Mark 'Sparkles' McGaw

  • Playing Career

Playing Career

Vital Statistics

Nickname(s)
Sparkles
Born
Sunday, 17th May, 1964
Current Age
59 years and 307 days
Place Of Birth
Cronulla, New South Wales, Australia

Biography

Cronulla junior formed a lethal partnership in the centres with Andrew Ettingshausen before moving to Penrith in 1993. 'Sparkles' McGaw was clearly set for stardom when he played a blinder on debut against three-times premiers P’matta in 1984. He played against the 1986 Kangaroos while guesting with Ettingshausen at Leeds and the pair made their NSW debut the following year. McGaw scored the winning try on the bell in the first State of Origin match of the series in 1988 and made his Test debut against the Rest of the World that year. Test appearances against France and NZ followed in 1990 and he was selected to tour with the Kangaroos. In a fantastic individual effort McGaw's blockbusting try was the highlight of Australia's First Test loss at Wembley but, in the following match, he suffered a medial ligament injury that ended his tour. McGaw’s recovery was slow and although used as a replacement on the Australian tour of Papua New Guinea (one match) the ensuing years did not see him at his best. McGaw's move to Penrith was seen as his chance to play at a competitive club and restart his flagging representative career but it turned out to be a personal and professional disaster. McGaw seemed to lose all confidence and asked for a release from his contract after just one season. 1994 saw him with battlers Souths and although there were glimpses of his old magic his final two seasons in the game were again affected by injury and suspension. McGaw retired in 1996 and pursued a career as a male model as well as appearing in the short-lived ‘Gladiators’ TV program.
- ALAN WHITICKER

Additional Notes

Junior Club: Engadine Dragons

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 %  
NRL 197 41 -   - 164 89 102 6 45.18% List
National Panasonic Cup 4 - -   - - 2 2 0 50.00% List
Tour Matches Leeds Rhinos 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List
English Championship 12 3 -   - 12 7 5 0 58.33% List
Regal Trophy 1 1 -   - 4 0 1 0 0.00% List
Challenge Cup 2 2 -   - 8 2 0 0 100.00% List
City vs Country 5 1 -   - 4 4 1 0 80.00% List
State of Origin 13 6 -   - 24 5 8 0 38.46% List
NRL Finals 3 - -   - - 0 3 0 0.00% List
World Cup 2 2 -   - 8 2 0 0 100.00% List
Tour Matches Australia 8 3 -   - 12 7 1 0 87.50% List
Test Series 1 1 -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List
The Ashes 1 1 -   - 8 0 1 0 0.00% List
Tooheys Challenge Cup 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List


International

Test Matches - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Australia 1988, 1990 4 4 -   - 16 3 1 0 75.00% List

International Matches - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Australia 1988 1 - -   - - 1 0 0 100.00% List

World Cup Matches - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Australia 1988, 1990 2 2 -   - 8 2 0 0 100.00% List


Representative

Australia - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
NSW 1987-88, 1990-91 13 6 -   - 24 5 8 0 38.46% List
NSW City 1987-88, 1990-92 5 1 -   - 4 4 1 0 80.00% List
Overall1987-1992 18 7 0   0 28 9 9 0 50.00% List


Club Career

NRL/NSWRL - By Year

Team Season App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Cronulla NSWRL 1984 9 1 -   - 4 2 6 1 22.22% List
Cronulla NSWRL 1985 22 4 -   - 16 9 13 0 40.91% List
Cronulla NSWRL 1986 18 2 -   - 8 8 9 1 44.44% List
Cronulla NSWRL 1987 20 6 -   - 24 11 9 0 55.00% List
Cronulla NSWRL 1988 16 7 -   - 28 12 4 0 75.00% List
Cronulla NSWRL 1989 21 5 -   - 20 14 7 0 66.67% List
Cronulla NSWRL 1990 21 5 -   - 20 11 10 0 52.38% List
Cronulla NSWRL 1991 20 4 -   - 16 7 10 3 35.00% List
Cronulla NSWRL 1992 12 1 -   - 4 3 9 0 25.00% List
Penrith NSWRL 1993 16 3 -   - 12 6 10 0 37.50% List
Souths NSWRL 1994 15 2 -   - 8 4 10 1 26.67% List
Souths ARL 1995 7 1 -   - 4 2 5 0 28.57% List

NRL/NSWRL - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Cronulla 1984-92 159 35 -   - 140 77 77 5 48.43% List
Penrith 1993 16 3 -   - 12 6 10 0 37.50% List
Souths 1994-95 22 3 -   - 12 6 15 1 27.27% List
Overall1984-1995 197 41 0   0 164 89 102 6 45.18% List

English Career - By Year

Team Season App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Leeds 1986/87 15 6 -   - 24 9 6 0 60.00% List

English Career - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Leeds 1986 15 6 -   - 24 9 6 0 60.00% List

Your Say

  • Richie
    16/01/2024

    Currently on the tv show Gladiators as a referee. If you're old enough you might have seen him on the 1990s run of the show as one of the gladiators (Hammer). I wish they'd used his rugby league nickname XD

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Contributions: Rugby League Tables, Shawn Dollin, AJ Lucantonio, Andrew Ferguson, Paul Carter, Greg Fiveash, Alan Katzmann, Max Turner, Steven Russo, Bill Bates

Sources: ARL Rugby League Yearbook 1996, NSWRL Rugby League Yearbook 1989-90, Match Video, NSWRL Rugby League Yearbook 1987-88, NSWRL Rugby League Yearbook 1988-89, NSWRL Rugby League Yearbook 1990-91, NSWRL Rugby League Yearbook 1991-92, Newspapers, NSWRL Rugby League Yearbook 1992-93, NSWRL Rugby League Yearbook 1994, ARL Rugby League Yearbook 1995, Irvin Saxton's Record Keepers' Club, Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1987-88