Mark Geyer

One of the most controversial figures of the 1990s, Geyer's talent as a second-row forward was more than matched by his aggression on the field. A member of the President's XIII side that defeated Great Britain in 1988 he later sat out a lengthy suspension handed out in the final game of the season by playing with English club Sheffield Eagles. After a tearful loss in the 1990 grand final Geyer toured with the Kangaroos and his 9 games (including his Test debut against France) stamped him as a Test star of the future. He lived up to that promise in 1991 with two Test appearances against NZ but not before serving a six-week suspension after a fiery first State of Origin match. His face-to-face confrontation with Brisbane captain Wally Lewis in the match is one of the defining Origin moments. Geyer's contribution to Penrith's grand final win over Canberra that year cannot be understated. Despite his sin-binning he provided the steel in Penrith’s resolve to win the match. Geyer was ruled out of the Papua New Guinea tour through injury and a passport problem made him ineligible to travel to England for Penrith's World Club Challenge against Wigan. Worse was to follow. In 1992 he was unable to force his way into the rep scene after serving a ten-week suspension for testing positive in a random drug test. Geyer was openly frustrated and not playing well but the death of Ben Alexander brought problems with the premier club to a head. Penrith cancelled his contract midway through the season and closed the door on him at year's end. Signing with Balmain for 1993, Geyer's career was very much in the balance but, incredibly, he wavered from one disaster to another. Selected for City, he was sacked by management when he failed to make the medical on time and the following season he was released by the Tigers for failing to turn up to training. For a time, it appeared that Geyer might play for Souths (following mentor Alan Jones) or even Penrith (having made his peace with coach Phil Gould) but the fact that he had already signed a contract with the W’Reds for the 1995 season limited his options. Instead, against the wishes of his manager, he played for Umina on NSW's Central Coast. Moving to Perth with his wife, the sister of Greg Alexander, in an effort to resurrect his career, he was again suspended for four weeks in early 1995. Injuries and suspensions limited Geyer to just ten appearances in 1996. Geyer’s inability to control his emotions resulted in suspensions totaling ten weeks in 1997. The demise of the W’Reds saw Geyer return home to Penrith in 1998 where he resurrected his career and reputation with three good seasons at club level before his eventual retirement at the end of 2000. Autobiography, Rugby League Rebel (1994).