Gary Larson (born 2 January 1967) is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played as a and forward in the 1980s and 1990s.
He represented Australia internationally and Queensland in State of Origin, and played most of his club football with the North Sydney Bears, before finishing his career with a brief stint at the Parramatta Eels.
Background
Larson was born in Gladstone, Queensland, Australia.
Career
North Sydney Bears
Larson made his first grade debut for North Sydney in his only game for the 1987 NSWRL season, a Round 9 match with Penrith at Penrith Stadium. Starting from the bench, Larson scored a try on debut but the Bears still went down to the Panthers 19–10. 1988 saw Larson playing mainly Reserve Grade for the Bears and he only played two games for the season, including his debut in the starting side playing second-row in North Sydney's 6–38 loss to league newcomers, the Newcastle Knights.
Nicknamed "Sven Svennson" due to his Nordic appearance, Larson cemented his place in North Sydney's first grade forward pack in 1989, playing 22 games for the season. As a player, he became known for his reliability as a "workhorse" due to his staggering workload in matches.
Larson's breakout season was 1991. That year, in a team with players such as Phil Blake, David Fairleigh, Mario Fenech, Greg Florimo, Peter Jackson, Les Kiss, Billy Moore, and goal kicking sensation Daryl Halligan, his efforts were rewarded with State of Origin selection for Queensland, as well as helping Norths to the finals for the first time since 1982.
It would be the start of a Bears resurgence as the club with the league's longest premiership drought (not having won a title since 1922) only failing to reach the Semi-finals on three occasions (1992, 1993 and 1999) between 1991 and 1999, Larson's last season with the club. The clubs perennial bad luck still showed though as the Bears failed at the last hurdle (Preliminary Final), therefore failing to make the Grand Final, on four occasions, (1991, (1994, 1996 and 1997), falling to the eventual premiers Penrith, Canberra and Newcastle in 1991, 1994 and 1997, while losing to runners-up St George in 1996.
Larson was sent off in the 1994 Preliminary final against the Canberra Raiders for a dangerous tackle on Raiders second-rower David Furner. According to most experts, it was this send-off which cost Larson selection on the 1994 Kangaroo Tour. Teammates Greg Florimo and 1994 Rothmans Medal winner David Fairleigh were selected to tour with the Kangaroos.
Larson remained loyal to the Bears and the Australian Rugby League (ARL) during the Super League War. He played for Queensland in their shock 3-0 1995 State of Origin series whitewash of New South Wales, before making his test debut for Australia in the 1995 Trans-Tasman Test series win over New Zealand.
At the end of the 1995 ARL season in which North Sydney finished in 8th place and were bundled out of the Finals in the first round by Newcastle, Larson was considered a certainty for selecting in Australia's squad for the 1995 Rugby League World Cup played in England and France. He was duly selected to the ARL only squad, but declined to tour for personal reasons. However, following an injury to Newcastle front rower Paul Harragon during an early tournament game, Kangaroo's coach Bob Fulton sent an SOS for Larson to join the squad in England. Larson answered the call and went on to play in Australia's 16–8 win over England in the World Cup Final at London's famous Wembley stadium, London.
Larson announced his retirement from representative games in 1999, but following the merger of North Sydney and their local rivals Manly-Warringah to become the Northern Eagles, chose to see out the final season of his career with the Parramatta Eels.
Larson played for North Sydney in their last game as a top grade side which came in against North Queensland in round 26 1999 at the Willows Sports Complex. Norths won the match 28–18.
Parramatta Eels
Larson joined Parramatta in 2000, in what would prove to be his final season of rugby league before retiring. He played 16 games for the Parramatta club in 2000, mostly from the bench, helping the team to 7th on the ladder, but missing their finals campaign due to injury.
Larson played 249 first grade games for North Sydney and Parramatta over 14 seasons, scoring 34 tries (Norths – 233 games, 33 tries. Parramatta – 16 games, 1 try). In August 2006, Larson was named at prop-forward in the North Sydney Bears' Team of the Century.