David Fairleigh

Originally from Ourimbah on the NSW Central Coast David Fairleigh overcame leg injuries with Norths in 1990 to gain NSW selection the following year. The strapping second rower was again selected on the bench for NSW in 1993 before getting a ‘run-on’ start in the third match of the series. Despite his excellent form in 1994 Fairleigh was not selected in any State of Origin match but gained a place in the Australian Test team against France when Bradley Clyde withdrew. Fairleigh went on to win the Rothmans Medal that year (in a result that was allegedly leaked to the media and became the centre of a betting scandal) and was one of the first forwards picked on the 1994 Kangaroo Tour. After a solid start to the tour he was selected as a reserve for the Second Test but withdrew on the morning of the match with a virus. Fairleigh went on to play the remaining two Tests on the tour, again from the interchange bench, and scored a try in Australia's 74-0 thrashing of France. In the tumult of Super League signings in early 1995 Fairleigh pledged his allegiance to the ARL and was again used from the interchange bench at State of Origin level. His only Test appearance after the 1994 Kangaroo Tour was against nondescript Fiji and Papua New Guinea teams in 1996. Following Norths’ merger with Manly at the end of 1999 Fairleigh moved to Newcastle and earned the club’s Player of the Year award. 2001 saw him play for St Helens, in England, before returning to Newcastle as an assistant coach.