Glenn Lazarus

Glenn Patrick Lazarus (born 11 December 1965) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer, and a former Australian Senator.

An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative, Lazarus won premierships with the Canberra Raiders, Brisbane Broncos and Melbourne Storm, who he also captained.

He is the only player in the history of the game to win grand finals with three separate clubs, with the grand final wins also being the first for each club.

After his retirement from football he assisted several NRL clubs in a coaching capacity.

Lazarus began his first-grade career with the Canberra Raiders in 1987, and was selected to make his debut for New South Wales in the 1989 State of Origin series.

He played a starring role in the club's victory over the Balmain Tigers in the 1989 grand final.

He travelled with the Raiders to England for the 1989 World Club Challenge, which was lost to Widnes.

Lazarus announced his retirement from the game with five premierships for three clubs (Canberra 1989–90, Brisbane 1992–93 and Melbourne 1999).

Lazarus was also named Players' Player for two consecutive Kangaroo Tours: 1990 and 1994.

In addition, Lazarus scored the first rugby league try at the Melbourne Cricket Ground during a State of Origin game.

Lazarus played in the Raiders' victory over the Penrith Panthers in the 1990 grand final.

At the end of the 1990 NSWRL season, he went on the 1990 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France.

He also played for Canberra in their grand final loss to Penrith in 1991.

In the summer preceding the 1992 season, Lazarus was recruited from Canberra by his former coach at the Raiders, Wayne Bennett and joined the Brisbane Broncos, with whom he played the largest portion of his career.

During the 1992 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand, he helped Australia retain The Ashes.

He played for the Broncos at prop forward in the 1992 grand final victory over the St. George Dragons, following which he travelled with the Broncos to England, where he played at prop forward in the 1992 World Club Challenge against British champions Wigan, helping Brisbane become the first NSWRL club to win the match in Britain.

He then played for Australia at prop forward in the World Cup final victory over Great Britain at Wembley Stadium.

Lazarus played for the Broncos at prop forward in the 1993 grand final victory again over the St. George Dragons.

This constituted a remarkable feat of playing in five consecutive grand finals.

During the 1994 NSWRL season, Lazarus played at prop forward for defending premiers Brisbane when they hosted British champions Wigan for the 1994 World Club Challenge and lost.

He was selected to go on the 1994 Kangaroo Tour, where he was voted the Players' Player of the tour.

In 1996, he captained the Broncos in a game against the Penrith Panthers due to Allan Langer being injured.

It was only a broken (dislocated) ankle suffered during a 1997 World Club Championship match that prevented Lazarus from playing in that year's Super League grand-final-winning Brisbane side.

Lazarus was recruited to the newly established Melbourne Storm by his former CEO (John Ribot) and teammate (Chris Johns) from the Broncos, both then responsible for setting up and managing the growth of new club in Melbourne.

Lazarus commenced with the club in its inaugural year, 1998 and was named as the club's first captain and also given a newspaper column to write in The Herald Sun.

He went on to lead the Melbourne Storm at prop forward in their 1999 grand final victory.

In 2000, Lazarus was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for his contribution to Australia's international standing in rugby league.

In 2003, he was one of the first four former players inducted into the Broncos' official Hall of Fame.

In 2005, the western grandstand of Olympic Park Stadium was named the Glenn Lazarus stand in his honour.

In the 2013 federal election, Lazarus was elected to the Australian Senate for the state of Queensland as the lead Queensland candidate for the Palmer United Party (PUP).

He became PUP Senate leader at the commencement of his term on 1 July 2014.

He quit PUP on 13 March 2015 citing issues with its leader Clive Palmer, and established his own political party, the Glenn Lazarus Team.

He did not retain his seat in the 2016 federal election.

In 2021 Lazarus was inducted into the NSW Rugby League Hall of Fame.

In June 2021, Lazarus was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the 2021 Queen's Birthday Honours for "service to rugby league".

Lazarus was born in Queanbeyan, New South Wales.

He attended Queanbeyan South Primary School and Karabar High School, Queanbeyan.

He excelled at swimming and football, both Australian rules and especially rugby league.

Lazarus achieved a formidable reputation in prop forward position at club, state (NSW), and international levels.

He was the first player in the history of the game to win premierships with three clubs: Canberra Raiders, Brisbane Broncos and Melbourne Storm.