Noel Goldthorpe

St George junior spent several seasons with Wests' lower grades before being cut by the Magpies at the beginning of the 1992 season. The tiny halfback returned to the Dragons and was rewarded for his great early form with selection for City Firsts. Goldthorpe played in successive grand final losses to Brisbane in 1992-93 but with the Super League competition looming and talks of a possible merger with Easts in 1995, Goldthorpe signed with the newly formed Hunter Mariners. With Super League forced by the courts to wait another season before getting underway, Goldthorpe stayed with St George and formed a great partnership with Anthony Mundine in the Dragons’ charge to the grand final. His last appearance for the club was in the 20-8 grand final loss to Manly and he later publicly regretted the circumstances of his move from the club. The next two years saw him at Hunter and Adelaide, two clubs that were quickly axed with the game’s rationalization in 1999, before joining the Nth Queensland North Queensland. Used primarily as a five-eighth, Goldthorpe was out of favour with North Queensland’ coach Tim Sheens and he was let go by the club in February 2001.