 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 23 November 1968 Dubbo, New South Wales, Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Hooker, Halfback | |||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
Source: [1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Mark Soden (born 23 November 1968) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played for the North Sydney Bears for eleven seasons.
Soden, from Dubbo was captain of the 1986 Australian Schoolboys and played his first 2 years at the club in reserve grade behind Kiwi great Clayton Friend, until he made his first grade debut on 2 April 1989 against the Western Suburbs Magpies. [2]
Soden, from Dubbo, NSW, primarily played halfback up until the 1994 NSWRL season when an injury to former captain Tony Rea gave Soden the chance [3] to play at hooker. The advent of the ten-metre defensive rule in 1994 seemed tailor-made to Soden's nippiness around the rucks and smart kicking game which kept captain Tony Rea in reserve grade during the clubs run to the preliminary final that year. Soden was credited with changing the way dumby halves played, in particular his tactical kicking from the play the ball and clever running. Over the next 5 seasons, Soden was a mainstay of the North Sydney team and considered very unlucky not to play origin for NSW.
In 1996, he played 24 times and was in the side which lost to St. George in the preliminary final. The following year, Norths made the preliminary final again against Newcastle but missed the game due to a late season knee reconstruction. On 19 April 1998, Soden scored a controversial try against the Auckland Warriors involving a ball boy. Instead of placing the ball on the line to resume play, the ball boy threw the ball to Wade Horder who passed it to Soden who scored. The Auckland players were not aware of what was happening and Soden darted off to score the try. Now the ball boys have to place the ball on the sideline.
Soden's final game for Norths was against the North Queensland Cowboys in Townsville which would also prove the final game for the North Sydney Bears. In his final game he took the final shot at goal towards the end of the match which he successfully converted and consequently was the last points ever scored for the Bears who were a foundation club from 1908. In total Soden played 180 first grade games and scored 40 tries, he never played in a grand final but came close on three occasions in 1991, 1994 and 1996. Soden was a member of North's final campaigns in 1991, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1998. In 2021, Soden was given the honour of life member along with North Sydney legend Mark Graham. [4] [5] [6]
The North Sydney Bears is an Australian rugby league football club based in North Sydney, New South Wales. The club competes in the New South Wales Cup, having exited the National Rugby League following the 1999 NRL season after 90 years in the premier rugby league competition in Australia. North Sydney is based on Sydney's Lower North Shore, and has played at North Sydney Oval since 1910. There have been on-going bids to resurrect the club in the NRL as either The Bears, based in Perth and Sydney, or as the Central Coast Bears, based at Gosford.
David Peachey is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. An Australian international and New South Wales representative fullback, he played the majority of his club football in the National Rugby League for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks. During his career, Peachey also played for the South Sydney Rabbitohs of the NRL and the Widnes Vikings in the National League One. Peachey also played representative rugby league for Country Origin. He is an Indigenous Australian. His nephew Tyrone Peachey debuted for the Cronulla Sharks but currently plays for the Penrith Panthers.
Tony Rea is an Australian professional rugby league football coach and a former head coach for Super League club, London Broncos. A former hooker, he played club football in the Brisbane Rugby League for Brothers, in the New South Wales Rugby League as captain of the North Sydney Bears, and in the Super League for the London Broncos, later becoming their coach. Rea also briefly coached Super Rugby team, the Brumbies before returning to London to coach the Broncos.
Jason Taylor is an Australian professional rugby league football coach and a former professional rugby league footballer who played as a halfback in the 1990s and 2000s.
Robert Peter Farah is a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. An Australian international, Lebanese international and captain of New South Wales Blues team, he has played the majority of his professional career with the Wests Tigers, with whom he won the 2005 NRL Premiership. Between 2006 and 2012, Farah played for City in six City vs Country representative games, captaining the team from 2009 onwards. He played for the South Sydney Rabbitohs during the 2017 and 2018 National Rugby League seasons.
Dean Pay is a former Australian professional rugby league footballer and former head coach of the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the National Rugby League (NRL), a professional player who played in the late 1980s and 1990s.
Daryl John Halligan is a rugby league commentator and former professional player. A New Zealand international winger, he was the pre-eminent goal-kicker of his era, retiring as the highest point scorer in Australian premiership history. Halligan played club football in Australia for the North Sydney Bears and Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, winning the 1995 ARL Premiership with the latter.
Ken Nagas is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He played for the Canberra Raiders of the National Rugby League. Nagas primarily played on the wing.
The 1999 Melbourne Storm season was the second in the club's history. Coached by Chris Anderson and captained by Glenn Lazarus, they competed in the National Rugby League's 1999 season, finishing the regular season in 3rd out of 17 teams. Melbourne reached the 1999 NRL Grand Final and defeated the St George Illawarra Dragons, claiming their first premiership.
Jason Clark is an Australian former rugby league footballer who last played as a loose forward for the Limoux Grizzlies in the Elite One Championship.
The Central Coast Roosters, formerly Central Coast Centurions, are an Australian rugby league football club based in the Central Coast region in New South Wales. They competed in the New South Wales Cup which they exited in 2011. The club still competes in the NSWRL Women's Premiership, S. G. Ball Cup and Harold Matthews Cup competitions.
Robbie Rochow is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a second-row forward in the 2010s.
Daniel Tupou is a professional rugby league footballer who plays on the wing for the Sydney Roosters in the National Rugby League (NRL). He has played for Tonga and Australia at international level.
Damien Cook is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a hooker and centre for the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the NRL and Australia at international level.
Matthew Moylan is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a fullback, or stand-off, for the Leigh Leopards in the Betfred Super League.
Isaah Ferguson-Yeo is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a lock and second-row forward for the Penrith Panthers in the NRL and Australia at international level.
Sitiveni Moceidreke is a Fiji international rugby league footballer who plays as a centre, fullback, scrum-half and stand-off for the London Broncos in the RFL Championship.
Cameron Murray is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a lock forward and captains the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the NRL.
Paul Carige is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s. He played for the Illawarra Steelers, Parramatta Eels, and the Salford City Reds. He mostly played at centre, but occasionally he played the odd game at fullback or wing.
Wade Horder is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played for the North Sydney Bears in the National Rugby League. He played as a winger.