales in the State of O ...

. Bell was part of the winning Queensland team in the 2007 State of Origin series, scoring the try that won the series. Bell was on the losing team in the 2007 NRL Grand Final won by his old team Melbourne Storm. A year later, in his last game for Manly, Bell was on the winning side in the 2008 NRL Grand Final defeating Melbourne 40-0.

Catalans Dragons 2009-2010

Bell joined French Super League side

on a two-year contract from the 2009 season.

References

External links

*
Queensland representatives at qrl.com.au
1976 births Living people Australian rugby league players Catalans Dragons players Manly Warringah Sea Eagles players Melbourne Storm players Queensland Rugby League State of Origin players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Rockhampton, Queensland {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1970s-stub