With his incredible footwork, ball skills and almost psychic anticipation, Mark Ella was the epitome of fast, exciting Rugby Union. One of the famous three Ella brothers, Mark, his twin Glen and brother Gary, were introduced to rugby at Matraville High School. Their impact was immediate and all three represented the Australian Schoolboys in 1976 and 1977/78. Within three months of leaving school they were all playing first grade rugby for Randwick
and in 1979 Mark played the first of 26 games for New South Wales.
Mark made his Test debut for Australia in the three-Test series against New Zealand in 1980. It was an historic series with Australia retaining the Bledisloe Cup with our first ever back-to-back win.
He played a total of 25 Tests, 10 as captain and was the first indigenous Australian to captain a national sporting team. On the 1984 Wallabies' Grand Slam tour of the UK and Ireland in which they won all four Test matches against the home unions, Mark scored a try in every Test.
Rated as one of the most naturally gifted exponents of the game Australia has ever produced, Mark shocked the Rugby world when he announced his retirement at the age of 25. Off the field, he was named Young Australian of the Year (1982) and awarded the Order of Australia (1984).