The 1990 Ashes series will go down in rugby league history as one of the greatest of all time, with a Mal Meninga try in Game II etched in the game’s folklore.
The players listed below make-up the team which took part in the second Test at Old Trafford, where Ricky Stuart’s break from the 25-metre line took the series to a decider.
Benny Elias told foxsports.com.au that Meninga try taught him to “believe in the unbelievable” — so would you believe one member of this squad has a PhD in public policy?
Another, has a longstanding fishing show, while several have graced screens in a coaching and punditry capacity.
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Here, foxsports.com.au looks back at the Game II 1990 Ashes team and breaks down where they are now!
1. GARY BELCHER
By his own admission, Gary Belcher never wanted to be a fullback back went on to become one of the game’s most-decorated No.1’s.
He played all five Tests on the 1990 tour at fullback, despite a rising Greg Alexander challenging him for his position.
Belcher also won three Origin series, two premierships and was the Dally M Fullback of the Year on three occasions in what was an impressive career.
At the end of the 1993 season, Belcher announced his own retirement after the Raiders didn’t offer him a new contract, with his ‘92 campaign being decimated due to a knee injury.
Since then, Belcher was an assistant to Wayne Bennett at the Broncos and has held several media roles, but is now semi-retired, living in Northern NSW.
2. ANDREW ETTINGHAUSEN
Andrew Ettinghausen was a standout performer during the 1990 tour, scoring hattrick against both St Helens and Wigan while also playing in all five Tests against Great Britain and France.
The Sharks legend also filed a defamation lawsuit against a photographer after a picture of him in the shower during that 1990 tour was published; he won the claim.
Ettinghausen retired at the end of the 2000 season and has since spent his time fishing on television.
His popular ‘Escape with ET’ fishing show has been running since his retirement and is now in his 26th year, while he is also listed as CEO of Escape Productions Group.
Andrew Ettinghausen has his own show, ‘Escape with ET’.Source: Supplied
3. MAL MENINGA
Mal Meninga scored what was the series-defining try in Game II of the Ashes series in 1990 and all rugby league fans know what a legend he was on the field.
In his post-playing days, Meninga went on to coach the Raiders between 1997 and 2001 before he was named Queensland coach ahead of the 2006 Origin series.
He went on to become the bane of NSW’s existence, winning a staggering nine series in ten years before he moved on to coach the Australian side in 2015, resigning from the Maroons role.
Adding to his resume, he won a pair of World Cups with the Kangaroos and kept that role until 2025 alongside media commitments with Fox Sports.
Meninga only walked away from the Australian job to take on his next task, spearheading the NRL’s new franchise the Perth Bears ahead of their first grade entry in 2027.
4. LAURIE DALEY
Another legend of the game, Laurie Daley’s playing days finished with 26 Tests, three Ashes series, three premierships and a Dally M in 1995.
Daley hung up the boots midway through the 2020 season due to ongoing knee problems, much to the delight of opposition defensive lines.
Since then, Daley has featured on both Fox Sports and Channel 9’s rugby league coverage while also being a NSW selector.
Eventually, he was hired as NSW Origin coach in 2013, taking over from his former Raiders teammate Ricky Stuart, helping break the Blues’ drought with a series win in 2014.
His contract was torn up ahead of the 2018 series, and Daley has since spent time as a co-host on the Big Sports Breakfast and his career went full circle in 2025.
In December 2024, he was appointed NSW coach once again after Michael Maguire left his post to join the Broncos, losing the series after a win in the opener.
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5. DALE SHEARER
Dale Shearer, affectionately known as ‘Rowdy’ played 21 Tests for the Kangaroos and also won a NSWRL Premiership and four Origin series.
Shearer could play across the full backline, and spent time at the Gold Coast between 1992 and 1994 as well as two years at the South Queensland Crushers before single seasons for Sydney City and North Queensland where he retired in 1998.
As of 2020, Shearer told Zero Tackle he was living in the Sunshine Coast, where he based himself since 2002.
Shearer does public speaking, sharing his experiences as an elite athlete as well as his own challenges in his personal life, including a high-speed car crash in 2009.
The incident took place near Peregian Springs in Queensland and there were fears he would succumb to his injuries.
However, he recovered after spending two weeks in a coma.
Shearer also provides NRL and racing tips with his business ‘Shearer Sports’.
6. CLIFF LYONS
Only a handful of players have won multiple Dally M Medals, but Cliff Lyons has two to go with his Clive Churchill Medal, leading his beloved Sea Eagles to a grand final win in 1987.
Another premiership came in 1996 and he was also called upon to partner Ricky Stuart in the second Test of the 1990 Ashes series after the Game I loss.
