Mario Fenech

One of the most whole-hearted players to play club football, many people still wonder how the durable hooker/forward did not win a Test jersey during his career. Fenech was chosen in two President's XIII sides (against Papua New Guinea in 1985 and Great Britain in 1988) and represented NSW but Test honours eluded him. His stay with English club Bradford in 1986-87 was certainly short – he played in just two matches, the first as a prop against the visiting Kangaroos – before returning home. Fenech's early career was plagued by a hot-headed temperament (few can forget his duels with opposing hooker Ben Elias) but Souths' coach George Piggins appointed the firebrand hooker captain (echoes of John Sattler) with great results. Fenech took on the role with great pride and maturity, taking the club to the minor premiership in 1989. That year, he was Jack Gibson's preferred hooker in NSW's State of Origin team but a broken hand cost him a place on the Australian tour of NZ (his NSW replacement, David Trewhella, toured instead). The following year, with Souths in financial crisis, Fenech made the difficult decision to join Norths. Despite his great form in the front row for the Bears during 1991, he was constantly ignored for State of Origin duty. The following year was interrupted by injury and despite being one of the club's best players in 1993-94 he was released at the end of the 1994 season due to salary cap restrictions. Fenech was an inspiration to the club's younger forwards in the win over defending premiers Brisbane in the 1994 semi-finals. Moving to newly-formed South Queensland Crushers in 1995, he had a slow start to the season and was relieved of the captaincy before being relegated to the interchange bench. Fenech was starting to hit top form when he broke his collarbone and cut ties with the club at the end of the season to concentrate on a career in the media and later, the NRL. Autobiography, Personal Best (1993), written by younger brother Steve Fenech, a journalist with News Ltd.

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 icon.

Representative
Australia - By Team
Team	Years	App	T	G			GK %	FG	Pts	W	L	D	Win %
New South Wales	1989	2	-	-				-	-	0	2	0	0.00%
NSW City	1989	1	-	-				-	-	1	0	0	100.00%
Overall	1989	3	0	0				0		1	2	0	33.33%
Club Career
Australian League Matches - By Year
Team	Years	App	T	G			GK %	FG	Pts	W	L	D	Win %
South Sydney	NSWRFL 1981	4	1	-				-	3	1	3	0	25.00%
South Sydney	NSWRFL 1982	7	-	-				-	-	5	2	0	71.43%
South Sydney	NSWRFL 1983	14	-	-				-	-	9	5	0	64.29%
South Sydney	NSWRL 1984	25	2	-				1	9	15	10	0	60.00%
South Sydney	NSWRL 1985	24	1	-				-	4	10	14	0	41.67%
South Sydney	NSWRL 1986	22	2	-				-	8	14	7	1	63.64%
South Sydney	NSWRL 1987	26	3	-				-	12	14	11	1	53.85%
South Sydney	NSWRL 1988	19	3	-				-	12	11	7	1	57.89%
South Sydney	NSWRL 1989	18	4	-				-	16	13	4	1	72.22%
South Sydney	NSWRL 1990	21	2	-				-	8	2	19	0	9.52%
North Sydney	NSWRL 1991	23	-	-				-	-	14	9	0	60.87%
North Sydney	NSWRL 1992	15	1	-				-	4	7	7	1	46.67%
North Sydney	NSWRL 1993	19	2	-				-	8	12	6	1	63.16%
North Sydney	NSWRL 1994	25	1	-				-	4	18	6	1	72.00%
South Queensland	ARL 1995	11	-	-				-	-	2	8	1	18.18%
Overall	1981-1995	273	22	0				1	88	147	118	8	53.85%
Australian League Matches - By Team
Team	Years	App	T	G			GK %	FG	Pts	W	L	D	Win %
South Sydney	1981-90	180	18	-				1	72	94	82	4	52.22%
North Sydney	1991-94	82	4	-				-	16	51	28	3	62.20%
South Queensland	1995	11	-	-				-	-	2	8	1	18.18%
Overall	1981-1995	273	22	0				1	88	147	118	8	53.85%
Australian Finals Matches - By Team
Team	Years	App	T	G			GK %	FG	Pts	W	L	D	Win %
South Sydney	1981-1989	8	1	-				-	4	2	6	0	25.00%
North Sydney	1991, 1994	6	-	-				-	-	2	4	0	33.33%
Overall	1984-1994	14	1	0				0	4	4	10	0	28.57%
English League Career - By Year
Team	Years	App	T	G			GK %	FG	Pts	W	L	D	Win %
Bradford Northern	Championship 1986/87	?	-	-				-	-
Overall	1986-1987	?	0	0				0		?	?	?	?
English League Career - By Team
Team	Years	App	T	G			GK %	FG	Pts	W	L	D	Win %
Bradford Northern	1986-87	?	-	-				-	-	?	?	?	?
Overall	1986-1987	?	0	0				0		?	?	?	?

Last modified: Sun, 12 May 2013 21:42:27 +1000 (Sydney time)