Mark Gerrard (born 4 September 1982) is a former Australian professional rugby union footballer. He currently is the assistant coach for the

Austin Gilgronis The Austin Gilgronis were a professional rugby union team based in Austin, Texas, United States. The team was founded in 2017 as the Austin Elite, and competed in Major League Rugby. History On September 19, 2019, after extensive polling at th ...

in Major League Rugby (MLR) competition in the United States. In 2011, he was one of 10 players nominated to become the competition's Super Rugby player of the year. Gerrard has played for the Australian Wallabies and previously played for the

NSW Waratahs The New South Wales Waratahs ( or ;), referred to as the Waratahs, are an Australian professional rugby union team representing the majority of New South Wales in the Super Rugby competition. The Riverina and other southern parts of the sta ...

and the ACT

Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005–2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the brumby, feral horses whi ...

. He usually plays at fullback or wing but can also cover in the centres and sometimes flyhalf. His sister Mo'onia Gerrard is an Australian representative netballer. He is the cousin of Wallaby

Wycliff Palu Wycliff Palu (born 27 July 1982), known as Cliffy Palu, is an Australian former professional rugby union footballer of Tongan descent. He played for the New South Wales Waratahs in Super Rugby and represented in 58 tests. Early life Palu was ...

Biography

Gerrard was educated at both Narrabeen North Primary School and

Narrabeen Sports High School }, which translated as "Strive to the end". The Girls' High School motto was the la, Facta non verba, translated as "Deeds not words". There was a fire in the girls' assembly hall in the early 1970s as well as fires in the boys' school. Followin ...

, where he started playing rugby league, representing Australian School Boys in that code before switching to Rugby Union. Gerrard made the Australian Schoolboys team in 1999. Gerrard went on to play for the Warringah Rugby Club and represented Australia in the national under-19s side in both 2000 and 2001; also in 2001 he represented Australia in the under-21s side. After the successful appearances for junior representative sides, he made his Super 12 debut for the New South Wales Waratahs. He continued to make the under-21 Australian side up for the next two years, before touring Japan with Australia A in 2003. He signed for the ACT Brumbies for the 2003 season. He made his debut for the Brumbies against the

Sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimorp ...

at Durban, scoring a

try Try or TRY may refer to: Music Albums * ''Try!'', an album by the John Mayer Trio * ''Try'' (Bebo Norman album) (2014) Songs * "Try" (Blue Rodeo song) (1987) * "Try" (Colbie Caillat song) (2014) * "Try" (Nelly Furtado song) (2004) * " Try (Ju ...

. He played for the Brumbies in 2004, with the team winning the championship. He missed out on a mid-year test match 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 ...

in Brisbane due to injury. He was a member of the Australian squad that toured England,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

and France at the end of the year but did not play because of a recurring hamstring injury. In late 2005 he made his Test debut for Australia when he came on as a replacement against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

in Melbourne. Gerrard moved to Japan and spent one season with the NTT Communications Shining Arcs. During the coronation of the present King of Tonga, Mark Gerrard played for Tonga during the coronation rugby match in the Teufaiva stadium. Gerrard moved back from Japan to join the Melbourne Rebels for the start of the

2011 Super Rugby season The 2011 Super Rugby season was the first season of the new 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition, which involved teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Including its past iterations as Super 12 and Super 14, this was the 16t ...

. He played 11 of the Rebels 16 games that year. Later in 2011, Gerrard was named in the 40-man Wallabies squad. In May 2012, Gerrard was expected to play his 100th Super Rugby game.

References

External links

Stats
on It's Rugby {{DEFAULTSORT:Gerrard, Mark 1982 births Australian rugby union players Australia international rugby union players ACT Brumbies players Living people Australian people of Tongan descent Melbourne Rebels players New South Wales Waratahs players Australian expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in Japan Australian expatriate sportspeople in Japan Rugby union players from Sydney Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union wings Urayasu D-Rocks players Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi players Rugby union centres Rugby union fly-halves