Adam Blair

For the novel Adam Blair see John Gibson Lockhart

Adam Blair

Personal information
Full name	Adam Ngawati Blair [1]
Born	(1986-03-20) 20 March 1986 Whangarei, New Zealand
Height	188 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	108 kg (17 st 0 lb)
Playing information
Position	Prop, Lock, Second-row
Club
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
2006–11	Melbourne Storm	121	5	0	0	20
2012–14	Wests Tigers	71	4	0	0	16
2015–	Brisbane Broncos	47	1	0	0	4
	Total	239	10	0	0	40
Representative
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
2006–16	New Zealand	36	2	0	0	8
2010	NRL All Stars	1	0	0	0	0
As of 23 July 2016
Source:

Adam Blair (born 20 March 1986) is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who currently plays for the Brisbane Broncos of the National Rugby League. Blair primarily plays at prop, second-row and lock. Blair is a New Zealand international who has co-captained the team and has represented the NRL All Stars. Blair previously played for the Melbourne Storm in 2006-2011 where he won the 2009 NRL premiership (which was later stripped to salary cap breaches) and the Wests Tigers in 2012-2014. Blair was a member of the New Zealand Kiwis side that won the 2008 World Cup.

Early years

Born in Whangarei, New Zealand, Blair is of Māori descent.^[2] Blair played his junior football for the Northland Carvers and attended Whangarei Boys High School before recruited by the Melbourne Storm as a 16 year old where he moved to Brisbane, Queensland and played for their feeder club the Norths Devils while attending Wavell State High School.^[3][4] Blair was a Junior Kiwi in 2002 and 2003.^[5]

Playing Career

Blair & Issac Luke performing the Haka

2006

In Round 4 of the 2006 NRL season, Blair made his NRL debut for the Melbourne Storm against the Wests Tigers where he played of the interchange bench in the Storms’ 30-28 loss at Leichhardt Oval.^[6][7] On 1 October 2006, Blair played in the Storm's 2006 NRL Grand Final match against the Brisbane Broncos where he played off the interchange bench in the 15-8 loss.^[8] Blair finished his debut season in the NRL where he was awarded as the Rookie of the Year for the club, playing in 16 matches during the 2006 NRL season. On 5 October 2006, Blair was awarded with selection in the New Zealand Kiwis 2006 Tri-Nations series squad.^[9] On 14 October 2006, Blair made his international debut for New Zealand against Australia where he played off the interchange bench in the Kiwis 30-18 loss at Mt Smart Stadium.^[10] Blair played in all 4 matches of the tournament including the Kiwis 16-12 Tri-Nations Final loss against Australia at Sydney Football Stadium.^[11]

2007

Blair missed most of the 2007 NRL season due to a foot injury which he suffered in the last year’s Tri-Nations Final, playing in only 8 matches for the Storm.^[12]

2008

On 9 May 2008, Blair played for New Zealand in the historical Centenary Test against Australia where he played off the interchange bench in the 28-12 loss at Sydney Cricket Ground.^[13] In August 2008, Blair was named in the New Zealand train-on squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.^[14] In the Storm's preliminary finals match against the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, Blair scored his first NRL career try in the 28-0 win at Sydney Football Stadium.^[15][16] On 5 October 2008, Blair played in the Storm’s 2008 NRL Grand Final match against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles where he played off the interchange bench in the 40-0 whooping loss.^[17] Blair finished the 2008 NRL season with him playing in 27 matches and scoring 1 try for the Storm. After the Grand Final, Blair was named in the final 24-man New Zealand squad. In the Kiwis match against Papua New Guinea, Blair scored his first international try and was named as the Man-of-the-Match in the 48-6 win at Cbus Super Stadium.^[18] On 23 November 2008, Blair started at prop and scored a try for New Zealand in which they defeated Australia 34-20 in the 2008 World Cup Final at Suncorp Stadium.^[19] Blair played in all 6 matches for the Kiwis in the tournament.

