Craig Gower
| Height | 174 cm (5 ft 9 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight | 90 kg (198 lb)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| School | Colyton High School | ||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | Amanda Flynn | ||||||||||||||||
| Rugby league career | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
Craig Gower (born 29 April 1978) is an Australian rugby league player who is currently the halfback for the Penrith Panthers.
A junior of the Colyton club, Gower is recognised as a talented halfback with an excellent talking game, a good perspective of play and passing game and a tough competitive spirit which creates consistent performances [citation needed].
Gower was the captain of the Panthers between 2002 and 2005, the highlight of which was the victory of Penrith over the Sydney Roosters in the 2003 National Rugby League grand final.
He has many representative appearances, including New South Wales and Australian teams. He made his Test debut in 1996 as hooker but has since moved to halfback. He received the last remaining spot on the interchange bench in State of Origin III 2005 after Craig Wing was unable to play due to injury. [citation needed]
Gower was named Australia's captain for the Test match against France on the 2005 Tri-Nations tour. Gower is the second Penrith Panthers player to captain his country after Brad Fittler achieved the honour in 1995 before leaving the Panthers.
On February 22 2007, Craig Gower was announced on the official Penrith Panthers website as co-captain in 2007 along with fellow players Tony Puletua and Luke Priddis.
He married Amanda Flynn in 2006. [citation needed]
On June 26 2007, Craig Gower was reported to have switched codes and joined French Top 14 rugby union side Bayonne [5]
Gower still has 2 years to run with his current contract at Penrith and has a release from his club to play for the Basque club in the 2008 Season. [6]
Controversy
Gower has been involved in a string of alcohol-fuelled off-field incidents.
In 1999, Gower exposed himself to a female Irish tourist in a Coogee bar, blaming his behaviour on alcohol intoxication. He was dumped from the Kangaroos Squad and fined $2,500 by the NRL and a further $500 in court after pleading guilty to indecent exposure. [7]
Gower was fired as Panthers captain in December 2005[8] after a string of alcohol-fuelled incidents at a charity golf event where he argued with several guests, groped the teenage daughter of league legend Wayne Pearce, chased Pearce's son with a bottle before vomiting on him, streaked around the resort, totalled a golf cart, held a butter knife to the throat of a Sydney radio personality and threw the knife at resort guests before being kicked out of the official function by security. [9] Gower was handed a "final warning" by the National Rugby League and fined $100,000, with $90,000 to be paid to an NRL programme encouraging the responsible use of alcohol by league players and $10,000 to replace the destroyed golf cart.[10]
Gower was "deeply unhappy" that the Penrith Panthers club did not defend his reputation, and at one stage threatened to "walk" from the club.[11]
Allegedly inebriated with alcohol in the Peppermint Lounge cocktail bar at Kings Cross on 11 February 2007, Gower allegedly tried to kiss one man before biting him on the neck and sparking a brawl, and is accused of assaulting another man[12][13]
The police investigation is continuing. The Panthers club controversially reappointed Gower as captain in 2007, claiming the Peppermint Lounge incident was just a media "beat-up".[14]
Swimming legend Dawn Fraser said Gower was unfit to be captain, due to his alleged lewd behaviour at the charity golf event at which she attended.[15]
Sarah Maddison, spokesperson for the Womens' Electoral Lobby, said "reappointing Craig Gower would send all the wrong messages."[16]
See also
External links
References
- ^ a b c d e "Player profile of Craig Gower". Penrith Panthers. Retrieved 2007-08-10.
- ^ "Player profile of Craig Gower". National Rugby League. Retrieved 2007-08-10.
- ^ Paul Jeffs. "Craig Gower' NSWRL/ARL/SL/NRL First Grade Points Listing". stats.rleague.com. Retrieved 2007-08-10.
- ^ a b Jeffs, Paul. "Craig Gower's State of Origin Points Listing". stats.rleague.com. Retrieved 2007-08-10.
- ^ "Aussie Gower set to switch codes". BBC. 2007-06-26. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
- ^ "French rugby my biggest challenge: Gower". NRL. 2007-06-26. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
- ^ "Gower incident gives League image another beating" ABC Report, 21 April 1999
- ^ "Gower demoted after drunken binge". BBC News. 2006-01-04. Retrieved 2007-08-10.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "NRL wants probe into Gower grope claims". The Age. 2005-12-22. Retrieved 2007-08-10.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "NRL gives Gower his final warning". The New Zealand Herald. 2006-01-23. Retrieved 2007-08-10.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Prichard, Greg (2006-02-06). "Gower's ultimatum: defend me or I'll walk". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2007-08-10.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Pandaram, Jamie (2007-03-23). "Police set to charge Gower". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2007-08-10.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Masters, Roy (2007-02-13). "Time for Craig to face demons". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2007-08-10.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Enough is enough". The Daily Telegraph. 2007-02-17. Retrieved 2007-08-10.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Gower 'shouldn't be captain'" Fox Sport, 3 January 2007
- ^ Phelps, James (2007-01-05). "Leave Craig alone". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2007-08-10.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)