Steve Georgallis

Steve Georgallis (born 17 June 1968) is an Australian professional rugby league football coach and former player who is currently an assistant coach for the North Queensland Cowboys in the National Rugby League (NRL) and the head coach of the Greek national team.

Steve Georgallis
Personal information
Born (1968-06-17) 17 June 1968
Height180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight92 kg (14 st 7 lb)
Playing information
PositionHalfback, Five-eighth, Lock
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1989–92 Eastern Suburbs 38 5 0 0 20
1991 Carlisle
1993–99 Western Suburbs 148 20 0 0 80
1995 Wakefield Trinity 17 5 0 0 20
2000 Wests Tigers 20 1 0 0 4
2001 Warrington Wolves 6 2 0 0 8
Total 229 33 0 0 132
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2003–0 Greece 1 0 0 0 0
Coaching information
Club
Years Team Gms W D L W%
2003– Greece 16 11 0 5 69
2011 Penrith Panthers 11 4 0 7 36
2020 Canterbury Bulldogs 11 2 0 9 18
Total 38 17 0 21 45
As of 30 October 2020
Source: [1][2][3]

A half or lock, he played for the Eastern Suburbs Roosters, Western Suburbs Magpies and the Wests Tigers, as well as in England for Carlisle, Wakefield Trinity and the Warrington Wolves. As a coach, he has served as interim head coach for the Penrith Panthers and Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.[3]

Playing career

Georgallis made his début with the Roosters in 1989 playing halfback.[2] Over the 4 seasons with the club he had spells playing as a five-eighth, fullback and centre without being able to cement a position, making only 38 appearances.

Joining the Magpies in 1993, he proved just as adaptable, and was a cornerstone of the team for 7 seasons, playing in 148 games. During this time he also spent an off-season in England playing for Wakefield Trinity. By 1999, Georgallis had started making appearances as a lock, and was captaining the struggling Magpies. He played a season mostly from the bench for the Wests Tigers after the merger with Balmain. He was cheered from the field at the completion of his last Australian game.[4]

In 2001, Georgallis joined the Warrington Wolves for a season. Wolves' coach Darryl van der Velde said at the time, "He knows what Rugby League's all about. He is very strong, has good hands and is always busy on the field."[4] Unfortunately, Georgallis only lasted 6 games before the end of his professional career, though he did make later appearances as captain of Greece.[5]

Coaching career

In 2003, Georgallis became the head coach of the Greek national team and the Western Suburbs Magpies SG Ball Cup team.[6] On 31 August 2003, he coached Greece in their first rugby league Test match, a 26–10 win over New Caledonia in Sydney. In 2004, he became head coach of the Magpies NSWRL Premier League team.

In 2006, Georgallis joined the Penrith Panthers as an assistant coach and head coach of their NSWRL Premier League feeder club, the St Marys Cougars.[7] In 2008, he became coach of the Panthers' National Youth Competition under-20s team, finishing fourth and taking them to the finals.[8]

On 20 June 2011, it was announced that Georgallis would take over as interim head coach of the Penrith Panthers following the resignation of Matthew Elliott. He had immediate success, defeating the North Queensland Cowboys 30–20 in his first game in charge. Georgallis had won his first two games when it was announced that Phil Gould had chosen Ivan Cleary to be the Panthers coach from 2012 onwards. The Panthers won just two of the remaining nine games of the season.[9]

In 2012, Georgallis joined his former club, the Wests Tigers, as an assistant coach.[10][11] In 2014, Georgallis joined the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles as an assistant coach, spending two years at the club.[12] In 2016, he re-joined the Panthers as the club's NSW Cup head coach.[13]

On 15 December 2016, Georgallis was named as head coach of the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs for the 2017 season.[14] Georgallis led the side to a Top 4 finish and a finals appearance. On 26 October 2017, he was promoted to assistant coach of the Bulldogs' NRL side while remaining as their NSW Cup head coach.[15]

In 2018, Georgallis led the Bulldogs to Intrust Super Premiership and the NRL State Championship victories.[16][17] On 6 November 2018, he was named as an assistant coach of the Bulldogs on a full-time basis.[18]

In November 2019, Georgallis' Greece side qualified for the 2021 Rugby League World Cup, the country's first Rugby League World Cup qualification.[19]

On 14 July 2020, following the Bulldogs' Round 9 loss to the Brisbane Broncos, Georgallis was named as the club's interim head coach for the remainder of the 2020 NRL season, following Dean Pay's resignation.[20] In Round 11, Georgallis earned his first win as Bulldogs' coach, defeating the Newcastle Knights 18–12 in his second game in charge.[21] In Round 19, the Bulldogs defeated the South Sydney Rabbitohs 26–16, helping them to avoid the wooden spoon.[22] Following the appointment of Trent Barrett as Bulldogs' head coach for the 2021 NRL season, Georgallis left the club.

On 30 October 2020, Georgallis joined the North Queensland Cowboys as an assistant coach under head coach Todd Payten.[23]

References
  1. "Statistics at 203.166.101.37". 203.166.101.37. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  2. "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  3. "Coach Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  4. Mike Parsons (20 November 2000). "WOLVES HOOK INTO GEORGALLIS". This is Cheshire. Retrieved 19 January 2010.
  5. Steven Birchall (27 September 2003). "Kogarah: Italy wins Ionio Cup". League Unlimited. Retrieved 20 January 2010.
  6. "Gus has given me free rein to make my mark, says Georgallis". Sydney Morning Herald. 25 June 2011.
  7. "The law of the jungle for rejected Panther". The Advertiser. 8 July 2011.
  8. Christian Nicolussi, Dean Ritchie and Josh Massoud (27 August 2008). "Pritchard's threat to quit". The Herald Sun. Retrieved 31 August 2008.
  9. Josh Massoud (9 July 2011). "The law of the jungle for rejected Panther". Daily Telegraph (Sydney). Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  10. "Bulldogs job still possible, says Georgallis". Sydney Morning Herald. 3 August 2011. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  11. "Georgallis jumps ship to take assistant's role with Tigers". smh.com.au. 3 August 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  12. "Manly Sea Eagles forced to pay Steve Georgallis $45,000 over his sacking". Sydney Morning Herald. 13 December 2016.
  13. "Georgallis returns to the Panthers". Penrith Panthers. 30 October 2015.
  14. "Georgallis joins the Bulldogs". Canterbury Bulldogs. 15 December 2016.
  15. "Meet Steve Antonelli". Canterbury Bulldogs. 26 October 2017.
  16. "Canterbury Bulldogs beat Newtown Jets to win 2018 Intrust Super Premiership grand final". Fox Sports.
  17. "Bulldogs down Dolphins to win Intrust Super Championship". NRL.
  18. "Bulldogs revise Football Department structure". Canterbury Bulldogs. 6 November 2018.
  19. "Greece qualify for Rugby League World Cup for the first time". BBC. 9 November 2019.
  20. "Dean Pay to step down as Bulldogs Head Coach". Canterbury Bulldogs. 14 July 2020.
  21. "Bulldogs dig deep to defeat Newcastle". Canterbury Bulldogs. 26 July 2020.
  22. "Bulldogs climb off bottom of the ladder". Canterbury Bulldogs. 17 September 2020.
  23. "Cowboys finalise 2021 coaching staff". NQ Cowboys. 30 October 2020.

Sources
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