Adam Blair

For the Canadian senator, see Adam Johnston Fergusson Blair. For the entrepreneur, see Adam Blair (entrepreneur).
For the novel Adam Blair see John Gibson Lockhart
Adam Blair
Blair at the 2009 Four Nations
Personal information
Full name Adam Ngawati Blair [1]
Born (1986-03-20) 20 March 1986
Whangarei, Northland, New Zealand
Height 188 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight 108 kg (17 st 0 lb)
Playing information
Position second-row, prop, lock
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2006–11 Melbourne Storm 121 5 0 0 20
2012–14 Wests Tigers 71 4 0 0 16
2015– Brisbane Broncos 23 1 0 0 4
Total 215 10 0 0 40
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2006–15 New Zealand 34 2 0 0 8
2010 NRL All Stars 1 0 0 0 0
As of 14 November 2015
Source: [2][3]

Adam Blair (born 20 March 1986 in Whangarei, Northland) is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer currently contracted to the Brisbane Broncos of the National Rugby League. A New Zealand international representative forward, Blair spent six seasons with the Storm, winning the 2009 NRL Grand Final with them (subsequently disqualified and title stripped due to Melbourne Storm's salary breaches), and then three seasons at the Wests Tigers and was a member of the New Zealand Kiwis side that won the 2008 World Cup.

Early years

Of Māori heritage,[4] Blair was born in Whangarei, Northland, New Zealand. He was recruited by the Melbourne Storm as a 16-year-old while attending Whangarei Boys High School.[5] Blair was a Junior Kiwi in 2002 and 2003.[6] He also played for the Storm's feeder team, Norths Devils in the Queensland Cup. Upon moving to Australia, he attended Wavell State High School in Queensland.

Professional playing career

Melbourne Storm

After debuting in the 2006 NRL season, he was selected to play from the interchange bench in the 2006 NRL Grand Final which Melbourne lost to Brisbane. He was also named the Storm's rookie of the year.[7]

On 14 October 2006 Blair made his test debut against Australia at Mt Smart Stadium in the 2006 Tri-Nations.[8] In August 2008, Blair was named in the New Zealand squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.[9][10] Blair scored his first-ever NRL try against the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the Storm's grand final-qualifying final win of 2008. During the 2008 Rugby League World Cup He was named man-of-the-match in New Zealand's win against Papua New Guinea in the pool stage. Blair scored the last try in the Kiwis' World Cup final victory over the Kangaroos.

For his first game of 2009, he was judged KFC's 'man of the match'.

He played in the 2009 NRL Grand Final against the Parramatta Eels, scoring the second try, set up by Cooper Cronk. He also set up a try for Billy Slater.[11] Blair was also named in the Kiwis team to play in the 2009 Four Nations against England, Australia and France and was the Kiwis' vice-captain. As vice captain he was an automatic selection for the 2010 NRL All-Stars game. For the 2010 Anzac Test, Blair was selected to play for New Zealand at loose forward in their loss against Australia.

Blair's last game for the Storm was the infamous 'Brookvale Brawl' match which saw him suspended for the 2011 NRL season's finals series, during which Melbourne were knocked out by eventual grand finalists, the New Zealand Warriors.

Wests Tigers

Blair was signed by the Wests Tigers on a four-year deal beginning in 2012, reportedly receiving A$500,000 a year.[12] Blair played in 23 games for the season, missing one game through suspension.[13] However, with an average of 3 missed tackles a game and low yardage achieved with the ball, Blair was described as one of, "the biggest flops of 2012."[14] Despite the criticism, coach Mick Potter praised his communication and leadership skills during the off-season.[15]

In 2013, Blair was the only Wests Tigers player to play in every game. However, by round ten his poor form saw the Daily Telegraph asking, "Is Wests Tigers' Adam Blair the NRL's worst signing ever?"[16] From the next game he was moved into the front row, where he stayed for the rest of the season. Blair said, "Everyone knows what I can bring and how I can play. I'm just not doing that enough for the team at the moment and for the people that want to see me do better for the team."[17]

A "strong start" to 2014 saw Blair selected for New Zealand in the 2014 ANZAC Test.[18] He was the Wests Tigers' second best performer for hit-ups and tackles made for the season, and again appeared in every game.[19] He played in the 2014 Four Nations. Blair later said of Wests Tigers period, "[I'd] be lying if I said I was 100 per cent happy."[20]

Brisbane Broncos

On 18 November 2014 it was announced that Blair had signed with the Brisbane Broncos on a three-year deal, starting in 2015.[21] He co-captained the New Zealand Kiwis on their tour of Great Britain.

References

  1. ↑ "Adam Blair". nzleague.co.nz. Archived from the original on 23 April 2012.
  2. ↑ Shawn Dollin and Andrew Ferguson (25 October 2015). "Adam Blair". Rugbyleagueproject.com. Retrieved 2015-11-01.
  3. ↑ "Player Profile : Adam Blair". Dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 2015-11-01.
  4. ↑ Donaghy, Dave (15 March 2007). "Islander blood runs deep". Herald Sun. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
  5. ↑ "NEW ZEALAND TRI-NATIONS PENPIX". Sportinglife. 6 October 2006. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
  6. ↑ "2003 Junior Kiwis". NZRL. Archived from the original on 19 July 2008. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
  7. ↑ melbournestorm.com.au. "NRL Honour Board". Club. Melbourne Storm.
  8. ↑ "2006 Gillette Tri-Nations Series". NZRL. 6 August 2008. Archived from the original on 21 July 2008. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
  9. ↑ "Kiwis select Sonny Bill". Sky Sports. 8 August 2008. Retrieved 8 August 2008.
  10. ↑ "Kiwis to wait on Webb and Matai". BBC. 7 October 2008. Archived from the original on 11 October 2008. Retrieved 7 October 2008.
  11. ↑ Archived 3 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ↑ "Adam Blair signs with Wests Tigers for four years". The Press. 13 July 2011. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
  13. ↑ Glenn Jackson (14 July 2012). "Sheens: judge the incident, not the name". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  14. ↑ Phil Rothfield (27 August 2012). "NRL's biggest flop by Tim Sheens". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  15. ↑ Wayne Cousins (29 January 2013). "Mick Potter praises Adam Blair on his mentor role". weststigers.com.au. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  16. ↑ Phil Rothfield (21 May 2013). "Is Wests Tigers' Adam Blair the NRL's worst signing ever?". Courier Mail. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  17. ↑ Russell Jackson (14 May 2013). "Wests Tigers backrower Adam Blair responds to critics". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  18. ↑ Hooper, James (8 June 2014). "Wests Tigers forward Adam Blair no longer holds the flop sign as dud buy". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
  19. ↑ "Wests Tigers Player List". nrl.com. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
  20. ↑ Stuart Honeysett (1 October 2015). "NRL Grand Final 2015: Adam Blair blooms in Brisbane". The Australian. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  21. ↑ Broncos Sign Big Bopper Blair, Brisbane Broncos official website, 18 November 2014

External links

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