Gary Belcher

Infobox rugby league biography
playername = Gary Belcher
fullname = Gary Belcher
nickname = Badge

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caption =
position = rlp|FB
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1962|5|28
placeofbirth =
countryofbirth =
height =
weight =
club1 = leagueicon|Canberra Raiders|16 Canberra Raiders
year1start = 1986
year1end = 1993
appearances1 = 148
tries1 = 69
goals1 = 148
fieldgoals1 = 0
points1 = 572
club2 = leagueicon|Castleford|16 Castleford
year2start = 1988
year2end = 1989
appearances2 = 11
tries2 = 5
goals2 = 0
fieldgoals2 = 1
points2 = 21
teamA = leagueicon|Queensland|16 Queensland
yearAstart = 1986
yearAend = 1993
appearancesA = 16
triesA = 4
goalsA = 16
fieldgoalsA = 0
pointsA = 48
teamB = leagueicon|Australia|16 Australia
yearBstart = 1986
yearBend = 1991
appearancesB = 15
triesB = 3
goalsB = 6
fieldgoalsB = 0
pointsB = 24
source = [http://rugbyleagueproject.com/players/Gary_Belcher.html Rugby League Project] and [http://www.yesterdayshero.com.au/PlayerProfile_Gary-Belcher_915.aspx Yesterday's Hero]

Gary Belcher (born 28 May, 1962 is an Australian former rugby league footballer and commentator. He played for the Canberra Raiders as a fullback during the 1980's and 1990's. He also represented Queensland and Australia.

Canberra

Belcher was part of the Brisbane Rugby League premiership Souths Magpies team that won the 1985 title. The following year he, along with Souths team-mate Mal Meninga, signed with the Canberra Raiders and Belcher won the club's player of the year award. In 1987 he again won the Raiders' player of the year award and played in the Grand Final against Manly, although Canberra were defeated 18-8. In the 1988 season he was the League's top point scorer and also broke the Raiders' club record for the most points, scoring 218. This record stood for almost thirteen years before being broken by Clinton Schifcofske in 2001. In 1989, Belcher was also part of the 19-14 Grand Final victory over Balmain in which he helped in his sides fight back by scoring a try. 1989 was also the year that Belcher broke the record for the most tries in a season for a fullback, scoring 17 tries in total, topping the league's try-scorers list. The following year in 1990 Belcher was also part of the victorious Canberra team, defeating Penrith 18-14. In 1991, he was involved in his sides 19-12 Grand Final loss to Penrith.

1992 proved to be one of the low points of Belcher's career, with a knee reconstruction ruling him out for the season. After his contract had expired, Canberra failed to offer him a new contract. As a result, Gary Belcher announced his retirement from the game on a Canberra television news program. During his career at the Raiders, Belcher won two New South Wales Rugby League premierships as well as being twice runner-up of the competition. He also scored 69 tries and scored 148 goals in his 148 games for the Raiders, which was a total of 572 points.

Representive career

Queensland

The year Belcher joined the Raiders was also the year he was called up to the Queensland State of Origin side. In 1988 he played in the Queensland side that demolished the New South Wales side by three games to nil. In 1993, Belcher was re-selected for the Queensland State of Origin side, although he was dropped after the 14-10 defeat in the first match of the series.

Australia

As well as being selected for the Queensland Origin side in 1986, Belcher was also called up for the Kangaroos tour. However, Belcher was the understudy to Garry Jack and as a result he played no test matches on the tour, although he did however play in ten matches on the tour. In 1988, after impressing for his club as well as in Queensland's clean-sweep Origin series, Belcher was called up to the Australian squad again to play in the Centenary Test match against Great Britain. Belcher was called up for the 1990 Kangaroo tour, in which he played all five test matches despite the challenge from other players such as Greg Alexander. In 1991, injury ruled him out of the test series against New Zealand. He regained his number one spot in the Australian squad for the fullback position on the tour of Papua New Guinea, where he played in all five matches and top scored with 32 points.

Post-playing career

Belcher has been a commentator for Fox Sports coverage of NRL matches since sometime before 2007. He is also a Director of a promotional products company - Amcorp.

External links

*StateofOrigin player|281
* [http://www.thecastlefordtigers.co.uk/playerprofile.php?pid=915 Gary Belcher at thecastlefordtigers.co.uk]