Craig Coleman
Craig Coleman (born 31 January 1963 in Surry Hills, New South Wales) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and coach. He primarily played at halfback and remains second on the list of most first-grade games played for Souths, 208.
Playing career
Coleman was graded to South Sydney as a seventeen-year-old in 1980. In 1981 he played in the under-23 side coached by Brian Smith which lost only two games in the season and won the Grand Final at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
He made his first-grade debut for the Rabbitohs in round 22 of the 1982 season, playing at halfback against Peter Sterling and the Parramatta Eels at Redfern Oval.
During his eleven seasons with the Rabbitohs, Coleman spent three off-seasons playing in England - Widnes, Hull and Leeds. After he was released by Souths at the end of the 1992 season, he played a fourth off-season in England, for Salford.
Due to his late return to Australia (after the 1 February signing deadline), Coleman was unable to sign with the Gold Coast for the 1993 season. He threatened to take the Australian Rugby League to court when he was denied the clearance but spent the year playing park football for the Coogee Wombats in Souths' A-grade competition. He was back in first grade in 1994 with the Gold Coast Seagulls and finished his first-grade career playing one season for the Western Suburbs Magpies in 1996 under coach, Tommy Raudonikis.
