Australian rugby league footballer
Phil Blake
(born 24 November 1963) is a British-born Australian former
rugby league
footballer and a professional
rugby union
coach.
Originally a
halfback
, Blake developed into a utility player and played first grade matches in all the backline positions, as well as at
hooker
and
lock
. He represented
New South Wales
on one occasion.
Blake has held coaching positions with the
Wallabies
,
Western Force
,
Manly RUFC
and
Leicester Tigers
.
Early life
[
edit
]
Blake was born in London, England, but moved to
Sydney
with his family at an early age. While attending
Christian Brothers College
in Manly, Blake played for the
Australian Schoolboys team
in 1981.
[2]
Phil Blake is the younger brother of former Manly,
Canberra
and
South Sydney
player
Michael Blake
.
Playing career
[
edit
]
Manly
[
edit
]
Blake made his debut for the
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
in Round 12 of the
1982 season
, coming off the bench for the Sea Eagles in their 20?19 win over
Eastern Suburbs
at
Brookvale Oval
. Blake played 14 games in his rookie year, playing five-eighth, centre and halfback. He scored 9 tries in 1982, and was a try scorer for Manly in their 21?8 loss to
defending premiers
Parramatta
in the 1982 Grand Final. Blake won the
Dally M Rookie of the Year
award.
Blake's good form continued in
1983
, cementing his position as the club's first choice halfback. He broke the Sea Eagles club record for the most tries scored in a season with 27 the top try scorer in the league.
[3]
Blake's 27 tries were scored from just 23 games played and was only surpassed in 2021 as the Manly club record for most tries in a premiership season. Manly won through to the 1983 Grand Final, again against Parramatta, and for the second time in two seasons.
After playing 21 of his 23 games at halfback in 1983, he played there only 10 times in
1984
, spending most of his time at centre as coach Fulton tried to cover his defensive lapses.
[
citation needed
]
This also allowed Fulton to play others (such as halfback
Des Hasler
who had joined the club from
Penrith
) in their preferred positions. After scoring 27 tries in 23 games in 1983, Blake scored only 11 tries from 23 games in 1984.
[
citation needed
]
Blake broke his arm during the opening round of the
1985 season
against Penrith.
[
citation needed
]
He returned to the field in Round 9 against
Canberra
, but was again used in various backline positions and only scored 3 tries in 11 games.
During the 1985/86 off-season Phil Blake traveled to England and played for
Warrington
, he played at
centre
(replaced by
substitute
Mark Forster
) in
Warrington
's 8?34 defeat by
Wigan
in the
1985 Lancashire Cup
Final during the
1985?86 season
at
Knowsley Road
,
St. Helens
, on Sunday 13 October 1985,
[4]
In the
1986 NSWRL season
, Blake was again the league's top try scorer with 13, sharing the mark with
Balmain's
Great Britain
international import
Garry Schofield
and despite having that statistic, for the second time in a
Kangaroo Tour
year, he was overlooked for selection on the
1986 Kangaroo tour
. However, after four seasons under Fulton, he was unwanted by Manly and following the season signed to play for the South Sydney Rabbitohs from
1987
.
Souths
[
edit
]
In 1987, Blake joined Rabbitohs and went on to play four seasons for the club. Returning to his schoolboy position of
five-eighth
, Blake was instrumental in Souths winning the minor premiership in
1989
. He played 75 games for Souths.
He returned to England to play for Wigan for the 1988/89 season. After returning from England, Blake, and Souths went from being minor premiers in 1989 to finishing with the wooden spoon in
1990
, the biggest slide from grace in the competition's history.
Nomad
[
edit
]
After three seasons at Souths, Blake joined the
North Sydney Bears
for
1991
, however despite the Bears reaching the finals for the first time since 1982, he only played eleven games for the club and moved again at the end of the year, joining the
Canberra Raiders
.
Blake moved again at the end of the
1992 season
, joining the
St. George Dragons
. He came off the reserves bench for the Dragons in the
1993 Grand Final
who lost their second Grand Final in two seasons to the
Brisbane Broncos
. It was Blake's 3rd Grand Final loss in his 3rd attempt after having lost the 1982 and 1983 Grand Finals with Manly.
In 1995, he joined the new
Auckland Warriors
franchise, and was in their inaugural run-on side. He played three seasons for the club, his longest spell at one club since the Rabbitohs. Phil Blake, who played
fullback
in the Warrior's first game against the Broncos at
Auckland
's
Mount Smart Stadium
before 29,220 fans, scored the new club's first ever try in the game's 21st minute after a dash down the left wing by
Whetu Taewa
. Blake, as always there in support, had an easy 10m run to the line. Despite this the Warriors went down narrowly to the two time premiership winners 25?22.
Representative career
[
edit
]
Despite narrowly missing out on a Kangaroos jersey in 1982 and again in 1986, Blake never established himself at representative level. In 1988, he played for
City
, and in 1989 he came off the bench in a
State of Origin
match for
New South Wales
, but that was the extent of his representative career. Along with
Ian Roberts
and
James McManus
, he is to date one of three British-born players to play
State of Origin
.
