Wayne Bartrim (born 9 October 1971), 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. He was selected to represent
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
and
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
during his career, which he spent playing for the
Gold Coast Seagulls
The Gold Coast Chargers were a professional rugby league club which played in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership from 1988 to 1994, the Australian Rugby League premiership from 1995 to 1997, and the National Rugby League premiership ...
,
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 th ...
and the
St. George Illawarra Dragons
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 ...
in Australia and the
Castleford Tigers
The Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England, that compete in the Super League, the top-level professional rugby league club competition in the Northern Hemisphere. The club have competed i ...
(
Heritage № 785) in England. Bartrim primarily played his club career as a , but played his representative career as a .
Background
Born in
Hat Head, New South Wales on 9 October 1971, Bartrim played his junior football in
Kempsey, New South Wales
Kempsey is a town in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia and is the council seat for Kempsey Shire. It is located roughly 16.5 kilometres inland from the coast of the Pacific Ocean, on the Macleay Valley Way near where the P ...
.
Playing career
1990s
Bartrim was graded with the
Gold Coast Seagulls
The Gold Coast Chargers were a professional rugby league club which played in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership from 1988 to 1994, the Australian Rugby League premiership from 1995 to 1997, and the National Rugby League premiership ...
in 1992 and made 76 appearances for the club. By 1994 he'd become the club's highest point scorer with 224 points, and in a match that season against the
Eastern Suburbs Roosters
The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won fifteen New S ...
scored a club record of 20 points. He joined 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 th ...
in 1995 and in his seven-year career with the club was the club's highest point scorer in seasons 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999.
He was one of the senior players at the time of the merger with the Illawarra Steelers and captained the club on a number of occasions. Bartrim made his début for Queensland as a hooker in the
Paul Vautin
Paul Vautin (born 21 July 1959) nicknamed Fatty, is an Australian football commentator and formerly a professional rugby league footballer, captain and coach. He has provided commentary for the Nine Network's coverage of rugby league since join ...
-coached
1995 State of Origin series side full of inexperienced unknowns, due to many Queensland regulars being declared unavailable due to the
Super League war
The Super League war was a commercial competition between the Australian Rugby League (ARL) and the Australian Super League to establish pre-eminence in professional rugby league competition in Australia and New Zealand in the mid-1990s.
Super ...
. His eligibility for Queensland was later questioned, though, with his only link to the state seemingly being his tenure at the Gold Coast Seagulls, who were at that time based in
Tweed Heads, New South Wales
Tweed Heads is a town in New South Wales. It is located on the Tweed River in north-eastern New South Wales, Australia, in Tweed Shire, next to the border with Queensland and adjacent to its "twin town" of Coolangatta, which is a suburb of the ...
anyway. Nonetheless, Bartrim kicked a penalty goal in Game I, which turned out to be the only points scored in Queensland's upset 2-0 victory. He stayed on as hooker and goal-kicker in all matches of Queensland shock 3-0 whitewash of that Origin series. Bartrim debuted for
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
in the first Test of the
1995 Trans-Tasman Test series The 1995 Trans-Tasman Test series was an international rugby league, three test series played in Australia between the Australian Kangaroos and New Zealand national rugby league team. As the series was played in the middle of the 1995 ARL season an ...
against
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 ...
at
Suncorp Stadium
Lang Park, also known as Brisbane Football Stadium, by the sponsored name Suncorp Stadium, and nicknamed: 'The Cauldron', is a multi-purpose stadium in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Milton. The current facility co ...
, and appeared in two Tests of that series (won 3-0 by the Australians), scoring a try in the second game at the
Sydney Football Stadium
The Sydney Football Stadium, commercially known as Allianz Stadium and previously Aussie Stadium, was a football stadium in Moore Park, Sydney, Australia. Built in 1988 next to the Sydney Cricket Ground, the stadium was Sydney's premier rect ...
.
Injury forced him to miss the final game of the series and he was replaced by
1994 Kangaroos backup hooker
Jim Serdaris
Jim Serdaris (born 1 October 1971) is an Australian former professional rugby league. He played for the South Sydney Rabbitohs, Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, Western Suburbs Magpies, Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles. He also represented New South Wa ...
