Steve Renouf
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | June 8, 1970 | |
| Place of birth | Murgon, Australia | |
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) | |
| Nickname | The Pearl The Prince of Centres Bucko |
|
| Position | Centre | |
| Professional clubs* | ||
| 1988-1999 2000-2001 |
Brisbane Broncos Wigan Warriors |
183 (142) |
| National team | ||
| 1992-1998 | Australia | 9 (10) |
|
* Professional club appearances and (tries) |
||
Stephen Renouf (born June 8, 1970) is an Australian former rugby league player of Aboriginal heritage, known generally as one of the best centres in the history of the game. He holds numerous records for the Brisbane Broncos club and is considered one of the greatest players to play for the club. After spending eleven years with Brisbane, Renouf left Australia to play for the Wigan Warriors in the English Super League where he played two seasons before retiring from the top level of rugby league competition. In 2000 Steve was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for his contribution to Australia's international standing in rugby league.
Contents |
[edit] Playing career
[edit] Brisbane Broncos
Renouf was the Broncos' top try scorer for the seasons of 1991, 1992 (along with Allan Langer), 1994, 1995 (along with Michael Hancock), 1996 and 1999. On the 23 April 1994 Renouf broke the club record for scoring the most tries in an away fixture against the Balmain Tigers by scoring four tries in the game against them at the Optus Oval. Also in 1994, Renouf scored the most tries in a season in the club's history, crossing the line 23 times. He also holds the equal club record of four tries in a home fixture, at the time the first Broncos player to have done so. The only other man in the club's history to achieve four tries in a home fixture is Karmichael Hunt, who did so once in 2004. Renouf however, dubbed a 'try-scoring machine' has scored four tries on four occasions:
- vs North Sydney Bears on the 9 August 1991
- vs Canterbury Bulldogs on the 25 July 1993
- vs Auckland Warriors on the 27 August 1995
- vs Penrith Panthers on the 28 March 1997
In 1997, Renouf scored 14 tries which included a hat-trick against the Cronulla Sharks in the 1997 Super League grand final on the 20th of September at ANZ Stadium in Brisbane's 26-8 victory. He is still the all-time leading try scorer for the Brisbane Broncos, having ammassed a total of 142 tries.
[edit] Wigan Warriors
His Wigan Warriors debut came in round four of the Challenge Cup against Whitehaven at Central Park. Renouf scored two tries on debut in his side's mammoth 98-4 victory.
His final game for the Wigan Warriors and indeed his last game at the highest level was the 2001 Super League grand final. His side lost to the Bradford Bulls by 37-6 on the 13 October at Old Trafford in Manchester.
Upon his time at Wigan Warriors, Renouf quoted "The two years at Wigan were absolutely brilliant. I would have liked to stay but they didn’t want to retain me"[1]
[edit] Life outside of rugby league
At the age of 23, six years after signing with the Brisbane Broncos, Steve Renouf was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Renouf remembers that he "had been losing weight quite rapidly, [and] was always going to the toilet and though it was the start of pre-season, [he] had no energy, [he] couldn’t lift anything in the gym".[2] He decided to go to the doctor and found out that he had the disease. According to Steve "diabetes is not all doom and gloom, you can live with it."[2] His advice to young people who have diabetes is "Never think that it can stop you from achieving your goals. Just look after it, and you can achieve anything. I looked after it...I knew I had to if I wanted to keep playing football."[2]
Outside of rugby league, Steve Renouf has an apprenticeship as an electrician and has also worked in the industry of sales and marketing.[3] Steve is married and has five children, four sons and one daughter. Steve Renouf is currently working for the Get Active Queensland Schools Program which promotes physical activity amongst children.[2]
In February 2006, a biography of Steve Renouf was released. Entitled "The Pearl: Steve Renouf's Story", the book details his career as a rugby league player. But it also covers his early life, including his family heritage and his childhood in the Queensland town of Murgon, but also about how he had to overcome prejudices from people around him as an aboriginal.
[edit] Quotations
"Getting him to training was a defining moment, then getting him to finish was another. We named the hill after him because he spent so much time sitting on it." Wayne Bennett, Brisbane Broncos coach[4]
| Brisbane Broncos |
|---|
| The Club Representatives • History • Records • Honours • Players • Venues |
| Seasons 1988 • 1989 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 |
| Stadiums Lang Park/Suncorp Stadium • ANZ Stadium |
| Captains Wally Lewis (1988-1989) • Gene Miles (1990-1991) • Allan Langer (1992-1999) Kevin Walters (1999-2000) • Gorden Tallis (2001-2004) • Darren Lockyer (2005-present) |
| Coaches Wayne Bennett (1988-present) |
[edit] External Links
[edit] Sources
- ^ "Wigan Warriors - Steve Renouf" profile, URL retrieved 11th July 2006.
- ^ a b c d "Steve Renouf redefines victory" article, URL retrieved 11th July 2006.
- ^ "Role Models - Steve Renouf" article, URL retrieved 11th July 2006.
- ^ "The Pearl: the story of Steve Renouf" article, URL retrieved 11th July 2006.
