David Gillespie
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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | David Gillespie | |
| Place of birth | Narromine, New South Wales, Australia | |
| Height | 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) | |
| Weight | 95 kg (14 st 13 lb) | |
| Nickname(s) | Cement | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| Years | Club | |
| Narromine | ||
| Senior clubs* | ||
| Years | Club | Apps (points) |
| 1984–1990 1991–1993 1994–1997 |
Canterbury Wests Manly |
116 (52)[1] 46 (12)[1] 92 (4)[1] |
| Representative teams | ||
| 1986–1994 1988–1995 |
New South Wales Australia |
15 (0)[2] 17 (12) |
|
* Professional club appearances and points |
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David "Cement" Gillespie (born in Sydney, New South Wales) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer. A sturdy forward, he played for the Canterbury Bulldogs, Western Suburbs Magpies, Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, New South Wales and for the Australian national side. He is currently a defensive coach for both the Roosters and the Sharks, being a close friend of Ricky Stuart.
Originally form the central west town of Narromine, Gillespie joined Canterbury in their rebuilding after the 1980 premiership and was soon a success with his powerful tackling which earned him the well-known nickname "Cement". His defence was critical to Canterbury's retention of the title against a heavily favoured St. George side in 1985 after having scored a rare try in their powerful 26-nil win over Parramatta in the preliminary final.
The following year, despite not having played for New South Wales, Gillespie was favoured to tour with the Kangaroos before a horrible work injury ended his season. Then, 1987 saw two suspensions (in one of which he was, unusually, sent off on the first tackle of a match against Balmain) rob Gillespie of over a third of his season. Undeterred, "Cement" came back stronger in 1988 and played so well in the grand final that he was chosen for the World Cup final against New Zealand, but in 1989 he was so disappointing as to be briefly relegated to reserve grade before a four-week suspension for a dangerous tackle effectively ended his season.
In 1990 Gillespie finally established himself as a representative player with powerful displays for New South Wales and in the Test against France in Parkes. He made the Kangaroo tour and played in all the Tests at the same time he placed himself in the controversial draft and was chosen by Wests, for whom he was to play while an Australian regular. His high workrate was a vital part of two big wins against New Zealand in 1991 and against Great Britain the following year - though he was criticised at times for not being so committed at club level. 1993 saw Gillespie fall out with Warren Ryan and signed with Manly for 1994. However, the quicker 10-metre rule made his play - based on workrate - less effective and he lost in place in the NSW team after one match.
In 1995, despite being an integral part of a Manly team that threatened for a long time to march through the season undefeated - Gillespie was not considered too old and slow for the representative games until late in the year when he played for Australia against New Zealand. He played in Manly's 1996 premiership side but retired after their loss to Newcastle in the isolated ARL grand final the following year.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Paul Jeffs. Glenn Lazarus' NSWRL/ARL/NRL First Grade Points Listing. stats.rleague.com. Retrieved on 2007-05-09.
- ^ Paul Jeffs. Glenn Lazarus' State of Origin caps and points listing. stats.rleague.com. Retrieved on 2007-05-09.
[edit] External links
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