Rugby league
Rugby league football is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field. One of the two codes of rugby, it originated in Northern England in 1895 as a split from the Rugby Football Union over the issue of payments to players, its rules progressively changed with the aim of producing a faster, more entertaining game for spectators. In rugby league, points are scored by carrying the ball and touching it to the ground beyond the opposing team's goal line; the opposing team attempts to stop the attacking side scoring points by tackling the player carrying the ball. In addition to tries, points can be scored by kicking goals. After each try, the scoring team gains a free kick to try at goal with a conversion for further points. Kicks at goal may be awarded for penalties, field goals can be attempted at any time. Rugby league is the national sport of Papua New Guinea, is a popular sport in Northern England, the states of Queensland and New South Wales in Australia, South Auckland in New Zealand, southwest France and Lebanon.
The Super League and the National Rugby League are the premier club competitions. Rugby league is played internationally, predominantly by European and Pacific Island countries, is governed by the Rugby League International Federation; the first Rugby League World Cup was held in France in 1954. Rugby league football takes its name from the bodies that split to create a new form of rugby, distinct from that run by the Rugby Football Unions, in Britain and New Zealand between 1895 and 1908; the first of these, the Northern Rugby Football Union, was established in 1895 as a breakaway faction of England's Rugby Football Union. Both organisations played the game under the same rules at first, although the Northern Union began to modify rules immediately, thus creating a new faster, stronger paced form of rugby football. Similar breakaway factions split from RFU-affiliated unions in Australia and New Zealand in 1907 and 1908, renaming themselves "rugby football leagues" and introducing Northern Union rules.
In 1922, the Northern Union changed its name to the Rugby Football League and thus over time the sport itself became known as "rugby league" football. In 1895, a schism in Rugby football resulted in the formation of the Northern Rugby Football Union. Although many factors played a part in the split, including the success of working class northern teams, the main division was caused by the RFU decision to enforce the amateur principle of the sport, preventing "broken time payments" to players who had taken time off work to play rugby. Northern teams had more working class players who could not afford to play without this compensation, in contrast to affluent southern teams who had other sources of income to sustain the amateur principle. In 1895, a decree by the RFU banning the playing of rugby at grounds where entrance fees were charged led to twenty-two clubs meeting at the George Hotel, Huddersfield on 29 August 1895 and forming the "Northern Rugby Football Union". Within fifteen years of that first meeting in Huddersfield, more than 200 RFU clubs had left to join the rugby revolution.
In 1897, the line-out was in 1898 professionalism introduced. In 1906, the Northern Union changed its rules, reducing teams from 15 to 13 a side and replacing the ruck formed after every tackle with the play the ball. A similar schism to that which occurred in England took place in Australia. There, on 8 August 1907 the New South Wales Rugby Football League was founded at Bateman's Hotel in George Street. Rugby league went on to displace rugby union as the primary football code in New South Wales and Queensland. On 5 May 1954 over 100,000 spectators watched the 1953–54 Challenge Cup Final at Odsal Stadium, England, setting a new record for attendance at a rugby football match of either code. In 1954 the Rugby League World Cup, the first for either code of rugby, was formed at the instigation of the French. In 1966, the International Board introduced a rule that a team in possession was allowed three play-the-balls and on the fourth tackle a scrum was to be formed; this was increased to six tackles in 1972 and in 1983 the scrum was replaced by a handover.
1967 saw. The first sponsors, Joshua Tetley and John Player, entered the game for the 1971–72 Northern Rugby Football League season. Television would have an enormous impact on the sport of rugby league in the 1990s when Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation sought worldwide broadcasting rights and refused to take no for an answer; the media giant's "Super League" movement saw big changes for the traditional administrators of the game. In Europe, it resulted in a move from a winter sport to a summer one as the new Super League competition tried to expand its market. In Australasia, the Super League war resulted in long and costly legal battles and changing loyalties, causing significant damage to the code in an competitive sporting market. In 1997 two competitions were run alongside each other in Australia, after which a peace deal in the form of the National Rugby League was formed; the NRL has since become recognised as the sport's flagship competition and since that time has set record TV ratings and crowd figures.