Lyons retired at the end of the 1998, played in a rugby sevens competition until he made comeback at 37-years of age, with Manly struggling to start their ‘99 campaign.
When the Northern Eagles formed, Lyons was let go and signed to captain and coach Umina in the Central Coast.
Lyons also spent one year as Manly’s NSW Cup coach after a successful stint with Narraweena in the local A-grade comp, but was last go at the conclusion of that year.
Elsewhere, Lyons has been a part owner of energy services company and his all-time Sea Eagles appearances record was snatched by Daly Cherry-Evans in 2024.
Cliff Lyons and Cody Walker.Source: Supplied
7. RICKY STUART
Ricky Stuart was the man who delivered the final pass which led to the famous Mal Meninga try and his dummy sparked the break in spectacular fashion.
Beyond that moment, Stuart is one of the Raiders’ most beloved sons, enjoying a glittering playing and coaching career in the nation’s capital to go with his ‘93 Dally M and Rothman’s Medal double and multiple premierships.
Stuart retired in 2000 due to a recurring knee injury, but quickly made the jump to coaching with a Bulldogs’ Jersey Flegg premiership in 2001.
By 2002 he was the Roosters NRL coach for five years before stints at the Sharks, and an ugly one at the Eels.
In 2014, he was appointed the Raiders’ head coach and the rest is history, leading the green machine to a grand final in 2019 and most recently a minor premiership in 2025, in which his side went out of the finals in straight sets.
Stuart also won the 2025 Dally M Coach of the Year award, despite many claiming the Raiders would win the wooden spoon.
8. GLENN LAZARUS
Glenn Lazarus is widely regarded as one of rugby league’s greatest ever front rowers, and he won three premierships alongside his 23 Tests and 19 Origin appearances.
To end his career, he became one of the Storm’s most important signings for their debut campaign and he ended his career in style, with a premiership in 1999.
Post football, he held coaching role with the Raiders and Broncos and has also had a handful of media roles.
But his most notable achievement came when he become the first international rugby league player to hold a seat in Australian parliament as a senator in Queensland in 2014.
He was the Leader of the Palmer United Party, but later left the party to start his own called the Glenn Lazarus Team in 2015.
Lazarus was ultimately unsuccessful in winning a seat in the 2016 federal election, and his term came to an end that same year.
Since then, the hulking prop has been working with his partner, Tess, in their PR company.
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9. BEN ELIAS
Benny Elias was a cult figure across his time with the Balmain Tigers, Blues and Kangaroos and is renowned for changing the way modern hookers play.
He tallied 19 games for NSW, six Tests for Australia and a staggering 234 games for Balmain between 1982 and 1994.
What he is also renowned for is his investment portfolio, with many joking he owns half of Leichhardt, with his property portfolio beginning during his days at the Tigers.
Instead of being paid cash by the struggling club, Steve Roach said to Code Sports Elias pointed to a house and said ‘I want one of them’ instead.
He also owned a lucrative retail mobile phone business as well as joining SBS’s weeknight sports programs.
Elias has also spent time as a pundit on Fox Sports and on the Wests Tigers board, being inducted into the NRL Hall of Game in 2024 as number 118.
10. STEVE ROACH
Steve Roach was renowned as the best prop in the game in the 1980s and also became a cult figure at Leichhardt Oval, plying his trade for the Balmain Tigers.
‘Blocker’ played 185 games for the Tigers, and also recorded 20 Tests and 17 Origin appearances for the Blues, to go with three Dally M Prop of the Year awards.
He also played in all five Tests during the 1990 tour.
When his playing days came to a close in 1992, and he quickly took up media roles with the Nine Network, before shifting to radio with the 2GB Continuous Call Team and eventually being sacked in 2014.
Since 2016, he has been a member of the Fox Sports commentary team and has also previously held coaching roles at the Sea Eagles and was on the coaching committee at the Wests Tigers.
Balmian Tigers legend Steve Roach.Source: News Corp Australia
11. PAUL SIRONEN
Paul Sironen was a hulking back rower and another Balmain Tigers legend, tallying 24 Tests and 14 Origin appearances for NSW.
Interestingly, Sironen was on a scholarship in Hawaii after being scouted from the Australian Schoolboys side, eyeing becoming a defensive tackle in the NFL before turning out for the Tigers and the rest was history, winning the Dally M Rookie of the Year award in 1986.
Sironen played in France after leaving Balmain in 1999 and alongside his playing days as a member of the NSW Police Force.
But his mark on the Tigers is what he is most well known for, ending his tenure with the club in 2023 after 50 years across junior football, first grade football, the club’s board and pathways system.
Sironen’s sons, Curtis and Bayley, both have played in the NRL and in the Super League and have forged their own impressive careers.
