| Personal information | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 24 November 1963 London, England |
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| Playing information | ||||||
| Height | 175 cm (5 ft 9 in) | |||||
| Weight | 83 kg (13 st 1 lb) | |||||
| Position | Fullback, Centre, Five-eighth, Halfback | |||||
| Club | ||||||
| Years | Team | Pld | T | G | FG | P |
| 1982–86 | Manly-Warringah | 93 | 63 | 0 | 7 | 250 |
| 1985–89 | Warrington | |||||
| 1987–90 | South Sydney | 75 | 37 | 8 | 6 | 170 |
| 1991 | North Sydney Bears | 11 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 1992 | Canberra Raiders | 16 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 21 |
| 1993–94 | St. George Dragons | 29 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 60 |
| 1995–97 | Auckland Warriors | 37 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 68 |
| Total | 261 | 138 | 8 | 15 | 574 | |
| Representative | ||||||
| Years | Team | Pld | T | G | FG | P |
| 1988 | NSW City | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1989 | New South Wales | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Source: Rugby League Project | ||||||
Phil Blake (born November 24, 1963 in London, England) is an Australian former rugby league footballer of the 1980s and 90s who represented New South Wales on one occasion. Originally a half back, Blake developed into a utility player and played first grade matches in all the backline positions, as well as at hooker and lock. Phil Blake is the younger brother of former Manly, Canberra and South Sydney player Michael Blake.
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While attending Manly Christian Brothers College, Blake played for the Australian Schoolboys team in 1981.[1]
Blake made his debut for the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles in 1982 and made an immediate impact. In his rookie year he played halfback was a try scorer in Manly's losing Grand Final side against Parramatta. Blake won the Dally M Rookie of the Year award and was considered unlucky to miss out on selection for the 1982 Kangaroo tour.
He continued his good form in 1983 when he broke the Sea Eagles club record for the most tries scored in a season with 27 and finished the year as the top try scorer in the league. Blakes 27 tries were scored from just 23 games played. As of 2011 this is still the Manly club record for most tries in a premiership season. Manly won through to the 1983 Grand Final, again against Parramatta, and for the second time in two seasons, were on the wrong end of the scoreline at the end losing 6-18.
Blake found the going tough under Manly coach Bob Fulton and he was often shuffled around the backline to allow others to play in their preferred positions. Despite this he was still one of the league's most prolific try scorers with his great speed over 30-40m, and his general reading of the play giving him an advantage.
During 1985/6 Phil Blake traveled to England and played for Warrington.
In the 1986 NSWRL season Blake was again the leagues top try scorer, sharing the mark with Balmain's English import Garry Schofield. Following the season, Blake signed to play for the South Sydney Rabbitohs from 1987.
Blake joined Rabbitohs and went on to play four seasons for the club. Returning to his schoolboy position of five-eighth, Blake was instrumental in Souths winning the minor premiership in 1989.
He returned to Warrington for the 1988/89 season. After returning from England, Blake, and Souths went from being minor premiers in 1989 to finishing with the wooden spoon in 1990, the biggest slide from grace in the competitions history.
After three seasons at Souths, Blake joined the North Sydney Bears for 1991, however despite the Bears reaching the finals for the first time since 1982, he only played eleven games for the club and moved again at the end of the year, joining the Canberra Raiders.
Blake moved again at the end of the 1992 season, joining the St. George Dragons. He came off the reserves bench for the Dragons in the 1993 Grand Final who lost their second Grand Final in two seasons to the Brisbane Broncos.
In 1995 he joined the new Auckland Warriors franchise, and was in their inaugural run-on side. He played three seasons for the club, his longest spell at one club since the Rabbitohs. Phil Blake, who played fullback in the Warrior's first game against the Broncos at Auckland’s Mt Smart Stadium before 29,220 fans, scored the new club's first ever try in the game's 21st minute after a dash down the left wing by Whetu Taewa. Blake, as always there in support, had an easy 10m run to the line. Despite this the Warriors went down narrowly to the two time premiership winners 25-22.
Blake trained with the Manly team at the start of the 1998 season before announcing his retirement. He finished his career having played 261 games, scoring 138 tries as well as kicking eight goals and fifteen field goals.
Blake was appointed the sprint coach at the South Sydney Rabbitohs for their return season in 2002.[2] When Craig Coleman was fired as head coach at the beginning of the 2003 season, Blake was appointed the temporary head coach until he was replaced by Paul Langmack.[3][4][5]
In 2008 Blake suffered from a series of potentially life-threatening blood clots and spent some time in hospital.[6][7] He is currently the head coach at the Manly Marlins rugby union club.[8] The Marlins play in the Shute Shield. In 2010 Blake underwent triple heart bypass surgery.[9]
Despite narrowly missing out on a Kangaroos jersey in 1983, Blake never established himself at Representative level. In 1988, he played for City, and in 1989 he came off the bench in a State of Origin match for New South Wales.
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