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| Born | (1963-01-31)31 January 1963 (age 62) Surry Hills,New South Wales, Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Position | Halfback | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Craig Coleman (born 31 January 1963) is an Australian former professionalrugby league footballer, andcoach. He primarily played athalfback, and remains fourth on the list of most first-grade games played for Souths, 208.[3]
Coleman was graded to South Sydney as a seventeen-year-old in 1980. In 1981 he played in the under-23 side coached byBrian Smith which lost only two games in the season and won the Grand Final at theSydney Cricket Ground.
He made his first-grade début for South Sydney in round 14 of the 1982 season, playing off the bench against theCanterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs atRedfern Oval. His first match at halfback was in round 22 of the 1982 season againstPeter Sterling, and theParramatta Eels atRedfern Oval.
During his eleven seasons with Souths, Coleman spent three off-seasons playing in England –Widnes,Hull FC andLeeds. After he was released by Souths at the end of the 1992 season, he played a fourth off-season in England, forSalford.[4][5]
Due to his late return to Australia (after 1 February signing deadline), Coleman was unable to sign with the Gold Coast for the 1993 season. He threatened to take theAustralian Rugby League to court when he was denied the clearance but spent the year playing park football for the Coogee Wombats in Souths' A-grade competition. He was back in first grade in 1994 with theGold Coast Seagulls, and finished his first-grade career playing one season for theWestern Suburbs Magpies in 1996 under coach,Tommy Raudonikis.[6]
Coleman returned to the Rabbitohs as a reserve-grade coach and took over fromSteve Martin as first-grade coach in round 19 of the1998 season.[7]
In 2000, the Rabbitohs were excluded from theNational Rugby League competition. Coleman, while working as a baggage handler forAnsett, joined the fight to have the club included in the competition.[8] On the club's return in the2002 season, Coleman was once again head coach but after a poor season the South Sydney board considered his position in late September. A split decision opted to retain Coleman as coach but revised the coaching staff, appointingPhil Blake (former Souths utility player) as the club's new coaching coordinator withPaul Langmack appointed as defensive coach.[9] Five months later and only eleven days before the official start of the 2003 season, Coleman was sacked by the club after a series of losses in the pre-season trials.[10][11] Under his coaching, the Rabbitohs won 17 of 54 games (31%) over three playing seasons.[12] 1999 was the most successful of Coleman's coaching seasons in NRL, with the Rabbitohs narrowly missing the semi-finals.
Coleman was charged with assaulting a man at Bondi Junction on 31 August 1987.[13] In March 1988 Coleman was sentenced to weekend detention for this crime. He appealed the decision and this appeal was upheld in June 1989.[14][15]
Coleman was charged with assaulting a man during a game of touch football on 27 January 1986. This charge was dismissed in February 1988.[16]
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| Preceded by Steve Martin 1998 | Coach South Sydney Rabbitohs 1998-1999 2002 | Succeeded by Paul Langmack 2003-2004 |