Cartwright played for the Australian Schoolboys team in 1986. He began with Penrith in 1985 and was a regular first-grade player by 1987. In 1988, under the guidance of Ron Willey, Penrith developed a heavyweight, aggressive forward pack of which Cartwright and second row partner Mark Geyer were the cornerstones. Cartwright had a sudden rise through representative ranks in 1989. Initially not chosen for the City Origin team, he took his place in the firsts team after a spate of injuries. He was the named on the bench for New South Wales for the first State of Origin match. Unfortunately, a late injury to Ian Roberts forced him to play in the front row, to which he was ill-suited, and he was dropped after one match. At the end of the year, he was sent off against Balmain and suspended for four matches. Penrith were thrashed 33-6 and could not win either of their two finals without Cartwright. On returning from suspension, Cartwright found form very quickly and at the end of the 1990 NSWRL season, he went on the 1990 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France but was dropped after one Test. Injury affected Cartwright in 1991, and he was used as a reserve in two of the three Tests against New Zealand. Following the 1991 grand final victory he travelled with the Panthers to England for the 1991 World Club Challenge which was lost to Wigan. Cartwright had his finest season of all in 1992. During the 1992 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand, he helped Australia retain The Ashes. He played in all three games for New South Wales and took over the Penrith captaincy when Greg Alexander was injured. At the end of 1996 he left Penrith to play in England.
Coaching career
After he finally retired as a player, Cartwright became an assistant coach at the Panthers and the Sydney Roosters. In 2000 he was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for his contribution to Australia's international standing in rugby league. Cartwright began coaching at Penrith as the reserve coach in 2001. He was John Lang's assistant coach when the Panthers took out the 2003 NRL Premiership. After a period as assistant to Ricky Stuart at the Sydney Roosters, as well as coaching the United States national rugby league team against the Kangaroos in 2004, Cartwright was appointed the inaugural coach of the Gold Coast Titans after their admission to the National Rugby League. He became involved in a feud with Melbourne Storm winger Steve Turner over contractual obligations. "We flew him up, showed him around for two or three days and he agreed to me that he would come here, we shook hands. He looked me in the eye. The deal was done. He even started looking for accommodation. I only coached him in a couple of games at Penrith and my reaction has been the same as it would be for any player in this situation. But to do what he has done... I'm not happy. I'm extremely disappointed, to say the least." In 2009, he was selected to coach the NSW Country Origin side. After four years without making the finals, on 5 August 2014 he announced that he would stand down as head coach of the Titans, with immediate effect. He will coach the club one last time against the Sydney Roosters in Round 22 before Neil Henry takes over on an interim basis. In February 2015, Cartwright joined the North Queensland Cowboys as an assistant to head coach Paul Green. On 4 October 2015, Cartwright was a member of the Cowboys' coaching staff in the side's 17-16 Grand Final victory over the Brisbane Broncos. In the weeks following the Grand Final win, Cartwright quit the Cowboys and returned to Sydney as an assistant coach of the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles.
Personal life
Cartwright is the uncle of current Gold Coast Titans player Bryce Cartwright.
