MEN 1873-1895
MEN 1895-2024
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Mark Elia

OVERALL STATISTICS

BIRTHAGESIGNED ONFROM
25-12-1962
N/A
17-11-1985
Te Atatu- NZ
DEBUTLAST MATCHLEFT
12-01-1986 v Warrington
Leeds
1995- French club?
CAREERAPPEARANCES (SUBS)
1985-1987
74 (5)
TRIESGOALSDGOALSPTS
50
2
0
204

Biography of Mark Elia



HERITAGE NO : 982
Mark Elia by Alex Service

By the mid 1980s, the trend was to sign big, strong and fast centre threequarters in the Mal Meninga and Gene Miles mode. Saints signed New Zealand international Mark Elia, first of all on a temporary basis and then full time during 1987-88. He was a big, long-striding centre, with a great pace and a superb finisher. Mark played for the Te Atatu club in Auckland and was a member of the 1985 Kiwi tourists to Great Britain and made 8 appearances, scoring 8 tries, including a brace in the 46-8 demolition of Saints at Knowsley Road! Although he did not make a Test match appearance, as a result of the consistency of the likes of Dean Bell and James Leuluai, he proved to be a fine addition to the St.Helens backline. In one match against Hull KR at Craven Park on 9th April 1986 he scored a marvellous hat-trick by capitalising on the half-breaks of loose forward Chris Arkwright, as Saints came away with a marvellous 23-11 victory, which was quite rare in those days given the strength of both Humberside teams.

The Saints of 1986-87 were a brilliant attacking outfit and although progress in the First Division Championship was thwarted by Wigan, who finished first some 15 points ahead of second-placed St.Helens, the Challenge Cup brought renewed hope of success. Saints reached the final against an ageing Halifax outfit. Yet experience is everything at Wembley and the Yorkshiremen pulled off a shock 19-18 success despite enduring terrific Saints pressure for much of the game. For Mark it was a bitter-sweet experience, however, as he scored a marvellous try just after the interval from half-way, leaving Aussie full-back Graham Eadie trailing in his wake. St.Helens were back in the match now at 8-12, but there was to be disappointment for the team, as Halifax extended their lead to 8-15. By the 70th minute, the Saints had reduced the deficit to one point (18-19) and pounded the beleaguered Halifax defence. In what could only be described as a nerve-wracking finish, Mark had two opportunities to win the match.

On the first occasion, Halifax loose forward John Pendlebury punched the ball from his grasp as he was diving over the try-line. Perhaps a more modern interpretation would have seen the try awarded! Minutes later, Andy Platt made a searing break down the left and fed Elia who went over only for referee Holdsworth to disallow the try for a forward pass. It was a great pity that the Saints had not been more pragmatic and gone for the drop-goal. They would have hammered Halifax in the replay, but it wasn't to be.

Mark played a full season at Knowsley Road in 1987-88 (32 appearances and 20 tries) and won a John Player Trophy winners medal after the superb 15-14 success against Leeds at Central Park. It was a game where his centre partner on the other flank, Paul Loughlin, scored two tries and kicked two goals, virtually ensuring his selection for the 1988 Australian Tour squad. Mark's final match was at Old Trafford at the end of the season, in the Premiership Final, when an injury-hit Saints side fell to a powerful Widnes outfit, who had more pace on the day.
He did rejoin the club for a second spell in January 1995, from French RL and once again his final match was in an end-of-season Premiership match. This time it was the infamous semi-final at Headingley when Saints were 20-6 up at the interval and ended up losing 30-26.

A marvellous cricketer, who played for a spell in the Yorkshire Leagues, Mark also played for Widnes and the Canterbury Bulldogs in Australia in the late 1980s and made 10 test match appearances for the Kiwis overall, scoring 5 tries. A popular, friendly guy, he is currently coach of the famous Cootamundra Bulldogs in Southern New South Wales, the same club that produced fearsome Aussie front-rower Les Boyd.

PLAYER HONOURS

SEASON STATISTICS

Season (Official Matches)TriesGoalsDGoalsMatches
1985~86 15 1 0 13
1986~877 0 0 13
1987~88 20 0 0 32
1994~95 8 1 0 16
TOTALS:50 2 0 74
Season (Other Matches)TriesGoalsDGoalsMatches
TOTALS:

ALL MATCHES

DateMatchPosOpponentsCompVenueFTFTOTGDG
12th Jan 1986 1
L
 3 Warrington L A 16 26 1 VIEW
2nd Feb 1986 2
W
 3 Featherstone Rovers L H 44 14 2 VIEW
24th Feb 1986 3
W
 3 Dewsbury CC1 A 22 19 VIEW
2nd Mar 1986 4
W
 3 Halifax L H 22 10 1 VIEW
8th Mar 1986 5
L
 3 Wigan CC2 A 14 24 1 VIEW
16th Mar 1986 6
W
 3 York L A 18 11 1 VIEW
19th Mar 1986 7
W
 3 Salford L H 28 10 2 VIEW
23rd Mar 1986 8
W
 3 Dewsbury L A 18 12 1 VIEW
28th Mar 1986 9
W
 3 Wigan L H 18 13 2 VIEW
31st Mar 1986 10
W
 4 Widnes L A 16 6 1 VIEW
2nd Apr 1986 11
W
 4 Oldham L A 38 12 VIEW
6th Apr 1986 12
W
 4 Swinton L H 24 14 1 VIEW
9th Apr 1986 13
W
 4 Hull Kingston Rovers L A 22 13 3 VIEW
23rd Nov 1986 14
W
 3 Hull L H 50 10 VIEW
18th Feb 1987 15
W
 4 Warrington L H 42 22 2 VIEW
22nd Feb 1987 16
W
 4 Bradford Northern L H 40 14 2 VIEW
1st Mar 1987 17
W
 4 Whitehaven CC3 H 41 10 VIEW
4th Mar 1987 18
L
 4 Castleford L A 10 12 VIEW
14th Mar 1987 19
W
 4 Leigh CCSF N 14 8 VIEW
17th Mar 1987 20
L
 4 Hull L A 22 36 VIEW
22nd Mar 1987 21
D
 4 Warrington L A 17 17 1 VIEW
25th Mar 1987 22
W
 4 Leigh L A 16 8 VIEW
20th Apr 1987 23
L
 4 Widnes L H 24 30 VIEW
26th Apr 1987 24
W
 4 Bradford Northern PT1 H 46 14 1 VIEW
2nd May 1987 25
L
 4 Halifax CCF N 18 19 1 VIEW
10th May 1987 26
L
 4 Warrington PTSF H 8 18 VIEW
30th Aug 1987 27
L
 4 Castleford L A 10 20 VIEW
6th Sep 1987 28
W
 4 Hull Kingston Rovers L H 31 16 2 VIEW
13th Sep 1987 29
L
 6 Leigh LC1 A 21 27 2 VIEW
27th Sep 1987 30
W
 4 Bradford Northern L H 38 10 VIEW
4th Oct 1987 31
L
 4 Halifax L A 12 14 1 VIEW
18th Oct 1987 32
W
 4 Leigh L H 23 14 1 VIEW
25th Oct 1987 33
W
 4 Salford L A 18 8 VIEW
14th Nov 1987 34
W
 4 Widnes JP1 H 12 10 VIEW
22nd Nov 1987 35
W
 4 Mansfield Marksmen JP2 H 40 0 2 VIEW
29th Nov 1987 36
W
 4 Hull JP3 H 20 16 VIEW
6th Dec 1987 37
L
 4 Hull Kingston Rovers L A 16 25 1 VIEW
13th Dec 1987 38
W
 4 Warrington L H 17 14 VIEW
19th Dec 1987 39
W
 4 Oldham JPSF N 18 8 VIEW
27th Dec 1987 40
W
 4 Wigan L A 32 22 VIEW
3rd Jan 1988 41
W
 4 Widnes L H 25 0 VIEW
9th Jan 1988 42
W
 4 Leeds JPF N 15 14 VIEW
17th Jan 1988 43
W
 4 Bradford Northern L A 13 12 VIEW
31st Jan 1988 44
W
 4 Leigh CC1 A 22 12 2 VIEW
7th Feb 1988 45
W
 4 Halifax L H 16 4 2 VIEW
13th Feb 1988 46
W
 4 Warrington CC2 A 24 20 VIEW
17th Feb 1988 47
W
 4 Hull L H 64 2 VIEW
21st Feb 1988 48
W
 4 Leigh L A 50 12 1 VIEW
28th Feb 1988 49
L
 4 Salford CC3 A 18 22 VIEW
1st Mar 1988 50
W
 4 Hunslet L H 70 6 2 VIEW
6th Mar 1988 51
W
 4 Hunslet L A 14 10 VIEW
1st Apr 1988 52
L
 4 Wigan L H 9 10 VIEW
10th Apr 1988 53
L
 14 Leeds L H 23 28 VIEW
13th Apr 1988 54
W
 4 Hull L A 20 8 1 VIEW
17th Apr 1988 55
W
 4 Swinton L H 52 4 2 VIEW
24th Apr 1988 56
W
 4 Castleford PT1 H 40 8 1 VIEW
8th May 1988 57
W
 4 Bradford Northern PTSF H 24 10 VIEW
15th May 1988 58
L
 4 Widnes PTF N 14 38 VIEW
11th Jan 1995 59
L
 5 Wakefield Trinity L A 0 15 VIEW
15th Jan 1995 60
W
 5 Featherstone Rovers L H 26 20 1 VIEW
22nd Jan 1995 61
W
 4 Hull L H 54 18 1 1 VIEW
29th Jan 1995 62
L
 4 Castleford L A 16 18 VIEW
5th Feb 1995 63
L
 4 Sheffield Eagles L A 31 35 1 VIEW
11th Feb 1995 --NPS
D
 14 Wigan CC4 A 16 16 VIEW
15th Feb 1995 64
L
 14 Wigan CC4rep H 24 40 VIEW
12th Mar 1995 65
W
 3 Hull L A 43 32 VIEW
17th Mar 1995 66
W
 3 Bradford Northern L H 36 27 1 VIEW
22nd Mar 1995 67
W
 3 Leeds L A 31 20 VIEW
26th Mar 1995 68
L
 3 Featherstone Rovers L A 27 34 1 VIEW
2nd Apr 1995 69
W
 5 Wakefield Trinity L H 56 14 1 VIEW
14th Apr 1995 70
L
 14 Wigan L A 18 34 VIEW
17th Apr 1995 71
W
 5 Widnes L H 54 22 1 VIEW
21st Apr 1995 72
W
 14 Warrington L H 31 12 VIEW
7th May 1995 73
W
 5 Halifax PT1 H 32 16 1 VIEW
14th May 1995 74
L
 14 Leeds PTSF A 26 30 VIEW
*Unofficial Match. **Non Playing Sub.
WINS : 51 | LOSSES : 22 | DRAWS : 2

GALLERY





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