Steve Price

C’bury officials spotted the young Toowoomba forward playing for Harristown High School in the Commonwealth Bank competition. Steve Price was a reserve forward in the grand final loss to Canberra in 1994 but in the premiership decider against Manly the following year, he produced that ‘something extra’ Chief Executive Peter Moore had asked for before the match. Price scored the opening try of the match and helped dominate the more highly-credentialled Manly pack in a mature display. The Super League split stalled his rep career but following the reunification of the game in 1998 he was a reserve forward in all three State of Origin matches (which Queensland won). Despite the Bulldogs’ loss to Brisbane in the 1998 grand final C’bury’s late-season resurgence saw Price chosen as a reserve in the final two Tests of the season against NZ. Price represented Queensland in 1999-2000 and 2002-03 but only played in one other Test match during this period – against NZ in 1999. Price assumed the Bulldogs captaincy in 2002, shouldering the stripping of competition points with good grace and then having to continually front the media in the face of sexual misconduct allegations against club players in early 2004. His selection in the Australian Test team for the ANZac Test (after an absence of five years from the national team) was a just reward but despite being named in the greatest Bulldogs’ team in the club’s 70-year history, he shocked everyone at the club with the announcement that he was signing a three-year deal with the Warriors. Tragically, a knee injury ruled Price out of the Bulldogs’ grand final-winning team that year but he was called up on stage by his players to accept the NRL Trophy in a fitting farewell to the club. Price has give good service to the Warriors in his two years to date; representing Queensland in both years and becoming the second Warriors-based player (After Richard Villasanti) to represent Australia (5 Tests in 2005).