Brett Mullins

Brett Mullins

Personal information
Born	(1972-01-21) 21 January 1972 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
Height	190 cm (6 ft 3 in)
Weight	89 kg (14 st 0 lb)
Position	Fullback, Wing, Centre
Club
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
1990–00	Canberra Raiders	183	105	0	0	420
2001	Leeds Rhinos	12	4	0	0	16
2002	Sydney Roosters	26	17	0	0	68
	Total	221	126	0	0	504
Representative
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
1994–96	New South Wales	5	4	0	0	16
1994	Australia	5	4	0	0	16
1997	New South Wales (SL)	2	3	0	0	12
1997	Australia (SL)	3	2	0	0	8
Source: NRL Stats SL Stats

Brett Mullins (born 21 January 1972) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer of the 1990s and early 2000s. A New South Wales State of Origin and Australian international representative back, he played his club football for Australian clubs the Canberra Raiders and Sydney Roosters, and for English club, the Leeds Rhinos. He was described as "one of the most exciting attacking weapons in rugby league."

Brett Mullins played in 209 first grade games during his 12-year career in Australia (183 for Canberra, 26 for the Roosters), during which he scored 105 tries for the Raiders and 17 for the Roosters and was equal second with Canberra team mate Jason Croker on the leagues try scoring list in 1994 with 22 (Brisbane's Steve Renouf top scored with 23). He played 12 games for Leeds, scoring 4 tries.

He played in 8 test matches for Australia (5 under ARL control, 3 for SL) between 1994 and 1997, though only his tests under the ARL banner are counted as official as the SL tests aren't recognised by the ARL. He scored 7 tries from his 8 tests. He also played 7 games for New South Wales between 1994 and 1997, scoring 7 tries.

Brett's son Bradley Mullins has recently signed with the Sydney Roosters, and is currently in their Holden Cup squad.

Club Career

Canberra Raiders

The son of the Australian international player Bill Mullins, Brett Mullins made his first grade debut for Canberra from the substitution bench in a 48-0 rout of the South Sydney Rabbitohs in 1990. Mullins played on the wing, in the centres and also filled in at fullback during 1991, but an injury suffered in the Minor Preliminary Semi-final against Western Suburbs saw him miss a place in the Raiders Grand Final side that went down 12-19 to the Penrith Panthers.

Mullins continued playing in the three-quarters before securing the Raiders fullback spot following the retirement of Gary Belcher at the end of the 1993. During the 1994 NSWRL season, Mullins overcame several niggling injuries to play in his the Raiders 36–12 victory over the Canterbury Bulldogs. That season he finished with a total of 22 tries, which included four tries in one game against the Newcastle Knights, which equalled Noa Nadruku's club record and surpassed the record for a fullback in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership. At the end of the 1994 season, he went on the 1994 Kangaroo tour, playing fullback in all four tests on tour.

In the 1997 post season, Mullins was selected to play for Australia in two matches of the Super League Test series against Great Britain.

Tall (6'3" or 190 cm) with a long stride, Mullins was known for his pace, though he would later state that "I wasn't really that quick. Over 40 metres or 50 metres I guess I was, but I wasn't over 100. I think I used to drink and smoke too much. There's no doubting I had a good time."

In 2000, in his final year with the club, Mullins emulated his father by surpassing the 100 try scoring mark in first grade rugby league. After his on-field altercation with his teammate Mark McLinden against Parramatta, where he abused and pushed his team-mate, Mullins was dropped from the squad and fined $25,000 dollars. Despite apologising, the incident caused him to fall out of favour with the club.

Leeds Rhinos

In the winter of 2000, Mullins joined the Leeds Rhinos. His debut for the Rhinos came against the Swinton Lions on 11 February 2001. However, his time at the club proved to be frustrating, only making 12 appearances and scoring 4 tries.

Sydney Roosters

After an unsuccessful spell at the Rhinos, it seemed as though Mullins career may have been over due to injury. However, just as his father had, Mullins joined the Sydney Roosters, coached by former Canberra, NSW and Australian teammate Ricky Stuart. He made his Roosters debut at fullback in the 2002 season opening fixture against the South Sydney Rabbitohs, though he would eventually end up playing most of his games for the Roosters on the wing after the good form Luke Phillips, who was also the team's back-up goal kicker. His career ended in fairy tale style, after playing in the wing in the Sydney Roosters' 30-12 2002 NRL grand final victory over the New Zealand Warriors in front of 80,130 fans at Telstra Stadium in Sydney.

Representative career

New South Wales

In 1993, injury cost Mullins a place in the New South Wales State of Origin side after sitting out the first game on the bench. The following year in 1994, Mullins was again ruled out through injury of the first State of Origin match, but returned to play on the wing in games 2 and 3 of the series, with World Cup and incumbent NSW fullback Tim Brasher preferred in the position.

After being overlooked for NSW selection during the 1995 State of Origin series due to the Australian Rugby League's decision not to select Super League aligned players. The ARL relaxed their stance in 1996 and Mullins returned to Origin that year, again playing all three games on the wing in deference to Brasher who had starred at fullback for Australia during the 1995 World Cup. NSW won the series 3-0 over the Paul Vautin coached Queenslanders, scoring two tries in Game 2 at the Sydney Football Stadium, and one try in the dead rubber game at Suncorp Stadium.

In the 1997 Super League Tri-series final played against Queensland in Brisbane at the ANZ Stadium, he starred for New South Wales in their overtime 23–22 win, by scoring a hat-trick of tries. The Tri-Series was played between NSW, Qld and the New Zealand national side.

Australia

ARL

After being in superb form for the Raiders and NSW, Mullins was called up for his test debut in 1994 against France at Parramatta Stadium in front of a ground record 27,318 fans in what was captain Mal Meninga's last test in Australia. His form at fullback for Canberra saw him selected in his favoured position ahead of Balmain and NSW fullback Tim Brasher, who could only gain a spot on the bench. Mullins impressed on debut against the Frenchmen, scoring a try in a 58-0 win. While scoring the try, Channel 9 commentator Ray "Rabbits" Warren mistakenly called him "Russell Mullins", before quickly correcting himself. Russel Mullins, a winger who played for Western Suburbs and Penrith from 1971-1979, is Brett's uncle, the younger brother of his father Bill.

He later appeared in all four Test matches in the 1994 Kangaroo Tour against Great Britain (The Ashes) and France. He scored an impressive 11 tries in 12 matches on tour, including 3 in the tests. Mullins last test for Australia under ARL control was in the final game of the 1994 tour, a 74-0 win over France at the Stade de la Méditerranée in Béziers, scoring 2 of the Kangaroos 13 tries.

SL

In 1997, Mullins played from the bench in the Super League only Australian team in their 12-30 loss to New Zealand at the North Harbour Stadium in Auckland. He then appeared in two Super League Test series matches against Great Britain, scoring two tries from the wing in Australia's 38-14 win in the opening test at Wembley Stadium, and playing in the centres in the 12-20 loss at Old Trafford. Injury kept him from the side for the deciding test of the series at Elland Road, with Australia winning 37-20.