In 1988, Blake was selected at fullback for an Australian select side called the
President's XIII
to play the
touring
Great Britain Lions
. On a wet and muddy day at the
Seiffert Oval
in
Canberra
, the President's XIII defeated the Lions 24?18.
[5]
Retirement
[
edit
]
Blake trained with the Manly team at the start of the 1998 season before announcing his retirement. He finished his career having played 261 games, scoring 138 tries as well as kicking eight goals and fifteen field goals.
[
citation needed
]
Coaching career
[
edit
]
Rugby league
[
edit
]
Blake was appointed the sprint coach at the
South Sydney Rabbitohs
for their return season in 2002.
[6]
When
Craig Coleman
was fired as head coach at the beginning of the 2003 season, Blake was appointed the temporary head coach until he was replaced by
Paul Langmack
.
[7]
[8]
[9]
Rugby union
[
edit
]
In 2006, Blake began his rugby union coaching career as assistant coach of the
Southern Districts
first grade side. He joined
Manly
as head coach a year later.
[10]
Blake suffered from a series of potentially life-threatening blood clots in 2008 and spent some time in hospital.
[11]
[12]
In 2010, he underwent triple heart bypass surgery.
[13]
After taking Manly into the semi-finals in 2010, Blake was appointed as defence and skills coach to the
Wallabies
under head coach
Robbie Deans
.
[10]
He joined the
Western Force
as defence and skills coach for the 2011 season.
[10]
When
Richard Graham
was stood down as head coach of the Force during the 2012 season, Blake became the interim head coach before
Michael Foley
was appointed for the 2013 season.
[14]
[15]
Blake returned to Manly as head coach in 2013.
[16]
In 2014, he was appointed as head coach of the
North Harbour Rays
for the inaugural
National Rugby Championship
season.
[17]
However, on 2 June 2014 it was announced that he had been appointed as defence coach for
Leicester Tigers
in the
English Premiership
.
[18]
[19]
Blake incurred a six-month ban from rugby for breaching RFU betting rules after placing eight separate bets on two Tigers games while he was the defence coach at the club.
[20]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org"
. rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017
. Retrieved
1 January
2018
.
- ^
"Australian Schoolboys Representatives"
. sportingpulse.com. 31 December 2017
. Retrieved
1 January
2018
.
- ^
"Custom Match List at rugbyleagueproject.org"
. rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017
. Retrieved
1 January
2018
.
- ^
"1985?1986 Lancashire Cup Final"
. wigan.rlfans.com. 31 December 2011. Archived from
the original
on 26 September 2013
. Retrieved
1 January
2012
.
- ^
Presidents XIII vs Great Britain 1988
- ^
Light speed puts Clarke alongside the stars
Sydney Morning Herald
, 17 July 2002
- ^
Waite spurns South Sydney overtures
[
dead link
]
The Independent
, 4 March 2003
- ^
Piggins says club won't be lashing out on coach
[
permanent dead link
]
AAP
, 5 March 2003
- ^
Rabbitohs' chook raffle
Archived
15 June 2011 at the
Wayback Machine
ABC, 5 March 2003
- ^
a
b
c
"Blake a new Wallabies coach"
. Sportal. 20 October 2010. Archived from
the original
on 5 May 2014
. Retrieved
5 May
2014
.
- ^
"Former Wires star Phil Blake in blood clot drama"
. Warrington Wolves Official Site. 26 June 2008. Archived from
the original
on 29 August 2008
. Retrieved
29 August
2008
.
- ^
"Phil Blake's life-threatening shock"
.
Herald Sun
. News. 13 July 2008. Archived from
the original
on 6 September 2012
. Retrieved
29 August
2008
.
- ^
Avedissian, Jason (19 March 2010).
"Phil Blake is back in the saddle"
.
Manly Daily
. Archived from
the original
on 2 March 2012
. Retrieved
2 May
2010
.
- ^
Harris, Bret (25 April 2012).
"I'll take Western Force to finals, says Phil Blake"
.
The Australian
. News.
Archived
from the original on 5 May 2014
. Retrieved
5 May
2014
.
- ^
"Foley signs as Force coach"
. Sport 24. 1 August 2012.
Archived
from the original on 5 May 2014
. Retrieved
5 May
2014
.
- ^
Geddes, John (24 April 2013).
"Former Wallabies assistant coach Phil Blake back in charge of the Manly Marlins"
.
Manly Daily
. News.
Archived
from the original on 5 May 2014
. Retrieved
5 May
2014
.
- ^
Guinness, Rupert (2 May 2014).
"Phil Blake named first National Rugby Championship coach"
.
The Daily Advertiser
. Wagga Wagga.
Archived
from the original on 4 May 2014
. Retrieved
5 May
2014
.
- ^
Pandaram, Jamie.
"Manly and North Harbour Rays coach Phil Blake poached by English club Leicester Tigers"
.
The Courier-Mail
. Retrieved
2 June
2014
.
- ^
Sherrard, Gary.
"Tigers to add Blake to coaching team"
.
Leicestertigers.com
. Retrieved
2 June
2014
.
- ^
"Phil Blake: Former Leicester Tigers coach banned for six months"
. BBC. 25 June 2015. Archived from
the original
on 26 June 2015
. Retrieved
25 June
2015
.
External links
[
edit
]