2009

On 8 May 2009, Blair played for New Zealand against Australia in the 2009 ANZAC Test where he started at prop in the 38-10 loss at Suncorp Stadium.^[20] On 4 October 2009, Blair played in the Storm’s 2009 NRL Grand Final match against the Parramatta Eels, where he started at second-row and scored the second try of the match and set up Billy Slater’s try to lead the team to the 23-16 victory.^[21][22] Blair finished the 2009 NRL season with him playing in 25 matches and scoring 2 tries. Blair was also named in the New Zealand team to play in the 2009 Four Nations where he was the Kiwis' vice-captain alongside Benji Marshall in all 3 matches of the tournament.

2010

As being the Vice-Captain for the Kiwis, Blair was an automatic selection for the 2010 NRL All Stars team against the Indigenous All Stars where he started at prop in the 16-12 loss at Cbus Super Stadium.^[23] On 7 May 2010, Blair played for New Zealand against Australia in the 2010 ANZAC Test where he started at lock in the 12-8 loss at AAMI Park.^[24] Blair finished the Storm’s drama-filled 2010 NRL season with him playing in 22 matches and scoring 1 try. On 5 October 2010, Blair was chosen in the 23-man New Zealand 2010 Four Nations squad.^[25] On 13 November 2010, In New Zealand’s Four Nations Final match against Australia, Blair started at prop where Kiwis won 16-12 after a try to Nathan Fien with 2 minutes to fulltime in the thrilling match win at Suncorp Stadium.^[26] Blair played in 4 matches in the tournament.

2011

In Round 2 against the Gold Coast Titans, Blair played his 100th NRL career match in the Storm’s 40-12 win at AAMI Park.^[27][28] On 6 May 2011, Blair played for New Zealand in the 2011 ANZAC Test against Australia where he started at second-row in the 20-10 loss at Cbus Super Stadium.^[29] On 13 July 2016, it was conformed that Blair signed a 4 year-deal with the Wests Tigers starting from 2012 worth around $500,000 a season.^[30][31] In Round 25 against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in the match dubbed as the ‘Battle of Brookvale” after Blair’s involvement in a fight with Manly forward Glenn Stewart made headlines around the world. The incident started with a fight between Manly's Darcy Lussick and Melbourne's Ryan Hinchcliffe, after Hinchcliffe elbowed Lussick as he tackled him. Other players, including, notably, Stewart and Blair, joined in the melee on that occasion. But while the drama should have ended with Stewart and Blair being sin-binned, instead it escalated. Stewart, sin-binned first, walked off. Blair, sin-binned second, jogged off. Blair caught up with Stewart and the pair exchanged words - the speculation is Blair suggested the pair to "get it on" and the fists started flying. Then, four other Manly players - including Stewart's brother, Brett - ran in from a distance to get involved. The others were Kieran Foran, Michael Robertson and Lussick. That was the signal for a melee that drew players from everywhere, including the Melbourne bench, from where Bryan Norrie, Sisa Waqa and Jaiman Lowe emerged. Blair and Stewart were later obviously sent off for the rest of the match as the Storm went down to lose 18-4.^[32][33] After the match, it turned out to be Blair’s last match for the Storm after he was suspended for 5 matches, which made him miss the final series where the Storm were later knocked out by grand finalists, the New Zealand Warriors in the Preliminary Final.^[34] Blair finished his last year with the Melbourne Storm with him playing in 23 matches and scoring 1 try. On 4 October 2011, Blair was selected in the New Zealand Kiwis 23-man squad in the 2011 Four Nations series.^[35] Blair played in 2 matches in the tournament.

2012

In Round 1 of the 2012 NRL season, Blair made his club debut for the Wests Tigers against the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, where he started at second-row in the 17-16 win at Leichhardt Oval.^[36] In the next match in Round 2 against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, Blair scored his first club try for the Tigers in the 22-18 loss at Central Coast Stadium.^[37] On 20 April 2012, Blair played for New Zealand in the 2012 ANZAC Test against Australia where he started at second-row in the 20-12 loss at Eden Park.^[38] Blair finished his first year with the Wests Tigers with him playing in 23 matches. However, with an average of 3 missed tackles a game and low yardage achieved with the ball, Blair was described as one of, "the biggest flops of 2012." Despite the criticism, coach Mick Potter praised his communication and leadership skills during the off-season.^[39]

2013

In Round 6 against the St George Illawarra Dragons, Blair played his 150th NRL career match in the Tigers 13-12 loss at Sydney Cricket Ground.^[40][41] Blair’s form in the early rounds of the season was a shadow of his former self that he showed at Storm, showing that he is struggling at the club where the Daily Telegraph wrote an article saying, “Is Blair the worst NRL signing ever”?^[42] From Round 11 onwards, Blair was moved into the front row, where he stayed for the rest of the season. Blair said, "Everyone knows what I can bring and how I can play. I'm just not doing that enough for the team at the moment and for the people that want to see me do better for the team.^[43] Blair finished the 2013 NRL season with him playing in 24 matches and scoring 1 try for the Tigers.

