Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | (1955-09-16)16 September 1955 (age 69) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Centre, Wing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source:[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Father | Jim Gartner | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relatives | Clive Gartner (uncle) Daniel Gartner (cousin) Ray Gartner (uncle) Joe Gartner (grandfather) Renee Gartner (daughter) Keith Gartner (uncle) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Russel Gartner (born 16 September 1955), also known by thenickname of"Frog eyes", is an Australian formerrugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. An international representativethree-quarter, He played forManly-Warringah,Eastern Suburbs andBalmain in theNSWRFL premiership.
Gartner came from a family with a strong rugby league background with his fatherJim and uncleClive playing for theCanterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (all three were pacey outside backs), while his cousinDaniel Gartner, a back rower, would later also play for Manly-Warringah (winning a Premiership in1996) and represent Australia.
A fast and tallCentre orWinger, Russel Gartner started playing first grade in theNew South Wales Rugby Football League premiership in1975 with theManly-Warringah club. The following year he won his first premiership when he was part of the Sea Eagles' team that defeatedParramatta in theGrand Final. In1977 Gartner was the League's top try-scorer with 17, three more than any other player in the premiership (North Sydney's Barry Wood and Gartner's former centre partner at ManlyBob Fulton who had joinedEastern Suburbs following Manly's 1976 premiership).
During the 1977 season, Gartner played two games for Australia in the1977Rugby League World Cup. After making his debut for Australia from the bench in a 21-9 win overFrance at theSydney Cricket Ground on 11 June, Gartner was selected in the centres alongsideMichael Cronin for theWorld Cup final two weeks later against a strongGreat Britain side, again at the Cricket Ground. There he scored a spectacular 65-metre solo try which was a catalyst to Australia's eventual victory.[2] Surprisingly his twoWorld Cup games in 1977 would prove to be Gartner's only appearances in the green and gold. Gartner is listed on theAustralian Players Register as Kangaroo No.501.[3]
In1978, Gartner was again a stand out performer for the Sea Eagles, scoring 10 tries for the season (second only in the team to wingerTom Mooney who crossed for 11), and playing in their drawn Grand Final againstCronulla-Sutherland, before scoring two tries, the second being a 70-metre effort where Manly threw the ball wide from a scrum and Gartner easily out paced the Cronulla chasers despite going into the match having torn his hamstring while scoring in the Preliminary final win overWestern Suburbs, in the 16-0 rout of the Sharks in the Grand Final replay played just two days later. Following his two try performance in the Grand Final replay, Gartner was a shock omission from the1978 Kangaroo tour in which 7 of his team mates (fullbackGraham Eadie, halfbacksJohn Gibbs andSteve Martin, hooker and Sea Eagles captainMax Krilich, five-eighthAlan Thompson, and forwardsIan Thomson andBruce Walker) were selected to tour. An eighth team mate, hard hitting second rowerTerry Randall, was also selected but declined to tour citing exhaustion due to injuries and Manly's arduous finals campaign which saw the Sea Eagles play 6 finals games in just 24 days (as well as the Grand Final Replay, Manly also had to play a replay of their Semi-Final against Parramatta which was originally drawn 13–all). The coach of the Kangaroos was Manly coachFrank Stanton.
At the end of the1981 season, Gartner transferred to the Eastern Suburbs club where he played for two years before moving to Balmain. He played on the wing for the Tigers in their 24-12 loss toCanterbury-Bankstown in the1988 Grand Final, and was a non-playing reserve in their dramatic extra time loss to theCanberra Raiders in the1989 Grand Final.
Russel Gartner retired from playing following the 1989 Grand Final.