Steele Retchless (born 16 June 1971) is a former

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

international

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 as a and forward in the 1990s, and 2000s. He played for the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite com ...

and the

South Queensland Crushers The South Queensland Crushers were an Australian rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. In 1992 it was decided that the team would be admitted into the New South Wales Rugby League competition, along with three other teams, a ...

in the

ARL Premiership The ARL Premiership was Australia's first grade rugby league competition between 1995 and 1997. It replaced the previous competition, the New South Wales Rugby League premiership, after the competition expanded to 20 teams with the admittance of fo ...

and the

London Broncos The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club in London, England. The club competes in the RFL Championship. It was a member of Super League from its inaugural season in 1996 until the end of the 2014 season, when they were relegat ...

in the

European Super League The European Super League (ESL), officially The Super League, was a proposed seasonal club football competition that initially would have been contested by twenty European football clubs, twelve of them being the competition's founding members ...

. He also played for the

Ipswich Jets The Ipswich Jets are an Australian rugby league football club based in Ipswich, Queensland. Their name comes from nearby RAAF Base Amberley, one of the largest airbases in Australia. The Jets compete in the Queensland Cup competition. Original ...

and

Easts Tigers The Brisbane Tigers are a rugby league club based at Langlands Park, in the suburb of Coorparoo in Brisbane, Australia. Since 1996, they have competed in the Queensland Cup, having competed in the Brisbane Rugby League from 1934 to 1997, whe ...

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 ...

Playing career

Early years

Steele Retchless is the son of former

Brisbane Rugby League The Brisbane Rugby League is a rugby league football competition in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was first held in 1922 and for every year until 1997. The competition was reinstated in 2001, known as the FOGS premiership under the Quee ...

player Mick Retchless. He played his junior football for

Fortitude Valley Diehards The Fortitude Valley Diehards, often referred to simply as Valleys, are an Australian semi-professional rugby league football club based in the Brisbane suburb of Fortitude Valley. History Until their demise in 1995, the Fortitude Valley Dieh ...

and made his senior début for the club in 1991. In 1993, Retchless switched to

Wests Panthers The Western Suburbs Panthers, often simply referred to as Wests for short, are a rugby league club based in the western suburbs of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The club is the oldest in the QRL and despite absences from the top grade in rec ...

contesting successive finals and winning the

Brisbane Rugby League premiership The Brisbane Rugby League is a rugby league football competition in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was first held in 1922 and for every year until 1997. The competition was reinstated in 2001, known as the FOGS premiership under the Quee ...

in his first year at the club. Retchless joined first grade

Australian Rugby League The Australian Rugby League Commission (ARL), formerly the Australian Rugby Football League known as the Australian Rugby League is an Australian rugby league football competition operator. It was founded in 1986 as the Australian Rugby Footbal ...

premiership side the

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake strike ...

. During a two-year contract he made 11 appearances. In 1997, Retchless moved to the

and participated in 22 matches. The Crushers picked up a second successive

wooden spoon Wooden Spoon may refer to: * Wooden spoon, implement * Wooden spoon (award) ** Australian rugby league wooden spooners ** County Championship Wooden Spoons ** List of Australian Football League wooden spoons The wooden spoon is the imaginar ...

and folded at the end of the season.

London Broncos

The collapse of the Crushers presented an opportunity to play in Britain's

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 ...

for the

. During seven seasons at the club, Retchless set a club record number of appearances. In 1998 against

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is pre ...

, he made a Super League record of 66 tackles in a game. That season he was named in 1998's

Super League III JJB Sports Super League III was the official name for the year 1998's Super League championship season, the 104th season of top-level professional rugby league football in Britain, and the third season played in summer. The League format changed i ...

Dream Team Dream Team may refer to: Sport Basketball * Dream Team, the 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team in Barcelona * Dream Team II, the 1994 U.S. men's national basketball team at the FIBA World Championship * Dream Team III, the 1996 ...

. In 1999, Retchless scored a memorable last minute try in the

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves a ...

semi-final to earn the

a place in their first ever final. In his final season at the club, 2004, Retchless was awarded ''Player of the Year''.

Post-Broncos career and retirement

After his time in London, Retchless returned to Australia to play in the Queensland Wizard Cup for

in 2005. After finishing that season as a leading contender for the

Qantas Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the List of airlines by foundation date, world's third-oldest airline sti ...

''Player of the Year'', Retchless played a season for

in 2006. Easts made the finals but were subsequently beaten by

Redcliffe Redcliffe may refer to: Places England *Redcliffe, Bristol, a district of the city *Redcliffe College, a Bible college in Gloucester, England Queensland, Australia *Redcliffe Peninsula, a peninsula and suburban region in the Brisbane metropolit ...

in the major Semi-Final, with Redcliffe going on to win the premiership. Retchless won the ''Player of the Year'' award for Easts Tigers and also ''Best Forward'' in his final season. Retchless played his last game for

in a Queensland Wizard Cup preliminary final defeat by the

Redcliffe Dolphins The Redcliffe Dolphins are a semi-professional rugby league club based in Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1947, they were accepted into the Brisbane Rugby League (BRL) premiership competition in 1960, and since 1996 have played i ...

in 2006. Retchless is currently on the coaching staff at Easts Tigers alongside former International Darren Smith.

Personal life

He is the father to 2 boys and 1 girl.

Career highlights

* ''Junior Clubs:''

* ''Senior Clubs:''

Western Suburbs Panthers The Western Suburbs Panthers, often simply referred to as Wests for short, are a rugby league club based in the western suburbs of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The club is the oldest in the QRL and despite absences from the top grade in rec ...

Eastern Suburbs Tigers The Brisbane Tigers are a rugby league club based at Langlands Park, in the suburb of Coorparoo in Brisbane, Australia. Since 1996, they have competed in the Queensland Cup, having competed in the Brisbane Rugby League from 1934 to 1997, w ...

* ''First Grade Stats:'' 143 career games in QLD Comp (Approx.) 235 career games in ARL & English Super League scoring 21 tries, including a club record 202 games for

. * ''Most tackles made in any Super League Match:'' 66 by Steele Retchless (against Bradford in 1998. This was all-time Super League record). - since beaten by Morgan Smithies

Representative games

Retchless qualified to play for the

USA Tomahawks The United States national rugby league team represents the United States in international rugby league football competitions. The team is managed by the USA Rugby League (USARL). The United States competed with little success in some intern ...

through his grandfather,

Stuart Beck Stuart Jay Beck (December 23, 1946 – February 29, 2016) was an American law practitioner and a diplomat for Palau. As a lawyer he helped negotiate the Compact of Free Association, which established Palau as an independent nation in free asso ...

, who was raised in Iowa, and his mother, who was born in Washington, D.C. Beck arrived in Australia from the United States, captaining his adopted homeland in the sport of

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

References

External links

Steele Retchless - A Life Less OrdinaryLondon Broncos profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Retchless, Steele 1971 births American rugby league players Australian people of American descent Australian rugby league players Brisbane Broncos players Eastern Suburbs Tigers players Fortitude Valley Diehards players Ipswich Jets players Living people London Broncos players South Queensland Crushers players United States national rugby league team players Wests Panthers players Rugby league second-rows Rugby league players from Brisbane