2014

A "strong start" to 2014 saw Blair selected for New Zealand in the 2014 Anzac Test where he started at lock in the 30-18 loss against Australia at Sydney Football Stadium.^[44] Blair was the Wests Tigers' second best performer for hit-ups and tackles made for the season, and played in all of the Tigers 24 matches of the 2014 NRL season. On 7 October 2014, Blair was selected in the Kiwis final 24-man squad for the 2014 Four Nations series.^[45] On 15 November 2014, Blair played at prop in the Kiwis 22-18 Four Nations final win over Australia at Westpac Stadium.^[46] Blair played in all 4 matches in the tournament. On 17 November 2014, Blair was granted a release from his contract from the Wests Tigers and on the next day on 18 November it was announced that Blair had signed with the Brisbane Broncos on a three-year deal, starting in 2015.^[47][48] Blair later said of Wests Tigers period, "[I'd] be lying if I said I was 100 per cent happy."^[49]

2015

In Round 1 of the 2015 NRL season, Blair made his club debut for the Brisbane Broncos against the South Sydney Rabbitohs, starting at prop in the 36-6 loss at Suncorp Stadium.^[50] In Round 10 against the North Queensland Cowboys, Blair played his 200th NRL match in the Broncos 31-20 loss at 1300SMILES Stadium.^[51] In Round 18 against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, Blair scored his club try for the Broncos in the 16-8 win at ANZ Stadium.^[52] On 4 October 2015, in the Broncos Queensland derby 2015 NRL Grand Final match against the North Queensland Cowboys, Blair started at prop in the Broncos historic golden point 17-16 loss.^[53][54] Blair enjoyed a solid 2015 NRL season where he played in 23 matches and scored 1 try in his first year with the Brisbane Broncos. On 9 October 2015, Blair was selected in the 23-man New Zealand squad to tour England, where he was one of four members of Brisbane's grand final team to be included in coach Stephen Kearney's squad for the three-test tour.^[55] Blair co-captained the Kiwis in all 3 matches against England, starting at lock in the Kiwis' 2-1 Baskerville Shield series loss.

2016

On 1 February 2016, Blair was named in the Broncos 2016 NRL Auckland Nines squad.^[56] On 6 May 2016, Blair played for New Zealand in the 2016 ANZAC Test against Australia where he started at prop in the 16-0 loss at Hunter Stadium.^[57] During the match, Blair was put on report for when he performed a chicken-wing tackle on Broncos team-mate Sam Thaiday was later given a 1 match suspension.^[58] Blair was subjected to criticism by former Broncos player Gorden Tallis saying that he was “one of the dirtiest players on the field and he means to do it. I don't know why Wayne Bennett keeps letting it go. I am disappointed he wears the Broncos jersey."^[59] Blair later responded saying “I’m man enough to cop what he (Tallis) says and, to be honest, I couldn’t care less”. “I’ve heard everything that’s said about me. “What has hurt me out of all this is the impact it has on my family and my friends. “I have a five-year-old son and it’s not a good look when my boy has to go to school and he hears stuff from other kids and parents. “My family is more important than a football game and my son shouldn’t have to go to school and be exposed to that. “I know personally I’m not a dirty player and my teammates know I’m not like that. “It’s a great honour to be captaining the Broncos. I just want to make sure my teammates are happy with what I do … and I believe they are.”^[60] Blair finished off the 2016 NRL season with him playing in 24 matches for the Broncos. On 21 September 2016, Blair was added to the New Zealand Kiwis train-on squad for the 2016 Four Nations.^[61] On 3 October 2016, Blair was selected in the final 24-man squad.^[62]

References

External links

• Brisbane Broncos profile
• NRL profile