Name Steve Georgallis Role Coach | Height 1.80 m Weight 92 kg | |
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Tigers toss assistant coaches
Steve Georgallis (born 17 June 1968) is an Australian professional rugby league football coach and former player. He played during the 1990s in Sydney for the Eastern Suburbs Roosters, Western Suburbs Magpies and Wests Tigers, as well as in England for Carlisle, Wakefield Trinity, and Warrington Wolves. Georgallis played 264 first grade games in total. He briefly served as the Penrith Panthers head coach during the 2011 NRL season.
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Playing career
Georgallis made his début with the Roosters in 1989 playing halfback. Over the 4 seasons with the club he had spells playing at five-eighth, fullback and centre without being able to cement a position, making only 38 appearances.
Joining the Magpies in 1993, he proved just as adaptable, and was a cornerstone of the team for 7 seasons, playing in 148 games. During this time he also spent an off-season in England playing for Wakefield Trinity. By 1999, Georgallis had started making appearances at lock, and was captaining the struggling Magpies. He played a season mostly from the bench for the Wests Tigers after the merger with Balmain. He was cheered from the field at the completion of his last Australian game.
In 2001, Georgallis joined the Warrington Wolves for a season. Wolves' coach Darryl van der Velde said at the time, "He knows what Rugby League's all about. He is very strong, has good hands and is always busy on the field." Unfortunately, Georgallis only lasted 6 games before the end of his professional career, though he did make later appearances as captain of Greece.
Coaching
In 2008 Georgallis was the coach of the Penrith Panthers' National Youth Competition under-20s team. He has also coached the Greece national rugby league team. Georgallis coached Greece in the 2009 Australian Mediterranean Shield. Greece won the final 34-14 against Italy.
On 20 June 2011, it was announced Georgallis would take over as interim Penrith Panthers coach following the resignation of Matt Elliott. He had success immediately with the Panthers winning 30-20 Against the North Queensland Cowboys. Georgallis had won his first two games as coach when it was announced that Phil Gould had chosen Ivan Cleary to be the Panthers coach from 2012 onwards. The Panthers won just two of the remaining nine games of the season.
Despite seeking other positions as head coach, such as the vacant position at Bulldogs, Georgallis came to be an assistant coach at the Wests Tigers in 2012.
Georgallis coached the Greece national rugby league team to a 90-0 victory over Hungary in Budapest on 27 October 2013.