The objective in rugby league is to score more points through tries and field goals than the opposition within the 80 minutes of play. If after two halves of play, each consisting of forty minutes, the two teams are drawing, a draw may be declar
Brisbane Broncos
The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd. referred to as the Brisbane Broncos or colloquially as Red Hill, are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the city of Brisbane, the capital of the state of Queensland. Founded in April 1988, the Broncos play in Australia's elite competition, the National Rugby League premiership, they have won six premierships,including two NSWRL titles, a Super League premiership and three NRL premierships. They have two World Club Challenges; the Broncos have achieved four minor premierships during their 29 years in multiple competitions, making them Rugby League's most successful club over the past three decades. Until 2015, Brisbane had never been defeated in a grand final, since 1991, have only failed to qualify for the finals twice, they are the most successful club in the National Rugby League, since it began in 1998, winning three premierships. It is one of the most successful clubs in the history of rugby league, having won 62.5% of games played since its induction in 1988, second only to Melbourne Storm with 65.2%.
Since the club's founding, Brisbane has never received the wooden spoon. The club records the highest annual revenue of all NRL clubs – $A32.8m for the 2012 financial year – and is one of the most valuable clubs of any code in Australia, worth over $42 million. Along with financial competitiveness, the Broncos have been voted one of Australia's most popular and most watched football teams, has one of the highest average attendances of any rugby league club in the world; the club was founded in April 1988 as part of the Winfield Cup's national expansion, along with the Gold Coast-Tweed Giants, one of Queensland's first two participants in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership. The Broncos became the dominant force in the competition before playing a significant role in the Super League War of the mid-1990s continuing to compete in the newly created National Rugby League competition; the Broncos are based in the Brisbane suburb of Red Hill where their training ground and Leagues club are located, but they play their home games at Milton's Lang Park.
It is the only publicly listed sporting club on the Australian Securities Exchange, trading as Brisbane Broncos Limited. The club's current head coach is former South Sydney Rabbitohs coach, Anthony Seibold, the Dally M coach of the year for 2018. Queensland's success in the 1980s, the early years of the State of Origin series between Queensland and New South Wales, in addition to the inclusion of a combined Brisbane Rugby League team in the mid-week competition, convinced the New South Wales Rugby League to invite a Queensland-based team into the competition. After tough competition between the various syndicates for the Brisbane licence, the Queensland Rugby League chose the bid of former Brisbane Rugby League players, Barry Maranta and Paul "Porky" Morgan. At the first meeting with the NSWRL hierarchy, the newly formed Brisbane Broncos were asked to pay a $500,000 fee; the Broncos secured the services of Australian Kangaroos captain Wally Lewis and former BRL coach Wayne Bennett. The team made their debut in the NSWRL's 1988 Winfield Cup premiership against reigning premiers, the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, defeated them 44–10.
However, after this promising start they failed to make the finals. In their second season they won the 1989 Panasonic Cup; the club first tasted premiership success in 1992, again in 1993, defeating the St. George Dragons in both years at Sydney Football Stadium. In 1990, in order to increase in the Winfield Cup, Wayne Bennett controversially sacked Wally Lewis as the Broncos' captain and inserted Gene Miles into the job. Once Gene Miles retired, Wayne thought he could lessen the reliance on Wally Lewis, who he said was not a good club man or a good trainer. In 1995, the Super League War broke out. After threats of expulsion from the NSWRL, the Broncos were one of the last clubs to sign with the new league and all players followed suit. Broncos CEO John Ribot moved to take over the running of the rebel Super League, leading to a perception that the conflict was orchestrated by the club. Brisbane won the only Super League premiership in 1997, before winning the first National Rugby League trophy in the re-unified 1998 competition.1999 was disappointing for the club with a terrible early-season form hindering their attempt at a third consecutive premiership losing 8 of their first 10 matches.
