Glenn Lazarus

After playing an integral part in Canberra's grand final wins in 1989-90 solid prop Glenn Lazarus became the first player in the history of the game to win premierships with three separate clubs. The Queanbeyan junior made his first grade debut in 1987 and gained selection in the President's XIII side that defeated Great Britain the following year. Lazarus played for NSW in 1989 and made his Test debut as a reserve forward in the Test against NZ in 1990. Selected to tour with the Kangaroos he took over from Martin Bella in the Australian engine room after the First Test loss at Wembley and played in all four remaining Tests on tour. A sternum injury saw him miss the series against NZ in 1991, although he did tour Papua New Guinea at the end of the year and appeared in two Tests. Canberra's salary cap problems saw Lazarus link with Brisbane following the Raiders' 19-12 loss to Penrith in the grand final but his career as the code's premier forward continued into over-drive. In 1992 he was a member of NSW's victorious State of Origin team and played in the Broncos' grand final win over St George, Australia’s World Cup final win and Brisbane’s World Club Championship success. Lazarus made it five grand final appearances in a row in 1993 but after an injury-interrupted 1994 season he was dropped from the Broncos' run-on squad on the eve of the semi-finals. His reputation as a big-match player ensured a place on his second Kangaroo tour and after being over-looked for First Test duty following a groin strain, fought his way back into Australia's Test team for the final three Tests of the tour. The 1995 season found Lazarus in peak fitness and form but he did not represent because of his Super League allegiance. In 1997 he represented NSW in the Tri-Series competition and Australia in the ANZac Test but missed the latter part of the season (and Brisbane’s Telstra Cup win) because of injury. Lazarus was coveted as one of the Melbourne Storm’s most important signings for their debut year and his big-match experience came to the fore during the club’s run to the preliminary final. Lazarus maintained his standing as the best prop-forward in the world when he was selected for Australia in back-to-back ANZac Tests in 1998-99 but was dropped from NSW’s State of Origin team after the first match loss in 1999. In May 1999 he announced that it would be his last seasons as a player and he left the game in the best possible style – captaining Melbourne to its maiden grand final success. Returning to Canberra Lazarus was appointed lower grade coach of the club in 2001 but was released from his contract after making less than complimentary remarks about in-coming first grade coach Matthew Elliot to the media. He later joined FoxSports as a commentator before returning to Brisbane as part of the Broncos’ coaching staff.