Gregory Alexander John Burgess (born 6 July 1954) is a former New Zealand

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player. A

prop A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinc ...

, Burgess represented

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

at a provincial level, and was a member of the New Zealand national side, the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

, in 1980 and 1981. He played two matches for the All Blacks, including one full international. He went on to win consecutive national

powerlifting Powerlifting is a strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athlete attempting a maximal weight single-lift effor ...

titles from 1985 to 1991, and was second in the

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

at the national track and field championships in 1984 and 1985. Burgess became a successful investor, with interests in property and shares. In 2008 he appeared on the New Zealand ''

National Business Review The ''National Business Review'' (or ''NBR'') is a New Zealand online news publication aimed at the business sector. It has journalists based in Auckland and Wellington. History The ''NBR'' was founded in 1970 by then-23 year old publisher Hen ...

'' Rich List for the first time, with an estimated wealth of NZ$60 million.

References

1954 births Living people Rugby union players from Auckland People educated at Marcellin College, Auckland University of Otago alumni New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand international rugby union players Auckland rugby union players Rugby union props New Zealand investors Ponsonby RFC players {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-1950s-stub