Jeff Miller was born in the United States on the Fourth of July, 1962. His parents brought him to Brisbane in 1969 and sent him to De La Salle College, Scarborough.
He was a key player in De La Salle's premier winning side in 1980.
Miller played rugby on Saturday and league on Sunday until aged 15 when he decided to focus on study and give league away.
From school he graduated to Kelvin Grove Teachers College and joined the Teachers/Norths club and modelled his play on Wallaby flanker Chris Roche.
He also played rugby for the University Club.
In 1982, and aged just 19, Miller made his Queensland debut against the World XV at Ballymore. At the end of the following year Miller was selected, at the expense of the taller New South Wales loose forward, Peter Lucas, on his first Wallaby tour - to Italy and France - but did not play in the Tests. For the next few seasons Miller had to contend with Roche, David Codey and then Julian Gardner just to play for his state let alone Australia.
Miller’s big break came in 1986 when selected as one of four flankers for the Wallaby tour to New Zealand and he made his Test debut in the second Test at Carisbrook. Thereafter, Miller was a near-permanent fixture in the Australian side over the next five years.
He played number 7 for Australia, in one of the greatest Tests of rugby union in history. The 1987 Rugby World Cup semi-final, contested between France and Australia at Concord Oval in Sydney on June 13 1987.
At the 1988 Hong Kong Sevens, Bob Dwyer coached the Australian team to victory in 1988, which featured a host of stalwart players including former Wallabies David Campese, Michael Lynagh and Jeff Miller, who all went on to feature in the 1991 Rugby World Cup triumph.
The 1988 Australian Sevens team blitzed the Hong Kong draw, scoring 145 points and conceding just 22 over five matches, with wins over fellow favourites Fiji (semi-final) and New Zealand (Cup Final).
The Aussie side beat their Trans-Tasman rivals by one point to claim top honours, holding on to an early lead to win the Cup Final (13-12) over New Zealand in front of a sell-out crowd.
Jeff started all three Tests against the British Lions in 1989.
He was in the 1991 World Cup winning Wallabies Team and played 2 pool games against Wales, Western Samoa and the quarter final against Ireland in Dublin, in their leadup to winning the World Cup Final. He returned home from his second Rugby World Cup as a World Champion.
Jeff Miller played 26 Tests for Australia in a six-year international career.
Jeff has been successful off the field as he was on it. He was the Australian Rugby High Performance Manager and Wallabies assistant coach for the 1999 World Cup victory.
Jeff became the Chief executive for the Queensland Reds between 2001 and 2003 before jumping the desk to coach the Queensland Reds between 2004 and 2006. Jeff was named president in 2015 before becoming chairman in 2018.
Legendary Queensland and Australian coach Bob Templeton described Jeff Miller as one of the truly outstanding open side flankers. Dynamic, fearless and as fair as the day was long, Miller epitomised everything that was good about the game.
Jeff Miller is listed on the wall of the Redcliffe Wall of Fame:
A collection of portrait and information honouring the achievements of individuals who have influenced and shaped Redcliffe. The collection is in the Jetty Arcade at 139-141 Redcliffe Parade.
For a complete list of people who appear on the wall click on the following blog post:
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