12. BOB LINDNER
Bob Lindner played 25 games for Queensland and 22 for Australia in a storied career, being renowned as a tough forward.
He bounced around several clubs in Australia, playing his most at Western Suburbs across three seasons, but was a regular for his country.
Post football, Lindner spent time as a coach for the South Queensland Crushers, having signed as a player before moving into a mentor role for their last season in 1996.
He later coached Oldham and Wests, and interestingly studied optometry during his playing days.
Now Lindner spends his time on the NRL Judiciary panel and also as an optometrist on the Gold Coast, having studied at the Queensland University of Technology.
Lindner first joined the NRL’s judiciary panel in 2009 and this year he was joined by Tony Puletua along with former referees Henry Perenara, Greg McCallum, Sean Hampstead and Paul Simpkins.
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13. BRAD MACKAY
Brad Mackay is a St George Dragons legend, and also scored a hat-trick on his Test debut.
Mackay won the 1993 Clive Churchill Medal in a grand final loss to Brisbane, being one of four players to win the award despite not lifting the premiership trophy.
Mackay also played 12 Tests and 17 Origin games for NSW across his impressive career, while he also enjoyed a short stint at the Western Reds.
Post-football, Mackay became a fireman and looks to have remained in the role to this day.
14. JOHN CARTWRIGHT
The Cartwright name is synonymous with rugby league, and John was the son of Panthers pioneer Merv Cartwright.
John played seven Tests and eight Origin games, having won the Dally M Back Rower of the Year award in 1991 and 1992 to go with a premiership in 1991.
He retired after a season with Salford in 1997 and then made the move into coaching, starting at the Panthers before moving to the Roosters.
Cartwright has also enjoyed stints as USA Tomahawks coach before becoming the Gold Coast Titans’ inaugural mentor for their entry unto the NRL in 2007.
He coached 186 games until he stood down in August 2014, joining the Cowboys as an assistant where he helped the North Queensland side to a premiership.
The Sea Eagles was his next club, before he moved on to the Broncos in 2020 and eventually Hull FC as a head coach in 2025 where he remains.
Cartwright’s side missed out on a spot in the finals series by one position, finishing seventh with the top six battling it our for the title.
John Cartwright during his time at the Broncos.Source: Supplied
15. MARK SARGENT
A Knights legend, Mark Sargent was renowned as one of the toughest players to ever step foot on a rugby league field.
He was named as a replacement for this Ashes series and was also Newcastle’s first ever Test player, having spent time at the Bulldogs, winning a premiership in 1988 before earning the Rothman’s Medal in 1989.
Post-football, Sargent has served as a member of the NRL judiciary panel and was also team manager of the Knights for four years until 2005.
According to Newcastle’s club website, he then went on to complete a PhD in public policy, allowing him to lecture at the University of Newcastle, where he also earnt his degree and doctorate.
Sargent has also worked in various business roles in a director or principal capacity.
16. DES HASLER
Des Hasler featured off the bench in all three games of the 1990 Ashes series, and his career has been wildly impressive.
He won two premierships as a player and three Origin series to go with 12 Tests and 12 appearances for NSW.
But Hasler is arguably more well know for his coaching career, with his most recent stint at the Titans coming to an end at the conclusion of the 2025 season.
Before that, Hasler spent time at the Sea Eagles, with his tenure beginning in 2004, before moving to the Bulldogs in 2012 and back to Manly in 2019.
Across his staggering 506 games as an NRL coach, Hasler has won two premierships in 2008 and 2011 and his teams also featured in the 2012 and 2014 grand finals.
Hasler is credited as one of rugby league’s best ever mentors and it remains to be seen if he will continue on as a coach and in what capacity.
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17. GREG ALEXANDER
Greg ‘Brandy’ Alexander was hot on Belcher’s heels for this Ashes series, but plyed his trade off the bench in the victory over Great Britain.
Alexander won a premiership in 1991, an Origin series in 1990 and played six games for both Australia and NSW in an impressive career that included a 194 Dally M Rookie of the Year before graduating to the Dally M Medal the following season.
Alexander retired in 1999, having returned to the Panthers after two years in Auckland, cementing himself as a club legend.
Post-football, ‘Brandy’ has been a regular fixture in the media and remains one of Fox League’s NRL experts.
He has also spent time as an advisor to the NSW Blues coaching staff, with his tenure in that role coming to an end in 2023 after five years.
Alexander is also on the board of directors for the Penrith Panthers Group and has a radio show with commentator Andrew Voss on SEN.
COACH: BOB FULTON
The rugby league Immortal passed away in 2021 at age 73, forever to be remembered as one of the game’s greatest figures.