Tim Brasher

Tim Brasher is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played primarily as fullback. He began his career for Balmain Tigers, where he played the majority of his career. He then moved to the South Sydney Rabbitohs for two seasons, before finishing his career with a season at the North Queensland Cowboys. During his career he also represented New South Wales on 21 occasions and Australia on 16 occasions.

While attending Grantham High School, Brasher played for the Australian Schoolboys team in 1988.

Balmain

In 1989 coach Warren Ryan called up Brasher, still in high school, to make his first grade debut. Balmain reached the Grand Final that year, Brasher played in the centres, but they lost to the Canberra Raiders 19-14. During the 1992 season, Brasher played most of the season on the wing, and he was the joint top try-scorer in the premiership (along with Wests' Mark Bell) with 16 tries.

1996 however was perhaps Brasher's finest year. Some considered him to be the best player in the world at this time. Brasher single-handedly carried a very weak Tigers side to within one win of a final berth that year, and his Origin and Kangaroo performances continued to be exceptional.

1997 however proved to be the last we saw of the best of Brasher. As a result of the Super League war and his excellent form in previous years, Brasher began to see himself as a marquee player who (probably rightly) deserved to be paid much more than the Tigers could afford. He famously declared that he would be the first player to achieve a $1 million contract (no one has still yet achieved this) and his form began to suffer as his mind was obviously focused on other areas. He did at one stage come close to finalising a deal with the Tigers in 1997, but then the NSW Government pulled the rug from under him by introducing their unpopular 'pokie tax'.

After the Super League had become defunct and the reunification of the game had occurred in 1998, Brasher's hesitation over his future with the Tigers resulted in the club terminating negotiations, and he was forced to find a new club (it was widely rumoured that he had knocked back an offer of $500,000 p.a., only to then change his mind but find that the offer had been withdrawn). Brasher was in talks with the Canberra Raiders, but after talks with the club stalled, it was announced that Brasher had signed for the South Sydney Rabbitohs.

In his time with the club, Brasher enjoyed a successful stint with the Tigers playing in 185 games, which included 182 starts and 3 replacement appearances, and scoring 538 points, which included 82 tries and 105 goals. Brasher was named on the bench in the official Balmain Tigers Team of the Century.

South Sydney

In total he played two seasons for the Rabbitohs where he made 40 appearances and scored 14 tries, totalling 56 points. After the club was excluded from the 2000 season, Brasher was forced to find another club, and decided join the North Queensland Cowboys.

North Queensland

Brasher moved to the North Queensland Cowboys in 2000, and was appointed captain in his first season with the club, in which he made 16 appearances, scoring four tries, and being voted Players Player of the Year. However, after the 2000 season had ended he was injured during the off-season, which ruled him out of the entire 2001 season. The career-ending injury was widely reported at the time as a knee injury as a result of Brasher falling from a chair cleaning a fan. However, it has since been discovered that the injury was the result of an accident that occurred during a trail biking adventure with former Cowboy's halfback Nathan Fien. Much speculation still exists as to why the Cowboys chose to conceal the events of Brasher's injury. He decided to retire due to the injury. In his only season with the Cowboys he made 16 appearances and scored four tries, totaling 16 points.

Brasher did however make a very brief comeback (albeit to English Rugby Union) when he filled in for a depleted Bath side during the 2003 Rugby World Cup. Due to the attention that the World Cup drew in Australia, little attention was paid to this aspect of Brasher's career.

Representative career

New South Wales

In 1992, he was called up for the New South Wales State of Origin squad. His impressive display in the second half of the third and deciding game of the series, where he pulled off two try saving tackles on Mark Coyne and Mal Meninga, impressed the national selectors enough for him to earn a call-up to the Australian squad for the first time. In the 1993-94 season, he was again called up to the New South Wales squad. After moving to South Sydney, his impressive form in a struggling Rabbitohs squad again earned him a call-up to the State of Origin side in 1998. After signing for the North Queensland Cowboys, Brasher was again selected for the New South Wales side in 2000. In all he represented New South Wales in 21 appearances, which included 20 starts and one replacement appearance. In his 21 appearances he scored three tries and nine goals, with a total of 30 points.

Australia

After his impressive State of Origin performance in 1992, he was selected in the Australian World Cup squad. Australia reached the final at Wembley Stadium on 24 October, 1992. Australia defeated Great Britain 10-6 with Brasher playing in the match at fullback. The great form of Canberra fullback Brett Mullins meant that Brasher could only make a place on the bench for his full international debut against France in 1994. He was selected for the Kangaroo Tour at the end of the year, where he enjoyed a steady tour as the reserve fullback against Great Britain and France.

In 1995, Brasher made three Test appearances against New Zealand, before being selected for the 1995 World Cup. Australia against reached the final against England. On October 28, 1995 at Wembley Stadium, Australia triumphed against by 16-8 with Brasher contributing a try.

Between 1996 and 1998, Brasher was selected a further five times, against Fiji, Papua New Guinea (both 1996), Rest of the World (1997) and two Tests against New Zealand (1998). In total he represented his country on 16 occasions, scoring nine tries, totalling to 36 points.

See also

• State of Origin Official website Rugby League Player Stats

References