Greg Florimo

Greg Florimo (born 17 May 1967) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and current rugby league administrator known for his lifelong association with the North Sydney Bears both as a player and CEO.

Greg Florimo
Personal information
Born (1967-05-17) 17 May 1967
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
Height180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight97 kg (15 st 4 lb)
PositionCentre, Five-eighth, Lock
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1986–98 North Sydney Bears 285 72 3 1 295
1999 Wigan Warriors 20 7 1 0 30
2000 Halifax 26 6 4 0 32
Total 331 85 8 1 357
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1988–95 New South Wales 4 0 0 0 0
1988 President's XIII 1 0 0 0 0
1989–95 City Origin 3 0 0 0 0
1994–95 Australia 4 0 0 1 1
Source: [1][2]

Early life

Florimo began playing as a junior in the North Sydney district for Willoughby at age seven before playing for McMahons Point, Crows Nest and North Sydney Brothers. He also played for the Lane Cove Rugby Club Juniors.[3]

Playing career

He played 285 first-grade games for the North Sydney Bears over 13 seasons, starting his career in the centres before moving to 5/8. He made his début for the Bears in 1986 and retired in 1998. In first grade he scored 73 tries, 3 goals and 1 field goal. He famously called the North Sydney fans onto Bear Park in 1997 after the game when Norths defeated traditional rivals Manly 41-8.

Florimo's final game for Norths was in the 23–2 minor semi-final defeat by Canterbury. In total Florimo played 285 games for Norths which is more appearances than any other player at the club.[4][5]

For NSW he played four State of Origin games between 1988 and 1995. He played four Tests for Australia between 1994 and 1995.[6] He played in the Super League for English clubs Wigan Warriors in 1999 and Halifax in 2000.

Greg Florimo kicked two field goals in his senior rugby league career. The first came in a 19-10 win for North Sydney over Cronulla-Sutherland in Round 11 of the 1991 season. The second came in the second test of the 1995 Trans-Tasman Test series against New Zealand at the Sydney Football Stadium in which Australia won 20-10 and wrapped up the series 2-0.

He was one of only two players ever to score a 10/10 performance in a match by Rugby League Week. In August 2006 Florimo was named at centre in the North Sydney Bears' Team of the Century. He is the brother-in-law of former North Sydney Bears player Gary Larson.

Refereeing

Florimo is also associated with the North Sydney Rugby League Referee's association, refereeing mini and mod footy on Saturday mornings.

Post playing

Florimo was at one stage the North Sydney Bears CEO, and is advocating a return for the club to the NRL.[7] Florimo's son, Jay, was a member of the Wyong Roos squad in the NSW Cup competition (NSW Cup was formerly known as Reserve Grade).[8]

On 25 January 2019, Florimo was announced as a Wellbeing, Education and Community Manager at the club.[9]

References
  1. RLP
  2. "SL Stats". Archived from the original on 15 August 2009. Retrieved 5 October 2008.
  3. http://northern-district-times.whereilive.com.au/sport/story/players-launch-club-doco/
  4. http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/seasons/nrl-1998/minor-semi/north-sydney-vs-canterbury/summary.html
  5. http://www.theroar.com.au/2017/06/10/north-sydney-bears-top-ten-players/
  6. "Greg Florimo Interview". Archived from the original on 21 October 2007. Retrieved 11 May 2007.
  7. http://north-shore-times.whereilive.com.au/sport/story/bears-in-talks-over-nrl-spot/
  8. http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/central-coast/wyong-roos-win-central-coast-rugby-league-grand-final/news-story/b67d43044b01e2339bd7ac545f9bf879
  9. "Bears announce new role for club legend". North Sydney Bears.
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