He made his first grade debut in the round 18 match of 1983 against Eastern Suburbs coming in for the injured Neil Baker.

[citation needed] Michael Potter's good form for the Dragons in the back half of the 1992 season saw him in contention for Australia's World Cup Final squad as incumbent Aussie fullback Andrew Ettingshausen was unavailable because of injury, as were Gary Belcher and Dale Shearer.

However, the size of the loss to the Broncos may have cost him his chance with Balmain's Tim Brasher and Newcastle's Brad Godden selected for the fullback role instead.

Potter succeeded Daniel Anderson as head coach of St Helens at the beginning of the 2009 season.

[4] He coached St Helens to the 2009 Super League Grand Final defeat by Leeds at Old Trafford.

In July 2010 Potter signed a two-year contract to return to Bradford, this time as head coach, commencing in 2011.

Despite the club being placed in receivership in 2012, the team was on the verge of making the semis as Potter remained as unpaid coach.

"[6] In October 2012, NRL side West Tigers confirmed that Potter would be the head coach for the 2013 and 2014 seasons.

"[7] After much speculation during the 2014 season, following reports of miscommunication between him and the playing group, as well as continued poor results on the field, it was announced on 17 September 2014 that Potter would not be extended as a coach.

[11][12] In 2016, along with his role as assistant coach at the Newcastle club, Potter became the new coach of the Fiji national rugby league team on a deal to the end of the year that would see him coach Fiji in the 2016 Pacific Test against Papua New Guinea, with the Fiji National Rugby League and Potter, at the end of the year, to discuss extending that into the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.