Brian Smith

Coaching Career

Vital Statistics

Full Name
Brian Theo Smith
Born
Sunday, 14th March, 1954
Current Age
70 years and 5 days
Place Of Birth
Maclean, New South Wales, Australia

Awards & Accolades

Dally M Coach Of The Year
2001, 2010

Known Family Links

Brother
Tony Smith
Son
Rohan Smith

Biography

Former Casino halfback's career was kept in check by his more illustrious namesake, Billy Smith, at St George in the mid-1970s before moving on to Souths. Brian Smith did not play in 1977-78, coaching instead with James Cook High and Newtown U’23s, before returning to Souths as a player in 1979. After three years as a lower grade coach with Souths (U’23s premiers in 1981), Smith was appointed first grade coach of Illawarra in 1984. He had very little to work with however, and the Steelers finished last in consecutive years (1985-86) before he departed in 1987. At Hull in England in 1988-89, Smith built the struggling club into a competitive force after snaring the services of players he had been associated with - Craig Coleman, David Moon, David Boyle, Jeff Hardy and most notably, former I’warra halfback Greg Mackey. Hull made the premiership final that year, losing to Widnes, but the club won the final under the direction of Noel Cleal after Smith returned to Australia to accept the position of St George coach in 1991. Within two seasons Smith had taken St George to the grand final against a champion Brisbane club but suffered the disappointment of a second successive defeat in the 1993 decider. Smith, who weathered the fall-out from the club's failure to make the semi-finals in 1994, left the Dragons for English club Bradford at the end of 1995. Returning to Sydney to coach P’matta in 1997, Smith took the Eels to the qualifying final in three successive years (1998-00) before his young charges captured the minor premiership in 2001 and qualified for the grand final – the Eels’ first appearance in a premiership decider since 1986. Although P’matta faltered at the last hurdle in a marvellous season (it was also Smith’s third grand final loss as coach), the articulate and headstrong P’matta coach appeared to have built a great foundation for future club success and signed an extended contract with the club. However, the Eels squandered this opportunity with their player retention policy and three lacklustre seasons resulted in Smith copping much of the backlash from sections of the media and some P’matta fans. After the Eels failed to make the grand final in 2005, after winning the minor premiership, Smith’s contract was not renewed past the 2006 season. After being replaced by Michael Hagan in early 2006 he signed on as Newcastle coach for 2007 (ironically, Hagan’s former club). Smith appeared to lose the respect of his players in 2006, and the support of club administrators, and he stood down as P’matta coach after almost ten years at the helm.
- ALAN WHITICKER

Coaching Career Statistics

All statistics shown in this section are based only on data available in the RLP database, and are not necessarily a complete and/or 100% accurate representation of a player's career. This information should be used as a guide only. If you see a question mark (?), it denotes that the figure is not available.

To view a list of corresponding matches, click on the List button.

Competitions

Competition   Games W L D Win %  
NRL 601 305 285 11 50.75% List
National Panasonic Cup 2 0 2 0 0.00% List
English Championship 84 51 32 1 60.71% List
Yorkshire Cup 7 4 3 0 57.14% List
Regal Trophy 7 3 4 0 42.86% List
Challenge Cup 8 5 3 0 62.50% List
Premiership Trophy 5 2 3 0 40.00% List
Tooheys Challenge Cup 2 1 1 0 50.00% List
NRL Finals 28 15 13 0 53.57% List
Super League 34 19 15 0 55.88% List
City vs Country 3 1 2 0 33.33% List
Anzac Cup 3 0 3 0 0.00% List
UK Second Division 8 4 4 0 50.00% List


International

International Matches - By Team

Team Years Games W L D Win %  
Thailand 2017 2 1 1 0 50.00% List


Representative

Australia - By Team

Team Years Games W L D Win %  
NSW Country 2001-03 3 1 2 0 33.33% List


Club Career

NRL/NSWRL - By Year

Team Season Games W L D Win %  
Illawarra NSWRL 1984 24 12 12 0 50.00% List
Illawarra NSWRL 1985 24 5 19 0 20.83% List
Illawarra NSWRL 1986 24 7 17 0 29.17% List
Illawarra NSWRL 1987 24 8 16 0 33.33% List
St George NSWRL 1991 22 11 8 3 50.00% List
St George NSWRL 1992 26 17 9 0 65.38% List
St George NSWRL 1993 25 19 6 0 76.00% List
St George NSWRL 1994 22 9 13 0 40.91% List
St George ARL 1995 23 13 10 0 56.52% List
Parramatta ARL 1997 24 14 9 1 58.33% List
Parramatta NRL 1998 27 19 7 1 70.37% List
Parramatta NRL 1999 26 18 8 0 69.23% List
Parramatta NRL 2000 29 16 12 1 55.17% List
Parramatta NRL 2001 29 22 5 2 75.86% List
Parramatta NRL 2002 25 10 13 2 40.00% List
Parramatta NRL 2003 24 11 13 0 45.83% List
Parramatta NRL 2004 24 9 15 0 37.50% List
Parramatta NRL 2005 26 17 9 0 65.38% List
Parramatta NRL 2006 9 2 7 0 22.22% List
Newcastle NRL 2007 24 9 15 0 37.50% List
Newcastle NRL 2008 24 12 12 0 50.00% List
Newcastle NRL 2009 20 10 10 0 50.00% List
Sydney NRL 2010 28 17 11 0 60.71% List
Sydney NRL 2011 24 10 14 0 41.67% List
Sydney NRL 2012 24 8 15 1 33.33% List

NRL/NSWRL - By Team

Team Years Games W L D Win %  
Illawarra 1984-87 96 32 64 0 33.33% List
St George 1991-95 118 69 46 3 58.47% List
Parramatta 1997-06 243 138 98 7 56.79% List
Newcastle 2007-09 68 31 37 0 45.59% List
Sydney 2010-12 76 35 40 1 46.05% List
Overall1984-2012 601 305 285 11 50.75% List

English Career - By Year

Team Season Games W L D Win %  
Hull FC 1988/89 35 22 13 0 62.86% List
Hull FC 1989/90 34 20 13 1 58.82% List
Hull FC 1990/91 14 10 4 0 71.43% List
Bradford 1995/96 22 9 13 0 40.91% List
Bradford 1996 28 21 7 0 75.00% List
Wakefield Trinity 2015 15 5 10 0 33.33% List
Wakefield Trinity 2016 5 1 4 0 20.00% List

English Career - By Team

Team Years Games W L D Win %  
Hull FC 1988-90 83 52 30 1 62.65% List
Bradford 1995-96 50 30 20 0 60.00% List
Wakefield Trinity 2015-16 20 6 14 0 30.00% List
Overall1988-2016 153 88 64 1 57.52% List

Your Say

  • John
    17/03/2018

    Why is this record attached to the Brian Smith Alan Jones conscripted from Rugby Union to eplace Gary Freeman at Balmain?

  • Anonymous
    27/09/2022

    This person who was also a PEteacher at James cook high school use to cane his students with a nasty grin and pleasure I was one of these students

  • Ed
    13/01/2024

    Had a very brief stint with Port Kembla in 1977.

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Contributions: Paul Carter, Andrew Ferguson, Rugby League Tables, Greg Fiveash, Alan Katzmann, Shawn Dollin, AJ Lucantonio