Steve Ella (born 28 July 1960 in Mount Pritchard, New South Wales) is an Australian former rugby league footballer of the 1980s. He was a utility back for the Parramatta Eels, New South Wales and Australia, playing in 4 Tests for his country between 1983 and 1985. He is a cousin of the Ella brothers who were prominent in Australian rugby union in the 1980s.
Club career
Steve Ella had a ten year career with the Parramatta Eels playing every position in the Eels backline, though mostly playing at either Centre or Five-eighth.
Nicknamed "The Zipzip Man" Ella was a member of Parramatta's star studded backlines of the early 1980s playing alongside Brett Kenny, Mick Cronin, Peter Sterling and Eric Grothe. It was only the presence of Five-eight Kenny and the partnership he had with Halfback Sterling that saw Ella play most of his first grade games in the centres where he formed the NSWRL premiership's most lethal centre pairing alongside Cronin.
He was a member of four Premiership winning sides at Parramatta in 1981, 1982, 1983 and 1986 as well as the 1984 Grand Final loss to Canterbury-Bankstown. Ella scored tries in the 1981 and 1982 Grand Final victories over Newtown and Manly-Warringah.
Ella also played a season in England with Wigan in 1985-86, scoring 21 tries in 23 games. He played in Wigan's 14-8 victory over New Zealand during the Kiwi's 1985 European tour match at Central Park.[1] He scored two tries and was man of the match in Wigan's 34-8 victory over Warrington in the Lancashire Cup final at Knowsley Road,[2] and also played in the 18-4 victory over Hull Kingston Rovers in the John Player Special Trophy final at Elland Road.[3]
Steve Ella finished his career in 1989 with Wakefield Trinity in 1988-89. He did return to Parramatta for the 1989 season, but did not play a single game due to injury and announced his retirement in July two weeks shy of his twenty-ninth birthday.
Club records and statistics
He scored 544 career points for Parramatta in 157 games putting him in 3rd place on the club's all time points list. In 1982 he was the season's top try-scorer and also set the standing club record of a total of 23 tries in a season. He scored 92 career tries for Parramatta placing him in 3rd place behind Brett Kenny and Luke Burt on the club's all time try tally.
Representative career
Steve Ella made seven Rugby League State of Origin appearances between 1983 and 1985. He was first selected for the New South Wales Blues in game II of 1983 where he scored a try in the Blues' sole win of the series. He figured in game III of 1983, games I and III of 1984 and in all three games of 1985 when the Blues finally had a series triumph over Queensland.
At the national level, he was selected for the 1982 Kangaroo Tour and appeared in twelve minor games though no Tests on that tour. In the tour match against Wales in Cardiff, Ella scored four tries equalling the record for an Australian in a full international. On that same tour in a game in France against Villeneuve he scored seven tries equalling a record set by Cec Blinkhorn in the 1930s.
Steve Ella made his Test début for the Kangaroos against
New Zealand in the 2nd Test of 1983 and played in three more Tests against them in 1985.
1st Grade matches
| Team | Matches | Years |
| Parramatta | 156 | 1979–88 |
| Wigan | 23 | 1985-86 |
| Wakefield | 20 | 1989 |
| City Firsts | 2 | 1983, 1985 |
| New South Wales | 8 | 1982–85 |
| Australia | 4 | 1982–85 |
| Rest of the World | 1 | 1988 |
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References
Sources
- Andrews, Malcolm (2006) The ABC of Rugby League Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney
- NRL Official 2007 Season Guide, News Magazines Surry Hills Sydney, for the National Rugby League
External links
| Persondata |
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| Name |
Ella, Steve |
| Alternative names |
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| Short description |
Australian rugby league player |
| Date of birth |
28 July 1960 |
| Place of birth |
Mount Pritchard, New South Wales |
| Date of death |
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| Place of death |
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