- Marcus Bai
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Marcus Bai Personal information Nickname George Born 11 October 1972
Ulamona, Papua New GuineaPlaying information Height 175cm Weight 91kg Position Wing Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1997 Hull 8 1997 Gold Coast Chargers 18 5 0 0 20 1998–03 Melbourne Storm 144 70 1 0 282 2004–05 Leeds Rhinos 63 42 0 0 168 2006 Bradford Bulls 24 9 0 0 36 Total 257 126 1 0 506 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 1995–06 Papua New Guinea 14 1 0 0 4 Source: Rugby League Project Marcus Bai (born 11 October 1972) is a Papua New Guinean former rugby league footballer of the 1990s and 2000s. Primarily a winger, he played his final season in 2006 for English Super League team Bradford Bulls. He is the only man to win the World Club Challenge with three different clubs. In 2005 he was minutes away from being the first person to win all of the major domestic competitions in both Australia and England (NRL, Super League, World Club Championship, League Leaders Shield & Challenge Cup) however Hull struck with minutes to go in the Challenge Cup final to deny Leeds the cup and him a place in the history books. It was his mistake that ultimately gifted Hull the cup.
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Playing career
Astonishingly Marcus Bai never played junior rugby league at any level, although he did play Australian rules football as a schoolboy in West New Britain. A Papua New Guinea international, he has represented his country on numerous occasions including at the 1995 Rugby League World Cup. He began his career playing for the Port Moresby Vipers in Australia.
Hull
He began his professional career playing for Hull in England where he made eight appearances for them in 1997.
Gold Coast Chargers
Then moved to the Gold Coast Chargers in Australia. He played the final 18 games of the season scoring 5 tries. That year he was selected to play for the Rest of the World side to play a match against an ARL test side. Although his spell for the Gold Coast was a brief one, it allowed Bai to make a name for himself, while in the process prompting Melbourne Storm to sign him in 1998 in their inaugural season.
Melbourne Storm
He was named Dally M Winger of the Year in his first year at the Melbourne Storm. In his second season for Melbourne, he was part of the 1999 National Rugby League winning side in which he played in every game. In 2000 Marcus Bai again represented his country this time at the 2000 Rugby League World Cup playing in all four of his countries games and scoring three tries. That year for the Storm, Bai was hampered by injuries, including being cut on his right arm by the steel advertising boards. In all he spent six years playing for the Melbourne Storm, playing 144 first grade games and scoring a total of 70 tries.
Leeds Rhinos
After displaying his ability with some impressive performances for Melbourne Storm, Bai transferred to English Super League club the Leeds Rhinos. His debut for the club was against Castleford Tigers on the Boxing Day Festive Challenge during which he scored a try after coming off the bench. His full first team debut came against the London Broncos on the opening day of the 2004 Super League season. He announced his arrival at the club in the best possible fashion, by scoring a hat-trick on his full debut in front of the Leeds Rhinos home crowd. Marcus Bai had become an instant hit with the Leeds fans. Later that year in his first full season for Leeds, Marcus Bai scored a hat-trick in the grand final eliminator which helped Leeds on their way to booking their place at Old Trafford.
In 2005, Bai was again impressive making 32 appearances and scoring 19 tries in all competitions. In all he spent two full seasons with Leeds making 63 appearances and scoring 45 tries including four hat-tricks. He is currently just one of seven players to win a Grand Final in the premier Rugby League competitions in both European Super League and Australian National Rugby League. He helped Leeds to their 2004 Grand Final success against the Bradford Bulls and was also in the Leeds side that lost a year later in the Grand Final ironically to the Bradford Bulls.
Bai left the Leeds Rhinos after spending two successful years with them. He penned a contract with the Bradford Bulls for the 2006 Super League season.
Bradford Bulls
Bai got his Bradford Bulls career off to a good start by scoring two tries on his debut in the 2006 World Club Challenge match against the Wests Tigers in which Bradford won 30-10. At the end of his first season with the Bulls, Marcus was awarded the Best Back of the Year Award by the club. Marcus signed a one-year extension to his contract at Bradford in 2006 which would have kept him at Grattan Stadium until the end of 2007, however in December Marcus announced his retirement from the sport with immediate effect.
