David Gillespie

Who is David Gillespie?

David "Cement" Gillespie is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer of the 1980s and 90s. A sturdy forward, he played for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, Western Suburbs Magpies, Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, New South Wales and for the Australian national side. He is currently a defensive coach for both the Roosters and the Sharks, being a close friend of Ricky Stuart.

Gillespie joined Canterbury in their rebuilding after the 1980 premiership and was soon a success with his powerful tackling which earned him the well-known nickname "Cement". His defence was critical to Canterbury's retention of the title against a heavily favoured St. George side in 1985 after having scored a rare try in their powerful 26-nil win over Parramatta in the preliminary final.

The following year, despite not having played for New South Wales, Gillespie was favoured to tour with the Kangaroos before a horrible work injury which almost saw his finger severed ended his season. Then, 1987 saw two suspensions rob Gillespie of over a third of his season. He played for English side Hunslet during the 1987–88 Rugby Football League season. Returning to Australia "Cement" came back stronger in 1988 and played so well in the grand final that he was chosen for the World Cup final against New Zealand, but in 1989 he was so disappointing as to be briefly relegated to reserve grade before a four-week suspension for a dangerous tackle effectively ended his season.