North Sydney Bears
At the end of the 1986 NSWRL season, Bella went on the 1986 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France, playing in most games on the tour, but not the Tests. In 1987 he played State of Origin and in 1988 made his first Test appearance in the third Test against the touring Great Britain side.
Also in 1988 he put on his boots for Queensland and made a clean sweep of the interstate series with Sam Backo providing a memorable rampaging display of front row power. Bella and Backo, both North Queenslanders, lined up for a repeat performance again against the Blues in 1989 with another awesome display up front, Bella was named man-of-the-match in the series opener as the Maroons again whitewashed the Blues. Bella again toured with the Kangaroos in 1990 and played a total of nine Tests for Australia, and a record twenty State of Origin games, at the time a feat unequalled by any forward from either State.
Read more about this topic: Martin Bella
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