Gary Belcher never planned to be a fullback and almost wasn’t a Raider, but with light “encouragement” from Mal Meninga, helped shape one of the greatest eras of footy ever seen and redefine the role of a No.1.
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Belcher was playing as a centre pairing with Meninga at the Brisbane Rugby League’s Southern Suburbs Magpies until a forced change of plan from coach Bob McCarthy.
“I was absolutely insulted when he said to me at the start of 1984 that, ‘I want you to play fullback’,” Belcher recalled on Fox League’s Face to Face.
“I was in the centres with Mal and we played together in the centres, unlike today; inside and outside centre, switching sides together all the time. So we had a really good thing going.
“But then a guy came along: the late, great Peter Jackson. And I remember thinking, ‘Geez, this guy’s a good player, where’s Macca gonna fit him?’ Well, it was where he was gonna fit me!
“I kind of thought of fullbacks as wingers. Not trying to be disrespectful to wingers, but we used to say they hung around the footballers. But from the first game, I loved it.”
Fullback opened up the game for Belcher, who won a premiership in 1985 at Souths under Wayne Bennett. Then came a big decision on his future — about which Mal made his feelings clear.
“Mal had a big influence on me,” Belcher said. “I think he said, ‘I don’t care where you go Badge, but if you don’t go to Canberra, I’m gonna belt you every time we play’, so that’s a fair motivation.
“I think it was the smartest move ever made to play in the same side as Mal rather than against him.”
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After joining Canberra in the NSWRL with Meninga in 1986, Belcher played a huge role in the 1980s-90s Raiders ‘dream team’.
Their first and most memorable premiership was in 1989, which Belcher still reflects on as his greatest grand final and an incredible moment in his career.
The Balmain Tigers were heavily favoured over the Raiders and were up 12-2 going into half-time.
“That was a really big deficit in those days, it was just harder to score tries. You didn’t often score three tries in five minutes or 10 minutes as it happens now.”
The Raiders entered the second half with a new-found force, Belcher scoring a poetic try in the 56th minute.
However, the try that fans still remember is Steve Jackson’s extra-time match-winner, as he pushed past five defenders to win Canberra the title, 19-14.
“A lot of people have said, ‘Did you play in the ‘89 grand final’ – but who remembers my try, when there’s Steve Jackson’s try.”
Belcher loved the community feel of Canberra during the Raiders’ glory period. In the week leading up to the grand final, the town held street parades, ecstatic for the game.
“We were playing a style of footy that everyone loved, and the town got excited,” he recalled.
The Raiders continued their streak in 1990, winning the grand final against the Penrith Panthers, and Belcher also won back-to-back Fullback of the Year awards at the Dally Ms.
The Panthers got revenge in the following year’s grand final, ending the Raiders’ streak, then Canberra won their third and most recent premiership in 1994, just after Belcher’s retirement and Brett Mullins’ takeover at No.1.
Belcher is remembered for reimagining what it means for be a fullback and influencing the modern game, however he never intended to fall into the position. In a nod to the future, he grew up as a playmaker.
“I wasn’t a fullback as a kid, ever. I was a five-eighth. It wasn’t until I found myself at fullback, under Bob McCarthy, that I realised what a great position it was for me, the game opened up. From the first game, I loved it,” he said.
“When I was a kid coming through, fullbacks stuck at the back and waited for someone to make a break and try to tackle them but when I got there, and Bob McCarthy and Wayne Bennett encouraged me, to just turn up anywhere. That’s the advantage, you’re that extra man.”
It wasn’t his toughest transition. In his first Test for Australia in 1988, he was thrown on to the wing, marking English flyer Martin ‘Chariots’ Offiah.
“I’ve never played on the wing in my whole life and the first thing I had to, they are packing the scrum and I’m marking the fastest man to ever play the game, and I am probably the slowest winger ever to play the game… he scores probably the easiest try he has ever scored.”
Playing for the Raiders was akin to playing in the Test team.
He played alongside greats and friends in Meninga, Kevin Walters, Peter Jackson, Ricky Stuart, Laurie Daley, Steve Walters… the list goes on.
“I watched Mal Meninga on as an admirer, then a teammate then a mate. He’s an immortal but he is one of the all-time great people in the game,” Belcher said.
“Ricky Stuart has one of the best passing games that I’ve seen. When I was a kid coming through in Brisbane, the long spiral passes were called Wally Lewis passes, and when I saw what Ricky could do later on, we were in awe. It gave us this great advantage.”
Alongside the premierships and Test jerseys, Belcher is proud to have represented Queensland, competing in 16 State of Origin matches.
“I can still remember that excitement of being in the Queensland side. It was just a dream to be a part of that and be around guys like Wally Lewis and Greg Conescu and Bryan Niebling. It was amazing, I just felt so welcome.”
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