Steve Walters (born 28 August 1965) is an Australian former rugby league footballer who, at the peak of his career, was considered the best hooker in the game. Steve is the eldest of the three Walters brothers, but was the last of them to gain Australian Test selection honours.
Playing career
Steven played originally for Brisbane Norths, unlike his younger brothers Kerrod and Kevin who played for their hometown of Ipswich alongside Allan Langer.
After moving to the Raiders and achieving back-to-back grand final wins in 1989 and 1990, many believed that Test selection should have come to Walters. It did come, belatedly, in the 1991 Trans-Tasman Test series. But this was at the expense of his brother Kerrod who lost his representative position due to being suspended. Steve Walters out-pointed New South Wales captain Ben Elias on the scores of consistency and reliability in the open and was one of Australia's best players in the series win against the Kiwis. He was also named man-of-the-match in the second game of the 1991 State of Origin series. Despite Canberra's loss in that year's grand final, Walters was named the Raiders' player of the year and also earned a place on the Australian Tour of Papua New Guinea, but did not play a match as he was injured at training.
In 1992 Walters was selected for the Ashes series against Great Britain. The Walters brothers had already become the first trio to play for Queensland and Australia when, that year, they achieved another milestone when all three were selected to tour with the World Cup squad. In 1993 Walters was named as Rugby League Week's player of the year.
Canberra's win in the 1994 grand final, and Walters' performances for Queensland and Australia, confirmed his reputation as the best dummy-half runner in the world. Despite the good form of Ben Elias in New South Wales' State of Origin wins in 1993-94, Walters retained his place on the 1994 Kangaroo Tour and produced a man-of-the-match effort in the deciding Test of the Ashes series.
After a decade with the Raiders, Walters joined former coach Tim Sheens at the North Queensland Cowboys but despite representing Queensland and Australia during 1997's Super League competition, his two seasons at Townsville were hampered by a career-threatening back injury.
Statistics
Australia 1991-94: 15 Tests - 4t (16 pts)
Australia (SL)1997: 3 games – 1t (4 pts)
Queensland (SOO) 1990-96: 14 games - 1t (4 pts)
Queensland (SL Tri-Series) 1997: 3 games (0 pts)
Canberra Raiders 1986-96: 227 games - 42t (168 pts)
North Queensland Cowboys 1997-98 15 games – 4t (16 pts)
Newcastle Knights 1999: 7 games – 2t (8 pts)[1]
Retirement
At first contemplating retirement after the Cowboys baulked at extending his contract, Walters signed with the Newcastle Knights in 1999 but was forced to retire midway through the season due to a recurring knee injury.
In 2000 Steve was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for his contribution to Australia's international standing in the sport of rugby league. In February 2008, Walters was named in the list of Australia's 100 Greatest Players (1908-2007) which was commissioned by the NRL and ARL to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia.[1][2]
References
External links
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