Steve Ella

Steve Ella (born July 28, 1960 in Mount Pritchard, New South Wales) is an Australian former rugby league footballer of the 1980s. He was a utility back for the Australian national team, playing in 4 Tests between 1983 and 1985. He is a cousin of the Ella brothers who were prominent in Australian rugby union in the 1980s.

Steve Ella had a ten year career with the Parramatta Eels playing at fullback, centre, wing, halfback and five eighth.

Nicknamed "The Zipzip Man" Ella was a member of Parramatta's star studded backlines of the early 1980s playing alongside Brett Kenny, Mick Cronin, Peter Sterling and Eric Grothe.

He was a member of four Premiership winning sides at Parramatta in 1981, 1982, 1983 and 1986 as well as the 1984 Grand Final loss to Canterbury. He played a season in England with Wigan in 1985-86 scoring 21 tries in 23 games and finished his career in 1989 with Wakefield Trinity. Ella did return to Parramatta for the 1989 season, but did not play a single game due to injury and announced his retirement in July two weeks shy of his twenty-ninth birthday.

He scored 544 career points for Parramatta in 157 games putting him in 3rd place on the club's all-time points list. In 1982 he was the season's top try-scorer and also set the club record of a total of 23 tries in a season, until Semi Radradra scored a total of 24 tries in the 2015 season thus breaking the record. He scored 92 career tries for Parramatta placing him in 4th place behind Jarryd Hayne, Brett Kenny and Luke Burt on the club's all time try tally.

Steve Ella made seven Rugby League State of Origin appearances between 1983 and 1985. He was first selected for the New South Wales Blues in game II of 1983 where he scored a try in the Blues' sole win of the series. He figured in game III of 1983, games I and III of 1984 and in all three games of 1985 when the Blues finally had a series triumph over Queensland.

At the national level, he was selected for the 1982 Kangaroo Tour and appeared in twelve minor games though no Tests on that tour. In the tour match against Wales in Cardiff, Ella scored four tries equalling the record for an Australian in a full international. On that same tour in a game in France against Villeneuve he scored seven tries equalling a record set by Cec Blinkhorn in the 1930s.

Steve Ella made his Test début for the Kangaroos against New Zealand in the 2nd Test of 1983 and played in three more Tests against them in 1985.

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