Playing Career
Vital Statistics
- Born
- Saturday, 30th October, 1954
- Current Age
- 69 years and 170 days
Biography
Stylish three-quarter with a great turn of pace, Mitch Brennan's injury-ridden career started controversially. In 1975, on a personal trip to America, he trialled with the Toronto Argonauts (gridiron) but was not offered a contract. Two years later, the promising Brisbane Souths junior was coaxed by his former coach Harry Bath to play for St George in a trial match at Grafton. Brennan made the mistake of playing under the pseudonym 'Mickey Lane' in order to save potential embarrassment if he missed selection and was fined $500 for the ruse. He finally joined St George in 1978 and went on to be the equal leading try-scorer (16t) in 1979. Brennan was on the wing in St George's grand final win against C’bury that year but switched to Souths in 1981. Twice winner of the mid-week competition's ‘golden try’ award (1978 & 1981), he made his Origin debut for Queensland in 1981 before moving back to Brisbane to play with Redcliffe. Brennan represented Queensland as a centre in 1982 and a winger in 1983 before making sporadic returns from injury to play on the flank with the Canberra Raiders.
- ALAN WHITICKER
Playing 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 | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Panasonic Cup | 8 | 14 | - | - | 46 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 25.00% | List | ||||
| Craven Mild Cup | 1 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | List | ||||
| NRL | 99 | 51 | 2 | - | 157 | 51 | 43 | 5 | 51.52% | List | ||||
| Tooheys Challenge Cup | 1 | - | 1 | - | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | List | ||||
| NRL Finals | 2 | 2 | - | - | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | ||||
| State of Origin | 4 | 3 | - | - | 11 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 75.00% | List | ||||
| Tour Matches | Queensland Origin | 3 | 2 | - | - | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 66.67% | List | |||
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Australia - By Team | ||||||||||||||
| Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
| QLD | 1981-83 | 7 | 5 | - | - | 19 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 71.43% | List | |||
| Brisbane Firsts | 1983 | 1 | 1 | - | - | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | List | |||
| Overall | 1981-1983 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 62.50% | List | |||
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NRL/NSWRL - By Year | ||||||||||||||
| Team | Season | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
| St George | NSWRFL 1978 | 19 | 14 | 2 | - | 46 | 9 | 9 | 1 | 47.37% | List | |||
| St George | NSWRFL 1979 | 20 | 16 | - | - | 48 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 80.00% | List | |||
| St George | NSWRFL 1980 | 11 | 5 | - | - | 15 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 54.55% | List | |||
| Souths | NSWRFL 1981 | 20 | 7 | - | - | 21 | 7 | 12 | 1 | 35.00% | List | |||
| Souths | NSWRFL 1982 | 21 | 9 | - | - | 27 | 11 | 9 | 1 | 52.38% | List | |||
| Canberra | NSWRL 1986 | 6 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0.00% | List | |||
| Canberra | NSWRL 1988 | 2 | - | - | - | - | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | |||
NRL/NSWRL - By Team | ||||||||||||||
| Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
| St George | 1978-80 | 50 | 35 | 2 | - | 109 | 31 | 16 | 3 | 62.00% | List | |||
| Souths | 1981-82 | 41 | 16 | - | - | 48 | 18 | 21 | 2 | 43.90% | List | |||
| Canberra | 1986, 1988 | 8 | - | - | - | - | 2 | 6 | 0 | 25.00% | List | |||
| Overall | 1978-1988 | 99 | 51 | 2 | 0 | 157 | 51 | 43 | 5 | 51.52% | List | |||
Contributions:
Greg Fiveash, Andrew Ferguson, Shawn Dollin, Rugby League Tables, Alan Katzmann, Paul Carter, AJ Lucantonio
Sources:
NSWRL Rugby League Yearbook 1988-89, Match Video
Your Say
28/11/2016
I recall Mitch Brennan wore white football boots during the 1982 season whilst the captain of South Sydney in 1982 very talented Geand Final winger and Queensland Origin rep Acheived a lot with limited time reminds me of Jharrsl Yow Yeh playing wise in many ways
25/05/2020
Brennan was a fleet of foot player who read the game well. He was exciting to watch and a crowd pleaser. The attraction for most players in that era was to play the game at the highest level - not money. Could summarise Mitch as a honest player who knew how to get over the line.
23/10/2022
Burst on to the scene in 1978 and ran Larry Corowa close for top try scorer of the year. A shame that Saints won the premiership in '77 and '79, but they failed to make the semis in '78. 1978: Mitch's most spectacular year by far.
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