Greg Alexander

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**Greg Alexander**
Personal information

Full name	Gregory Alexander
Date of birth	April 26
Place of birth	Penrith, Australia
Height	1.73 m
Nickname	Brandy
Position	Half-back
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (points)
1984-94 1995-96 1997-99	Penrith Auckland Penrith	?? (1053) 37 (60) ?? (51)
Representative teams**
1989-97 1986-90	New South Wales Australia	6 (8) 6 (36)
* Professional club appearances and points counted for domestic first grade only and correct as of 26 August 2006. ** Representative team caps and points correct as of 26 August 2006.

This article is about the rugby league player. For the songwriter, producer and former New Radicals front man, see Gregg Alexander.

Greg Alexander (born in Penrith, NSW, nicknamed Brandy) was an Australian rugby league player. In his career he played for and captained the Penrith Panthers and the Auckland Warriors in the National Rugby League competition in Australia; he has also represented his country and state on several occasions. His position of choice for the majority of his career was at half-back.

1 Playing career
- 1.1 Penrith Panthers
- 1.2 Auckland Warriors
2 Career playing statistics
- 2.1 Point scoring summary
- 2.2 Matches played
3 Life After Football
4 Sources
5 External links

[edit] Playing career

He began his rugby career at schoolboy level where he quickly established himself as a star player for his side and was consequently picked to represent the Australian schoolboys side. He was later signed on as a junior to his local club side the Penrith Panthers.

[edit] Penrith Panthers

Alexander made his first grade debut for the Panthers in the 1984 season as an elusive and quick thinking half-back. His talent quickly became clear and by the end of the season he took out the Rookie of the Year award. The following year Greg continued his good form throughout the season tallying up 194 points (a club record at the time) and earning himself the 1985 Dally M. player of the year award.

Greg continued playing with the Panthers for the next several years and become known for his unique ability to score and set up tries, his excellent attacking kicking and his solid defence. 1989 saw him rise to Test selection in New Zealand, but he was regarded as a disappointment after his exceptional form for Penrith earlier in the year: his pace and skill had made Penrith the second most dangerous attacking team in the competition (after Canberra) and Alexander was the leading try-scorer for much of the year - scoring ten tries in eight games at one point. He captained the Panthers in 1991 to a premiership title and was also rewarded by being called up to both his state and national side.

After a dream 1991 season the following was a somewhat sombre one for Alexander as in June of 1992 his younger brother and fellow Panthers team-mate Ben Alexander was tragically killed in a car accident[1]. He missed the majority of fixtures that year and continually fell beyond his usual playing weight and ended the season ten kilograms lighter.[2]

He went on to represent the Panthers for ten years until 1994 but eventually returned after a brief stint in New Zealand for a final swan song in 1997 and stayed on till his retirement in 1999. In total Alexander played 220 games for the panthers and scored over one hundred tries, tallying up over a thousand career points for the club and is still to date only the second player ever to accomplish this in Australian rugby league.

[edit] Auckland Warriors

At the end of the 1994 season Alexander left his hometown club of Penrith to venture across the tasman and join up with the New Zealand side the Auckland Warriors. Many rumoured his leaving stemmed back to his brother's death and his wish to get away from the pain that had haulted his career in the years before.

[edit] Career playing statistics

[edit] Point scoring summary

Games	Tries	Goals	F/G	Points
257	112	351	14	1164

[edit] Matches played

Team	Matches	Years
Penrith Panthers	220	1984 - 1994, 1997 - 1999
Auckland Warriors	37	1995 - 1996
New South Wales (state of origin)	5	1989 - 1991, 1997
Australia (Tests)	6	1986 - 1990

[edit] Life After Football

After his retirement from football in 1999 Alexander embarked on a media career in both radio and television, he currently works as a Sideline Commentator with Warren Smith and Laurie Daley for Foxtel's Fox Sports station.

Alexander was also appointed to the Penrith Panthers board of directors where he still sits to this day. He has also had a small coaching role for the Panthers in 2003 when they also won the premiership title.