Laurie Daley

Laurie Daley

Daley at rugby league centenary celebrations in 2008
Personal information
Full name	Laurie William Daley
Nickname	Lozza
Born	(1969-10-20) 20 October 1969 (age 47) Junee, New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
Height	183 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	92 kg (14 st 7 lb)
Position	Five-eighth, Centre, Lock
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1987–00 Canberra Raiders 244 87 44 9 445 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 1988–96 NSW Country 7 3 0 0 12 1989–99 New South Wales 23 6 1 0 26 1990–99 Australia 21 11 0 2 46 1997 NSW (SL) 3 0 0 0 0 1997 Australia (SL) 5 4 0 0 16
Coaching information
Representative Years Team Gms W D L W% 2008–12 NSW Country 5 2 1 2 40 2011–15 Indigenous All Stars 4 2 0 2 50 2013–16 New South Wales 12 5 0 7 42 2013–14 Prime Ministers XIII 2 2 0 0 100
Source:

Laurie William Daley AM (born 20 October 1969 in Junee, New South Wales) is a professional Australian rugby league football coach currently in charge of the New South Wales State of Origin team. Daley is also a former player, having represented Australia on 26 occasions and has since been named as one of the nation's finest of the 20th century. Daley played primarily as a Centre and then Five-eighth for the Canberra Raiders during their most successful period in the 1990s.

Spotted playing first grade for the Junee Diesels in 1986 at the age of sixteen, and after being signed by the Raiders, he developed as a centre and was playing first grade by 1987, including being a non-playing reserve for the Raiders in their 18-8 Grand Final loss to Manly-Warringah at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Daley was playing representative rugby league before his 19th birthday in 1988 when he was selected to represent NSW Country in the annual City vs Country Origin game. He was the second highest try-scorer in the 1989 NSWRL season with sixteen tries, only one less than team mate Gary Belcher. He tasted premiership success with the Raiders 1989 in an extra-time game which saw Canberra defeat the Balmain Tigers 19-14, and in the ensuing celebrations the Winfield Cup was smashed, not by Daley dropping it as was reported by the press, but when it fell from the rear tray of Ford T bucket hot rod both were riding in when the hot rod hit a bump in the road. In the post season he travelled with the Raiders to England for the 1989 World Club Challenge, playing at centre in Canberra's 18-30 loss to Widnes at the Old Trafford stadium in Manchester.