| Preston Campbell |
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With a height of 165 cm and weight of 73 kg the tiny Campbell started his Rugby League career with the Inverell Hawks junior club and made his A Grade debut with the Gold Coast Chargers in 1998 as a Fullback. Preston moved on to play for the Cronulla Sharks in 1999 for several seasons. He spent the first several seasons biding his time in reserve grade and occasionally filling in for injuries in first grade. It was in 2001 that he showed what he was capable of with his feats as a replacement fullback for the injured David Peachey . His electrifying speed and side-step combined with his diminutive stature and humility quickly endeared him to Cronulla fans. Preston's stellar performances earned him praise not only from within the club, but from all facets of Rugby League and the Media. It was expected by some that he would eventually return to the lower grades until he was needed again but coach John Lang had other ideas. Clearly Campbell was too talented to be wasted playing in reserve grade. A spot in first grade must be found for him, that much was clear. But where? With the return of David Peachey, he was no longer needed at Fullback and Cronulla was clearly struggling without a recognised Half-back. Finding the solution to 2 problems Lang pencilled in Campbell for the Halfback role. It was here that Campbell truly made his mark in Rugby League. Combining with David Peachey and pivot Adam Dykes , the trio formed a devastating combination on the field and were almost unstoppable as Cronulla pushed forward and made a serious bid for it's 2001 finals campaign including one memorable game when Premiership favourites the Newcastle Knights were soundly beaten by a rampant Peachey and Campbell. At the end of 2001 Preston Campbell was awarded the Dally M Player Of The Year , beating Andrew Johns , the Newcastle Knights captain by one point and became Cronulla's third Dally M medalist. In 2002, with the arrival of new coach Chris Anderson and former Test Halfback Brett Kimmorley at the club, his world came crashing down when he learned he was to be overlooked from his preferred Halfback role in place of Kimmorley and would instead be moved to the unfamiliar position of Hooker . After several disastrous games and seemingly very little interest in playing, he was dropped to reserve grade and stating his desire to return to the position he had made his own, requested a release from Cronulla which was eventually granted. He was quickly snapped up by the Penrith Panthers now under the guidance of his former mentor John Lang for the 2003 season. In his first season with the Penrith Panthers and his more familiar role at Halfback/Five-eight he proved to be a great asset to the team, playing every minute of every match for the entire season. Campbell played with the Penrith Panthers when they won the grand final in 2003 and when they where semi-finalists in 2004 . In 2007 Campbell will be one of the innaugural members of the newly admitted Gold Coast Titans side after he announced in 2005 that he had signed a new deal return to the Gold Coast. |
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