. At the end of the
1995 ARL season
The 1995 ARL premiership was the 88th season of professional rugby league football in Australia, and the first to be run by the Australian Rugby League following the hand-over of the Premiership's administration by the New South Wales Rugby Leagu ...
Bartrim was in Australia's squad for the
1995 Rugby League World Cup
The 1995 Rugby League World Cup was held during October in the United Kingdom. It was the eleventh staging of the Rugby League World Cup and was marketed as the Halifax Centenary World Cup, reflecting the tournament's sponsorship and the fact ...
played in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and made two appearances in games against
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
(at the famous
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...
in the opening game of the tournament, won 20-16 by the host nation). He also played in the Kangaroos 86-6 win over
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
in
Gateshead
Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...
.
Bartrim was again Queensland's starting hooker in Game I of the
1996 State of Origin series
The 1996 State of Origin series saw the 15th time that the annual three-game series between the Queensland and New South Wales representative rugby league football teams was contested entirely under 'state of origin' selection rules. This series s ...
but was kept out of the rest of that year's series by
Steve Walters in the hooking role. He played in St. George's
1996 Grand Final loss to 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 ...
where he kicked two goals. Bartrim's 176 points scored in 1996 with St. George are the most ever scored by a lock in a
New South Wales Rugby League
The New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was ...
season. Following the 1996 Grand Final, he also played from the bench in a Test against
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
at the
Lloyd Robson Oval
PNG Football Stadium (known as ''Lloyd Robson Oval'' until 2015) is a sporting ground in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. It hosted three games for the 1989–1992 Rugby League World Cup. It has been the home ground for the Papua New Guinea natio ...
in
Port Moresby
(; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New Z ...
, scoring two tries. He returned for all three games of the
1997 series (when Super League-aligned players were again unavailable) and Games I and II of the
1998 series playing at Lock, Hooker, the , or off the interchange bench. In total, he played nine games and kicked eleven goals in his Origin career. He played at lock forward for the St. George club in their
1999 NRL Grand Final
The 1999 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 1999 NRL season. It was contested by the competition's two newest clubs: the Melbourne Storm, competing in only its second year (having finished the regular season ...
loss to
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
.
2000s
Bartrim left St. George at the end of the
2001 NRL season
The 2001 NRL season was the 94th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the fourth run by the National Rugby League. Also called the 2001 Telstra Premiership (due to sponsorship from Telstra Corporation) it was contested b ...
to play two years in England with the
Castleford Tigers
The Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England, that compete in the Super League, the top-level professional rugby league club competition in the Northern Hemisphere. The club have competed i ...
. He set the Castleford club's record for most goals in a season with 115 scored in 2002. Whilst at
Castleford Tigers
The Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England, that compete in the Super League, the top-level professional rugby league club competition in the Northern Hemisphere. The club have competed i ...
Bartrim proved an excellent signing. In 2002 he scored a vital try in a game against Salford to get the tigers into the playoffs. In 2003 Bartrim was injured for most of the season, ]. Bartrim left the club at the end of the 2003 season.
[Alan Whiticker/Glen Hudson: Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players. 1995 ()] At the end of 2003, Bartrim returned to Australia to settle in Hat Head and was the Macleay Valley Mustangs' captain-coach in the
Group 2 Rugby League, NSW Group 2 competition in 2004 and 2005. In 2006, he moved to Brisbane and played with the Noosa Pirates in the Sunshine Coast Rugby League competition in 2006 and 2007. He is married and has 4 children.
References
Sources
* Andrews, Malcolm (2006) ''The ABC of Rugby League'' Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney
* ''Big League's 25 Years of Origin'', (2005 Collectors Edition), News Magazines, Surry Hills, Sydney
*
External links
''Wayne Bartrim'' at thecastlefordtigers.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bartrim, Wayne
1971 births
Living people
Australia national rugby league team players
Australian rugby league players
Castleford Tigers players
Gold Coast Chargers players
Queensland Rugby League State of Origin players
Rugby league hookers
Rugby league locks
St. George Dragons players
St. George Illawarra Dragons players