View source for John Plath

{{Short description|Australian rugby league footballer}}
{{Refimprove|date=May 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Use Australian English|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox rugby league biography
|name           = John Plath
|fullname       = 
|image          =  
|caption        =  
|position       = Utility
|birth_date     = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1969|03|17}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Where are they Now? John Plath|url=http://www.broncos.com.au/news/2014/04/20/where_are_they_now_john_plath.html|website=broncos.com.au|date=19 April 2014 |publisher=[[Brisbane Broncos]]|accessdate=27 July 2014}}</ref>
|birth_place    = [[Gayndah, Queensland|Gayndah]], [[Queensland]], [[Australia]]
|height         =  
|weight         =  
|club1          = [[Brisbane Broncos]]
|year1start     = 1990
|year1end       = 99
|appearances1   = 149
|tries1         = 20
|goals1         = 0
|fieldgoals1    = 0
|points1        = 80
|updated        = 7 March 2012 
|source         = [http://rugbyleagueproject.com/players/John_Plath.html RLP] 
|new            = yes
| module       = {{infobox person
| embed        = yes
| father       = 
| mother       = 
| spouse       = 
| education    = [[Brisbane State High School]]
| alma_mater   = 
| relatives    = [[Max Plath]] (son)
}}
}}

'''John Plath''' (born 17 March 1969; [[Gayndah]], Queensland)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nrl.com/news/2020/03/29/legend-qa-john-plath/ | title=Legend Q&A: John Plath | date=29 March 2020 }}</ref> is an Australian former [[rugby league]] footballer who played in the 1990s. He played in all of the [[Brisbane Broncos]]' first four grand final wins from the interchange bench and retired as the most-capped Bronco not to have played representative football.{{cn|date=June 2025}}

Plath was a [[Queensland]] schoolboy [[rugby union]] representative in 1986/87. He played [[rugby league]] for [[Wynnum-Manly Seagulls]] before he was graded by the [[Brisbane Broncos]] from their Colts team in [[Brisbane Broncos 1990|1990]]. Plath also had a season with the [[London Broncos#London Crusaders .281991.E2.80.931994.29|London Crusaders]] in [[1991-92 Rugby Football League season|1991-92]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Whiticker|first1=Alan|title=John Plath|url=http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/players/john-plath/summary.html|website=rugbyleagueproject.org|publisher=Shawn Dollin, Andrew Ferguson and Bill Bates.|accessdate=27 July 2014}}</ref>

His utility value saw him on the bench in the Broncos' inaugural grand final win in [[Brisbane Broncos 1992|1992]]. In the weeks following the grand final, Plath travelled with the Broncos to England, where he played from the interchange bench in the [[1992 World Club Challenge]] against British champions [[Wigan Warriors|Wigan]], helping Brisbane become the first NSWRL club to win the match in Britain. The following year, he again played in the Broncos' grand final, helping them to a second consecutive premiership. He was a replacement player in Brisbane's 14-20 loss to [[Wigan Warriors|Wigan]] in the [[1994 World Club Challenge]] at [[Lang Park]]. Plath was also used from the bench in Brisbane's win over the [[Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks]] in the Broncos' [[Super League (Australia)|Super League]] grand final for the [[1997 Telstra Cup]] before keeping his big-game interchange reputation intact in a cameo role in the Broncos' [[1998 NRL grand final]] win against the [[Canterbury Bulldogs]].

After retiring from playing, Plath spent two years at Wynnum-Manly as a development officer and CEO.{{cn|date=June 2025}}

In 2016, John Plath or "Plathy" as he is affectionately known returned to rugby union assisting in coaching the Wynnum Bugs. He also took on a special mentoring project at the club with the team's struggling players, giving them a name "The Red Rockets" to try to lift them out of their squalor.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Blaschke|first1=Ben|title=Where Are They Now? John Plath: Title-winning Bronco|url=http://www.nrl.com/where-are-they-now-john-plath-title-winning-bronco/tabid/10874/newsid/63955/default.aspx|website=nrl.com|publisher=[[National Rugby League]]|accessdate=27 July 2014}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Plath's son [[Max Plath|Max]] also played for [[Wynnum-Manly Seagulls]] and was signed by the [[Dolphins (NRL)]] in 2023.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.qrl.com.au/news/2023/04/12/exciting-utility-plath-signs-with-dolphins/ | title=Exciting utility Plath signs with Dolphins &#124; QRL | date=11 April 2023 }}</ref> Plath’s youngest son Jordan Plath signed with the South Sydney Rabbitohs [[NSW Cup]] team.

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

{{Brisbane Broncos - 1992 World Club Challenge Winners}}
{{Brisbane Broncos squad 1992 NSWRL premiership}}
{{Brisbane Broncos squad 1993 NSWRL premiership}}
{{Brisbane Broncos - 1997 World Club Championship Winners}}
{{Brisbane Broncos squad 1997 Super League premiership}}
{{Brisbane Broncos squad 1998 NRL premiership}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plath, John}}
[[Category:1969 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian sportsmen]]
[[Category:Australian rugby league administrators]]
[[Category:Australian rugby league players]]
[[Category:Brisbane Broncos players]]
[[Category:People educated at Brisbane State High School]]
[[Category:Rugby league halfbacks]]
[[Category:Rugby league hookers]]
[[Category:Rugby league locks]]
[[Category:Rugby league players from Queensland]]
[[Category:Wynnum Manly Seagulls players]]