Brian Battese (born 25 March 1961) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a second-row forward in the 1980s. He played in the Brisbane Rugby League and New South Wales Rugby League premierships.

Brian Battese
Personal information
Born (1961-03-25) 25 March 1961 (age 63)
Playing information
Height183 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight95 kg (14 st 13 lb)
PositionSecond-row
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
19??–8? Wynnum-Manly
1983 Western Suburbs 21 0 0 0 0
1984–85 Canterbury-Bankstown 42 4 0 0 16
1985–86 Salford 17 4 0 0 16
1986–87 Eastern Suburbs 22 1 0 0 4
1988 Canberra Raiders 2 0 0 0 0
Total 104 9 0 0 36
Source: [1][2]

Playing career edit

A South Lismore junior, Battese played with Wynnum-Manly Seagulls in the Brisbane Rugby League Premiership. He played in Wynnum-Manly's 1982 Grand Final victory over Souths[3] before moving to Sydney club, Western Suburbs Magpies, in 1983. After one season with the club, he moved to Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs for two seasons under coach Warren Ryan. Although Battese started the 1984 season in reserve-grade, in April he replaced the injured Phil Gould and retained the position for the remainder of the year and played in the premiership winning team against Parramatta. In 1985, Battese was a member of the victorious Canterbury team that defeated St. George in the grand final.

Battese spent the 1985–1986 off-season with Salford City in England before returning to Australia to join Eastern Suburbs. After a move to the A.C.T. in 1988, Battese played only two matches for the Canberra Raiders before retiring.

Post playing edit

Battese now teaches at St. John's College in Lismore and coaches junior rugby league.[4][5]

Footnotes edit

  1. ^ "Brian Battese". Rugby League Project. Shawn Dollin, Andrew Ferguson and Bill Bates. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  2. ^ Platt, Darrell (1991). A History of Salford Rugby League Club. Salford Rugby League Club.
  3. ^ "The yahoos fell by the wayside as the band played on". The Sydney Morning Herald. 1 October 1985.
  4. ^ Geoff Newling (6 November 2008). "Farrer in a fight to cling on". The Northern Daily Leader. Archived from the original on 5 September 2008. Retrieved 14 September 2008.
  5. ^ Steve Spinks (27 May 2006). "Kyogle a tough trip for Brothers". The Northern Star. Retrieved 14 September 2008.

References edit

External links edit