.jpg) Gower in 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | (1978-04-29)29 April 1978 (age 47) Penrith, New South Wales, Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 174 cm (5 ft 9 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 89 kg (14 st 0 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby league | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Halfback, Hooker | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Rugby union | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Fly-half | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Craig Gower (born 29 April 1978) is an Italian-Australian former professionalrugby league andrugby union footballer who played in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. He is adual-code rugby international, having playedrugby league forAustralia andrugby union forItaly. ANew South WalesState of Origin and Australian Kangaroos representativehalfback orhooker, he played in theNational Rugby League for Sydney club thePenrith Panthers (whom he captained to victory in the2003 NRL Premiership). Gower then switched rugby union, playing for FrenchTop 14 sideBayonne, and through grandparentage represented Italy. He returned to rugby league with theLondon Broncos in theSuper League and then finished his playing career with one moreNational Rugby League season at theNewcastle Knights.
Gower was born inPenrith, New South Wales, Australia. He is of Italian descent.[7]
Gower was educated at MacCarthy Catholic College, Emu Plains. He played his junior football for theColyton Colts before being signed by thePenrith Panthers.
In Round 11 of the1996 ARL season Gower made hisARL début for the Panthers against theGold Coast Chargers. Gower made his representative début in his second season in first-grade when still aged only eighteen. He was selected in the AustralianSuper League side for theANZAC Test againstNew Zealand in 1997. He appeared in both Super League Tests against New Zealand and made the end of year Super League tour to Great Britain, playing in allthree Tests in England at halfback. Following the re-unification of Australian rugby league, Gower debuted forNew South Wales in the1999 State of Origin series. He was selected for theANZAC Test that year but was dismissed following a disciplinary incident. However he was selected for theAustralian team to compete in the end of season1999 Rugby League Tri-Nations tournament. In the final againstNew Zealand he played athooker in the Kangaroos' 22–20 victory.
In 2000, Gower won theHooker of the Year award at the 2000Dally M Awards. In 2002, Gower debuted for theCity Origin team in the annualCity vs Country Origin clash. Between 2002 and 2005, Gower captained the Panthers, the highlight of which was the2003 NRL Grand Final victory over theSydney Roosters. After that Gower was selected to go on the2003 Kangaroo tour. As 2003 NRL premiers, the Panthers travelled to England to faceSuper League VIII champions, theBradford Bulls in the2004 World Club Challenge. Gower captained the Panthers at half back in their 22–4 loss.[8] Gower was named Australia's captain for theTest match against France on the2005 Tri-Nations tour.[9] Gower became the second Penrith Panthers player to captain his country, afterBrad Fittler in 1995.
In 2006, Gower married Penrith Panthers cheerleader Amanda Flynn.[citation needed] In 2007, Gower's last year at the Panthers, he ended the season with 238 career matches for the Panthers, four games short of the club record of 242 held bySteve Carter.
On 26 June 2007, Gower switched codes by signing with FrenchTop 14rugby union sideBayonne,[10] having two years still to run on his contract at the Panthers.[11]
In 2008, Gower expressed his desire to playrugby union forItaly. He qualified for the 'Azzurri' due to his Italian grandfather. On 13 June 2009, Gower made his first appearance forItaly atfly-half againstAustralia after being selected for the mid-season tour of Australia and New Zealand. Italy coachNick Mallett had initial reservations about selecting Gower.
Following the expiry of his union contract, Gower returned torugby league,[12] signing a 2-year contract with theLondon Broncos of theSuper League starting in 2012.[13]
As a result, he did not feature in Italy's2011 Rugby World Cup campaign, and was instead selected in theItalyrugby league squad for the2013 Rugby League World Cup qualifying tournament, although he missed all three matches due to injury. On 14 November 2012, Gower extended his Broncos contract by a year, making him a Bronco until the end of 2014.[14] He was then named captain,[15] although he stood down as captain in May.[16]
In June 2013, Gower gained a release from his Broncos contract to return to Australia and negotiate a contract withNational Rugby League club theNewcastle Knights.[17] On 8 June 2013, Gower signed a contract with the Knights for the remainder of the2013 NRL season.[18]
Gower was named in the Italy squad for the2013 Rugby League World Cup.[19] However he did not play due to the injury he suffered at the end of the2013 NRL season.
At the end of the2013 NRL season, Gower announced his retirement due to injury.[20]
On 25 June 2016, Gower was inducted into the Penrith Panthers hall of fame alongsideGrahame Moran,Royce Simmons, andGreg Alexander.
Gower has been involved in a number of alcohol-related off-field incidents. In 1999, Gower exposed himself to a female Irish tourist in aCoogee bar, blaming his behaviour on alcohol intoxication. He was dumped from the squad and fined A$2,500 by theNRL and a further A$500 in court after pleading guilty to indecent exposure.[21]
In December 2005, Gower was fired as Panthers captain[22] after incidents at a charity golf event where he argued with several guests,groped the then teenage daughter of former league playerWayne Pearce, chasedMitchell Pearce with a bottle before vomiting on him, streaked nude around the resort, stole and crashed a golf cart, held a butter knife[23] to the throat of a Sydney radio personality before throwing it at resort guests, and engaged in a brawl with resort security before being ejected from the official function and detained by police.[24] He was handed a "final warning" by theNational Rugby League and fined A$100,000, with A$90,000 to be paid to an NRL programme encouraging the responsible use of alcohol by league players and $10,000 to replace the destroyed golf cart.[25] Gower was "deeply unhappy" that thePenrith Panthers club did not defend his reputation, and at one stage threatened to "walk" from the club.[26]
Allegedly inebriated with alcohol in a bar atKings Cross on 11 February 2007, Gower allegedly tried to kiss one man before biting him on the neck and sparking a brawl, and is accused of assaulting another man.[27][28] The Panthers club controversially reappointed Gower as captain in 2007, claiming the Peppermint Lounge incident was just a media "beat-up".[29] Australian swimmerDawn Fraser said Gower was unfit to be captain, due to his alleged lewd behaviour at the charity golf event which she attended,[30] andSarah Maddison, spokesperson for the Women's Electoral Lobby, said "reappointing Craig Gower would send all the wrong messages."[31]
{{cite news}}:|archive-url= is malformed: timestamp (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)| Preceded by | Australian national rugby league captain 2005-07 | Succeeded by |