Gene Miles Honoured with OAM for Lifelong Rugby League Service
- FOGS
- 5 hours ago
- 4 min read
Rugby league has given Former Origin Greats (FOGS) executive chairman Gene Miles everything in life which is why he was "honoured and humbled" to receive an OAM for services to the great game he treasures.
Miles, 65, was awarded the prestigious Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) on the King's birthday after a lifetime devoted to rugby league both on and off the field.
The former Australia and Queensland centre and second-rower spent his formative years playing for Townsville Souths and for Townsville in the highly competitive Foley Shield before his career kicked off at Wynnum Manly Seagulls.
He won three BRL titles with the Seagulls and was a member of the celebrated 1984 side that won the BRL grand final, described by his close friend and teammate Wally Lewis as “the hottest club side” he ever played in. It was also at Wynnum Manly that he won the 1987 BRL Rothman's Medal.
It was for the Maroons that Miles established himself as a rugby league force where he forged a devastating centre combination with Mal Meninga in the champion sides of the 1980s that ensured State of Origin became the jewel in the Queensland rugby league crown.
Miles played 20 times for the Maroons and lined up in 15 Tests for Australia, with a highlight his stellar Kangaroo Tour form in the 3-0 win over Great Britain in the Ashes of 1986.
He was an inaugural member of the 1988 Brisbane Broncos side and became the club's second captain in 1990 before finishing his playing career in Wigan in 1991/92.
It was for the famous Warriors outfit that Miles won the treble of the Championship, Premiership and Challenge Cup. In his last match he famously teamed up with electric winger Martin Offiah to beat St Helens 48-16 in the premiership final.
Since hanging up his boots Miles has been named in the Queensland team of the century and inducted into the NRL Hall of Fame.
He has also been a Maroons selector since 2001, the year when Wayne Bennett returned to the helm as coach. Miles is the current chairman of selectors for Queensland.
Miles looks back on the 1986 season as significant in his rebirth as a footballer after sustaining a shocking PCL and ACL injury in a pre-season match in 1985. It was so bad that no knee specialist in Queensland would touch it. Instead he was sent to the late Merv Cross, the leading orthopaedic surgeon at the time, who fixed Miles up when no-one else could.
Miles played in seven Origin series and Queensland won six of them. The only one he lost was 1986 where the Blues prevailed 3-0, but ironically it remains dear to his heart.
“To this day I claim that was one of the best series we competed in even even though we got beaten by six points, four points and then two points,” he recalled.
“I was coming back from my reconstruction so it was a good year for me in particular.
“We won everything with Wynnum-Manly in 1986 and from there I went on the Kangaroo Tour at the end of the season.
"It was a memorable year after coming back from that horrific injury I suffered. To get back on the field late in 1985 and then have a really good year in 1986, I was back to my best.”
Miles went into “the real world” when he bought a family business in the dry cleaning industry for a decade post-playing but the greatest game of all has been ever present in his life.
Post-playing it is with the FOGS that Miles has made a mark on Queensland rugby league. He has spent the past 20 years heading the organisation founded by the legendary Dick "Tosser" Turner which has honoured the spirit of all players to have donned the Maroons jersey since 1980 in a multitude of ways, including providing support to the State of Origin team and staff - both past and present.
The Maroons continue to travel to regional centres for a fan day each series, another nod to Turner’s legacy.
FOGS is a non-profit organisation that remains a vehicle to drive positive change in communities by raising funds for charities and worthy causes.
“Tosser’s philosophy the whole time was that Queenslanders get behind us so much on the footy field with regards to State of Origin footy and he was always finding any way he could to give back to them,” Miles said.
“We raise money for charities that are very closely associated with our players on the honour board. We try to attach the charity to the issues that day-to-day people have that obviously affect a lot of our former players.”
Miles has been at the forefront of ensuring the legacy of foundation Maroons 1980 captain Arthur Beetson is honoured.
For the past 17 years FOGS has run the ARTIE Academy, an acronym for achieving results through Indigenous education.
The program has secured regular government funding due to its success in ensuring Indigenous children attend school and complete their education, opening up opportunities to achieve success in any field, an outcome that was so dear to Beetson's heart.
“He was thrilled when we named the ARTIE Academy in his name,” Miles said.