Club legend Allan Langer retired mid-season as a result of the team's form. Despite the club's mid-season turnaround, which resulted in qualification for the finals after an 11-match winning streak, the team was eliminated by the Cronulla Sharks in the first week of the finals. However, the Broncos' rebounded in 2000 with their fifth premiership; the game marked the retirement of veterans Kevin Michael Hancock. Not long after the disappointment of the previous year, in 2000, the Broncos rested on the top of the ladder from round 4. Queensland Representative, Allan Langer returned to the club in 2002 for one season before retiring. 2002 was the beginning of Brisbane's "post-Origin slump", which has haunted the club in the years since. Many players represent Queensland in the State of Origin series, with 7 Broncos players on average included in the Queensland Origin team; this extra workload has caused a loss of form for the club after the series, evidenced in 2003 when the lad
2006 NRL Grand Final
The 2006 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding match of the NRL's 2006 Telstra Premiership season. It was played between the first-placed Melbourne Storm and the third-placed Brisbane Broncos clubs on the night of Sunday, 1 October; the 2006 grand final was the first to feature teams which were both from cities outside the borders of New South Wales, in this case the capitals of Queensland and Victoria, yet was played at Sydney's Telstra Stadium. It was the first time, they had played each other twice with Melbourne winning both times. The Storm went into the grand final as favourites. Both teams were looking to keep their perfect grand final records intact: the Broncos with 5/5 and the Storm with 1/1 heading into the game; the 2006 NRL season was the 99th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the ninth run by the National Rugby League. Fifteen clubs competed for the 2006 Telstra Premiership over the 26 rounds of the regular season. Eight of these teams qualified for the four-week finals series The 2006 Brisbane Broncos season was the nineteenth in the club's history.
Coached by Wayne Bennett and captained by Darren Lockyer, they finished the regular season in 3rd place before going on to reach their 6th grand final. The 2006 Melbourne Storm season was the 9th in the club's history. Coached by Craig Bellamy and captained by Cameron Smith, they won a record 20 out of 24 regular season games to finish in first place and win the minor premiership, eight points clear of the second-placed Bulldogs; the Storm reached their 2nd grand final as match favourites. Matt Geyer was the only remaining Melbourne Storm player from their 1999 NRL grand final-winning team and the only person at the club with grand final experience. By contrast, around half of the Brisbane Broncos players had premiership rings, most of them from the club's 1998 and 2000 grand final wins. A crowd of 79,609 people turned out, with Hoodoo Gurus and INXS performing before the match, refereed by Paul Simpkins, overseeing his first grand final; the first points of the match came from a penalty in the ninth minute.
Brisbane's Shaun Berrigan, playing at hooker, tried to burrow over the Storm's try-line from dummy half but was ruled to have had the ball taken from his arms by Billy Slater in a two-man tackle. The resulting penalty kick by captain Darren Lockyer in front of the posts was a gift two points for the Broncos to take an early 2-0 lead. Three minutes Melbourne halfback Cooper Cronk kicked a 40/20 coming out of his side's territory. Following the subsequent scrum in an attacking position, the Storm raided Brisbane's line and got the first try of the match. Scott Hill did well to evade a few attempted tackles and shoot a remarkable pass around the back of a Broncos defender and into the arms of winger Steve Turner who dived over out wide. Cameron Smith missed the conversion, leaving the score at 4-2. Brisbane got a scrum of their own close to Melbourne's line after Turner knocked on trying to take a Lockyer bomb. Lockyer, moving across-field fed the ball back inside to Justin Hodges who went over untouched to put the ball down near the posts, affording the Broncos captain another easy kick.
