For the radio broadcaster, see Steve Price (broadcaster).

Steve Price (born 12 March 1974 in Dalby, Queensland) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who currently plays for the New Zealand Warriors in the National Rugby League (NRL). His position throughout his career has been in the front row where he has won numerous awards and accolades for his efforts.

Career

Canterbury Bulldogs

Price grew up in Toowoomba, where he attended Harristown State High School. Price was spotted playing rugby league for the Newtown Lions club in Toowoomba, Queensland and was immediately fast-tracked to Sydney to play for the Canterbury Bulldogs in the then-called New South Wales Rugby League. Steve made his debut for the Dogs at Belmore Sports Ground on July 3, 1994 against the Balmain Tigers. It was a great rookie year for Price as his side finished the regular season as minor premiers on top of the ladder and eventually going on to reach the 1994 Grand Final where, unfortunately for Price, they lost to the Canberra Raiders. The disappointment of losing the Grand Final wouldn't last long for Price, as the following year in the 1995 season the Bulldogs reached their second consecutive Grand Final to come up against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles. Price was named on the starting line-up and went on to score the first try of the game which the Bulldogs eventually won 17-4, giving Price his first taste of premiership victory. The experience of finals football so early in his career was a positive for Price as he established a reputation as an effective front rower/prop and second rower with a high work rate.

During the 1998 season Price made his debut for Queensland in game one of the 1998 State of Origin series. He would retain his spot for the following two matches of series in which Queensland were victorious two games to one. His performance at rep level was then awarded with the highest honour for an Australian player as he was announced in the 1998 Kangaroos squad. In the same year Steve Price and the Bulldogs made a terrific finals run, where after finishing the season in 9th position (10 from 20 teams made the finals in 1998), they won four must-win matches to make it all the way through to the 1998 Grand-Final against the Brisbane Broncos which, after a sensational run, they lost 38-12.

When Bulldog captain Darren Britt left the club at the end of 2001, coach Steve Folkes opted for Price to captain the side for 2002. He proved to be a great skipper and Bulldogs finished the 2002 season with 20 wins, 1 draw and only 3 losses, although they would not play in the finals due to the salary cap breach. 2003 was another strong year for Price as he was awarded Player of the Year by official NRL magazine Rugby League Week; he also captained the sides to 18 regular season wins and a semi-final berth which they lost to the Sydney Roosters. In 2004 Price had a stellar performance playing for Queensland and was awarded the Ron McAuliffe Medal for Queensland player of the series.

During the transfer period in 2004 it was announced that it would be his last year with the Bulldogs after 10 years of service, as he was signing with the New Zealand Warriors for 2005. He couldn't have gone out in better style as the Dogs finished second on the ladder, only missing out on the minor premiership by points difference. Price's fairytale ending was then shattered when he tore his medial ligament the week before the Grand Final. His side played well without their inspirational captain and went on to win 16-13 to send Price out with another Grand Final success, even though he did not compete in the final game.

New Zealand Warriors

When Steve Price left the Bulldogs, who had appeared in the finals consistently and performed very well, he went to join the Warriors who had experienced their worst ever season in 2004, finishing 14th of 15 teams and winning only 6 games all year. Price was straight-away appointed captain of the squad and he clearly made some sort of impact as the team remained competitive for all of their matches. In the opening match of the 2005 State of Origin series, Price was named man-of-the-match. The Warriors had a good chance to make the finals, however a four-match losing streak late in the season removed those chances and they finished the 2005 season 11th, a slight improvement from the previous year.

In 2006 Price again experienced more salary cap drama and his signing to the club arguably may have been a reason. The Warriors were found to have committed major breaches of the salary cap following the high profile signings of Price and Ruben Wiki. The NRL announced the club would be deducted four competition points and the club would also be assessed a A$430,000 fine. Those four points would cost the team a place in the finals.

Even at the age of 33 and after 13 years playing professional football, the 2007 season proved to be one of his career bests. In Round 14 Steve Price broke his own record of 'metres gained by a forward' playing against the Cronulla Sharks. Steve's previous record was 272 metres, he eclipsed this by running 306 metres from 33 hit ups. Then 7 weeks later in Round 21 Price broke his own record again, this time against the Sydney Roosters where he ran for a total of 323m. The Warriors finished the regular season strongly, sitting at the top end of the ladder on 4th position, although they struggled to perform come finals time and dropped out of the competition in the second week of the finals losing to the North Queensland Cowboys. However, Price's own personal performance throughout the year was duly recognised as he was awarded the Captain of the Year & Prop of the Year titles at the 2007 Dally M Awards.

In August 2008, Price was named in the preliminary 46-man Kangaroos squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup, and in October 2008 he was selected in the final 24-man Australia squad.

• Photos of Steve Price were published in the 1999 issue of men's magazine blue. Steve is the 2nd NRL player to have nude photos published in this magazine. (Ian Roberts was the 1st). The issue Steve posed in became one of the highest selling magazines in Australia that month.
• The former Australian test representative is eligible for England and New Zealand.

Honours

Individual

• 2002: Dally M Captain of the Year
• 2004: Ron McAuliffe Medal - Queensland State of Origin player of the series
• 2004: Dally M Captain of the Year
• 2006: NZ Warriors Lion Red Player of Year
• 2007: Dally M Captain of the Year
• 2007: Dally M Prop of the Year
• 2007: NZ Warriors Lion Red Player of Year
• NRL Records: Most metres gained by a forward (323m vs. Sydney Roosters. Round 21, 2007)

Team

• 1994: Minor Premiers (Canterbury Bulldogs)
• 1995: Premiers (Canterbury Bulldogs)
• 2004: Premiers (Canterbury Bulldogs)

References

External links

• NZ Warriors Profile
• Bulldogs Profile
• Steve Price Gone Fishing