External links
Papua New Guinea squad – 2000 Rugby League World Cup Papua New Guinea squad – 1995 Rugby League World Cup Bradford Bulls - 2006 World Club Challenge (3rd title) 1. Michael Withers • 2. Marcus Bai • 3. Ben Harris • 4. Shontayne Hape • 5. Lesley Vainikolo • 17. Karl Pryce • 6. Iestyn Harris (c)
29. Stuart Fielden • 9. Ian Henderson • 14. Andy Lynch • 10. Brad Meyers • 12. Paul Johnson • 16. Jamie Langley
8. Joe Vagana • 15. Stanley Gene • 19. Brett Ferres • 20. Matt Cook
Coach: Brian NobleSuper League Dream Team – 2004 1 Shaun Briscoe • 2 Lesley Vainikolo • 3 Keith Senior • 4 Sid Domic • 5 Marcus Bai • 6 Danny McGuire • 7 Richard Horne
• 8 Andy Farrell • 9 Matt Diskin • 10 Paul King • 11 Ali Lauitiiti • 12 David Solomona • 13 Paul SculthorpeLeeds Rhinos squad – 2004 Super League champions 1 Richard Mathers • 2 Mark Calderwood • 3 Chev Walker • 4 Keith Senior • 5 Marcus Bai • 6 Kevin Sinfield (c) • 7 Danny McGuire
• 8 Ryan Bailey • 9 Matt Diskin • 10 Danny Ward • 11 Chris McKenna • 12 Ali Lauitiiti • 13 David Furner
• 14 Rob Burrow • 15 Willie Poching • 16 Jamie Jones-Buchanan • 17 Barrie McDermott
• Coach: Tony SmithMelbourne Storm squad – 2000 World Club Challenge winners 1 Robbie Ross • 2 Brad Watts • 3 Aaron Moule • 4 Tony Martin • 5 Marcus Bai • 6 Scott Hill • 7 Brett Kimmorley
• 8 Wayne Evans • 9 Richard Swain • 10 Robbie Kearns (c) • 11 Paul Marquet • 12 Stephen Kearney • 13 Matt Rua
• 14 Danny Williams • 15 Russell Bawden • 16 Tasesa Lavea • 17 Dane Morgan
• Coach: Chris AndersonMelbourne Storm squad - 1999 NRL premiers (1st title) 1. Robbie Ross • 2. Craig Smith • 3. Aaron Moule • 4. Tony Martin • 5. Marcus Bai • 6. Matt Geyer • 7. Brett Kimmorley
8. Glenn Lazarus (c) • 9. Richard Swain • 10. Rodney Howe • 11. Paul Marquet • 12. Stephen Kearney • 13. Tawera Nikau
14. Matt Rua • 15. Danny Williams • 16. Russell Bawden • 17. Ben Roarty
Coach: Chris AndersonInaugural Melbourne Storm side v Illawarra Steelers, WIN Stadium, 14 March 19981. Robbie Ross | 2. Craig Smith | 3. Aaron Moule | 4. Paul Bell | 5. Marcus Bai | 6. Scott Hill | 7. Brett Kimmorley |
8. Rodney Howe | 9. Danny Williams | 10. Robbie Kearns | 11. Paul Marquet | 12. Ben Roarty | 13. Tawera Nikau |
14. Glenn Lazarus (c) | 15. Richard Swain | 16. Russell Bawden | 17. John Carlaw | Coach: Chris AndersonCategories:- 1972 births
- People from Madang Province
- Papua New Guinean rugby league players
- Papua New Guinea national rugby league team players
- Hull FC players
- Gold Coast Giants/Seagulls/Chargers players
- Melbourne Storm players
- Leeds Rhinos players
- Bradford Bulls players
- Living people
- Australian people of Papua New Guinean descent
- Port Moresby Vipers players
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