No more points were scored in the first half and Brisbane went into the break with an 8-4 lead. Darren Lockyer was limping around in the dressing room but went on to play through the rest of the game. Eight minutes into the second half, a high tackle by Justin Hodges on Cameron Smith close to the Broncos' line resulted in a minor scuffle and a penalty to the Storm. Melbourne captain Smith decided to take the tap and attack Brisbane's line and a close-range try to Matt King resulted; the scores were level at 8-all, with the kick to come. Smith the Storm's first-choice goal-kicker, was having a problem with his kicking leg so the task fell onto Matt Geyer whose conversion attempt went wide. Ten minutes a penalty was awarded to the Broncos after a high shot from Billy Slater on Shaun Berrigan and Corey Parker's kick was successful, giving his side a two-point lead at 10-8. Following the restart kick from Melbourne, Brisbane were working the ball out of their own half and on the fifth tackle scored a brilliant Grand Final try.
From dummy half Berrigan ran passed back inside to Lockyer who gave a short ball on to Parker who did for Casey McGuire. Before being tackled McGuire tossed the ball blindly back over his head and it was picked up by Lockyer who spun out of a tackle passed it to Tonie Carroll. Without losing momentum, Carroll passed the ball on to a flying Brent Tate who raced to the corner for the try; the conversion attempt from near the sideline was missed by Parker so the Broncos led by six with seventeen minutes of play remaining. A couple of minutes the Storm appeared to have scored their third try when a bomb by Cronk was leapt for but unsuccessfully taken by both a Brisbane and a Melbourne player. On its way down the ball was snatched from the air by King who looked to have put it down for his second try but the video referee ruled that the ball had gone forward off the Storm so it was disallowed. In the seventy-third minute, after a strong run by prop Shane Webcke put him in good field position, Lockyer snapped away a successful field goal.
This gave the Broncos a 7-point buffer. A frustrated Melbourne side were unable to score in the remaining minutes as Brisbane ground their way towards full-time, the score 15-8 at the final siren. Brisbane's Shaun Berrigan, playing in his new role as hooker, received the Clive Churchill Medal for man-of-the-match, his dummy half raids and
Petero Civoniceva
Petero Civoniceva, is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. A Queensland State of Origin and Australian international representative prop forward, in 2009 he broke the record for most international matches for Australia of any forward in history. Civoniceva played his club football for the Brisbane Broncos, with whom he won the 1998, 2000 and 2006 NRL Premierships, as well as for the Penrith Panthers, whom he captained. Late in his career whilst playing for the Redcliffe Dolphins in the Queensland Cup, Civoniceva captained the Fijian national team in their 2013 Rugby League World Cup campaign; the Petero Civoniceva Medal is awarded to the Australian Fijian rugby league footballer of the year, while the Civoniceva Medal is awarded to the Queensland Cup player voted as the best and fairest. Civoniceva was born in Suva, where his father, Petero Sr, was a rugby union player. Civoniceva's parents moved to Queensland before his first birthday.
There he attended Humpybong State School Redcliffe State High School before finishing his senior schooling at Frawley College, now known as Southern Cross Catholic College. He played junior football for the Redcliffe Dolphins until 1994. After playing 39 reserve grade games he began his NRL career as a centre with the Brisbane Broncos, he won the club's Rookie of the Year award in 1998 and went on to play from the bench in Brisbane's 1998 NRL grand final win at the end of the season. Civoniceva missed the Broncos grand final victory in 2000 due to injury, as well as Australia's 2000 World Cup campaign. Having won the 2000 NRL Premiership, the Broncos travelled to England to play against 2000's Super League V Champions, St Helens R. F. C. for the 2001 World Club Challenge, with Civoniceva playing at prop forward in Brisbane's loss. His international and State of Origin debuts followed during that year. At the end of the 2001 NRL season, he went on the 2001 Kangaroo tour. Following the 2003 NRL season, Civoniceva played in the 2003 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France, helping Australia to victory over Great Britain in what would be the last time the two nations contested an Ashes series.
