Mick Neil

Mick Neil (born 29 April 1964) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a halfback or five-eighth for Western Suburbs, Balmain and Illawarra in the 1980s and 1990s.

Mick Neil

Personal information
Full name	Michael Neil
Born	(1964-04-29) 29 April 1964 (age 60) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
Position	Five-eighth, Halfback
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1983–86 Western Suburbs 47 7 0 0 28 1987–91 Balmain Tigers 85 17 0 0 68 1992–93 Illawarra Steelers 23 2 0 0 8 1994 Balmain Tigers 12 0 0 0 0 Total 167 26 0 0 104
Source: [1]
Relatives	Alan Neil (brother)

Career

Neil made his first grade debut in the 1983 season for Western Suburbs. In 1987, Neil joined Balmain and played in consecutive losing grand finals for the club in 1988 and 1989. In the 1989 grand final, Neil was ankle tapped by Canberra player Mal Meninga when he looked certain to score what would have been the match winning try for Balmain. Balmain went on to lose the match in what has been described by many as one of the greatest rugby league grand finals of all time. In 1992, Neil joined Illawarra and was part of the side which made it all the way to the preliminary final but lost 4–0 to St George. In 1994, Neil rejoined Balmain and was part of the side which collected the wooden spoon that year. At the end of 1994, Neil retired from rugby league. ^[2][3]

References

1. Ferguson, Shawn Dollin and Andrew. "Michael Neil - Career Stats & Summary - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org.
2. "Finals Flashback: 1989 Canberra vs Balmain". 3 October 2014.
3. "Western Suburbs Magpies First Grade Players". Wests Magpies.