Craig Coleman

For the American artist, see Craig Coleman (artist).

Craig Coleman (born 31 January 1963) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer, and coach. He primarily played at halfback, and remains fourth on the list of most first-grade games played for Souths, 208.^[3]

Craig Coleman

Personal information
Born	(1963-01-31) 31 January 1963 (age 60) Surry Hills, New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
Position	Halfback
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1982–92 South Sydney 208 25 0 8 108 1986–87 Widnes Vikings 3 1 0 1 5 1988–89 Hull F.C. 24 3 0 1 14 1989–90 Leeds Rhinos 17 3 0 2 14 1992–93 Salford Red Devils 28 7 0 0 28 1994–95 Gold Coast Seagulls 44 4 0 0 16 1996 Western Suburbs 16 1 0 0 4 Total 340 44 0 12 189
Coaching information
Club Years Team Gms W D L W% 1998–99 South Sydney 48 15 0 33 31 2002 South Sydney 24 5 0 19 21 Total 72 20 0 52 28
Source: ^[1]^[2]

Playing career

Coleman was graded to South Sydney as a seventeen-year-old in 1980. In 1981 he played in the under-23 side coached by Brian Smith which lost only two games in the season and won the Grand Final at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

He made his first-grade début for South Sydney in round 14 of the 1982 season, playing off the bench against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs at Redfern Oval. His first match at halfback was in round 22 of the 1982 season against Peter Sterling, and the Parramatta Eels at Redfern Oval.

During his eleven seasons with Souths, Coleman spent three off-seasons playing in England - Widnes, Hull FC and Leeds. After he was released by Souths at the end of the 1992 season, he played a fourth off-season in England, for Salford.^[4][5]

Due to his late return to Australia (after the 1 February signing deadline), Coleman was unable to sign with the Gold Coast for the 1993 season. He threatened to take the Australian Rugby League to court when he was denied the clearance but spent the year playing park football for the Coogee Wombats in Souths' A-grade competition. He was back in first grade in 1994 with the Gold Coast Seagulls, and finished his first-grade career playing one season for the Western Suburbs Magpies in 1996 under coach, Tommy Raudonikis.^[6]

Coaching career

Coleman returned to the Rabbitohs as a reserve-grade coach and took over from Steve Martin as first-grade coach in round 19 of the 1998 season.^[7]

In 2000, the Rabbitohs were excluded from the National Rugby League competition. Coleman, while working as a baggage handler for Ansett, joined the fight to have the club included in the competition.^[8] On the club's return in the 2002 season, Coleman was once again head coach but after a poor season the South Sydney board considered his position in late September. A split decision opted to retain Coleman as coach but revised the coaching staff, appointing Phil Blake (former Souths utility player) as the club's new coaching coordinator with Paul Langmack appointed as defensive coach.^[9] Five months later and only eleven days before the official start of the 2003 season, Coleman was sacked by the club after a series of losses in the pre-season trials.^[10][11] Under his coaching, the Rabbitohs won 17 of 54 games (31%) over three playing seasons.^[12] 1999 was the most successful of Coleman's coaching seasons in NRL, with the Rabbitohs narrowly missing the semi finals.

References

• Alan Whiticker & Glen Hudson (2007). The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players. Wetherill Park, New South Wales: Gary Allen Pty Ltd. p. 94. ISBN 978-1-877082-93-1.
• Tony Adams (5 September 2007). "Legend Q&A". Rugby League Week. pp. 22–23.

Footnotes

1. Ferguson, Shawn Dollin and Andrew. "Craig Coleman - Career Stats & Summary - Rugby League Project". Rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
2. Ferguson, Shawn Dollin and Andrew. "Craig Coleman - Summary - Rugby League Project". Rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
3. "South Sydney factbox" (Fee required). AAP Sports News (Australia). 14 October 1999. Retrieved 27 July 2008.^{[dead link]}
4. "1989 Rabbitohs: Where are they now?". Dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
5. "Rugby League: Salford exploit pressure". Independent.co.uk. 14 January 1993. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
6. Ferguson, Shawn Dollin and Andrew. "Custom Match List - Rugby League Project". Rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
7. "Factbox on careers of Andrew Farrar and Craig Coleman" (Fee required). AAP Sports News (Australia). 14 August 2002. Retrieved 27 July 2008.^{[dead link]}
8. "Souths factbox" (Fee required). AAP Sports News (Australia). 9 March 2002. Retrieved 27 July 2008.^{[dead link]}
9. "Coleman hangs on" (Fee required). AAP Sports News (Australia). 26 September 2002. Retrieved 27 July 2008.^{[dead link]}
10. "Rabbitohs axe Langmack". ABC News. 2 June 2004. Retrieved 27 July 2008.^{[dead link]}
11. "Sacked Coleman bitter as Blake takes interim role" (Fee required). AAP Sports News (Australia). 3 March 2003. Retrieved 27 July 2008.^{[dead link]}
12. . Sports Data. Archived from the original on 26 July 2008. Retrieved 27 July 2008.

External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by Steve Martin 1998	Coach   South Sydney Rabbitohs 1998-1999 2002	Succeeded by Paul Langmack 2003-2004