Civoniceva won the Brisbane club's coveted Player of the Year award in 2004. Civoniceva was selected in the Australian team to compete in the end of season 2004 Rugby League Tri-Nations tournament. In the final game against Great Britain he played prop forward in the Kangaroos' 44–4 victory, he was the 2006 Brisbane Broncos season's player of the year and he played at prop in the Broncos' 2006 NRL Grand Final victory. As 2006 NRL Premiers, the Brisbane Broncos travelled to England to face 2006 Super League champions, St Helens R. F. C. in the 2007 World Club Challenge. Civoniceva played as a prop forward in the Broncos' 14–18 loss against St Helens, Civoniceva was again selected to play for the Australian national team as a prop forward the 2007 ANZAC Test match victory against New Zealand. During the 2007 NRL season, at the Broncos' 20-year anniversary celebration, the club announced a list of the 20 best players to play for them to date which included Civoniceva. In round 8 of NRL season 2007, Civoniceva played his 200th game for the Brisbane club, becoming only the eighth Broncos player to do so.
Civoniceva's Brisbane contract ended at the conclusion of the 2007 season. The Broncos decision to withdraw the contract to the prop was due to salary cap restrictions. Civoniceva signed to play for the Penrith Panthers for the 2008 season; the deal was believed to be worth $370,000 a year. Civoniceva's move to New South Wales and another NRL team rather than relocating to England allowed him to continue to be available to represent both Australia and Queensland. In January 2008, Penrith Panthers announced Civoniceva as captain of the team for 2008. In August 2008, Civoniceva was named in the preliminary 46-man Kangaroos squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup, in October 2008 he was selected in the final 24-man Australia squad, his deal with Penrith was set to expire at the end of the 2009 NRL season. He re-signed with Penrith until the end of 2012. Civoniceva was selected for Australia in the one-off test match against New Zealand on 8 May 2009, he went on to play in Queensland's State of Origin victories in game 1 and game 2, but suffered a season-ending foot injury in the first half of the second match.
After sitting out the remainder of the NRL season, his next match was for Australia against New Zealand in the opening match of the 2009 Four Nations in London. By playing in the final, a victory against England, Civoniceva became the first forward in history to play forty internationals for Australia. For the 2010 ANZAC Test, Civoniceva was selected to play for Australia as a prop forward in their victory against New Zealand. In the 2010 NRL Premiership, Civoniceva led the Panthers to second place on the ladder at the conclusion of the season, but in the penultimate round of the season he was sent off for a high tackle against the Bulldogs which resulted in him being suspended for two weeks; as a result, he missed Penrith's first qualifying final, where despite a brave effort the Panthers lost by just two points against the Canberra Raiders. In Round 5 of the 2011 NRL season, Civoniceva scored his first try since Round 8, 2008, against the Canberra Raiders in the 36–10 thrashing at Centrebet Stadium.
He was one of the stars of Queensland's victory in Origin 1, 2011, running for more than 150m and outperforming the NSW forwards. Civoniceva scored his second try of the season in Round 16 against the North Queensland Cowboys, a 30–20 victory by the Panthers; the try involved a skilful left foot step from close range that left several Cowboys players, including M
Five-eighth
Five-eighth or Stand-off is one of the positions in a rugby league football team. Wearing jersey number 6, this player is one of the two half backs in a team, partnering the scrum-half. Sometimes known as the pivot or second receiver, in a traditional attacking'back-line'. Play the five-eighth would receive the ball from the scrum half, the first receiver of the ball from the dummy-half or hooker following a tackle; the role of the five-eighth is to pass the ball away from the congested area around the tackle, further out along the'back-line' to the outside backs, the centres and wingers, who have more space to run with it. Furthermore, players in this position assume responsibility for kicking the ball for field position in general play; the five-eighth is therefore considered one of the most important positions referred to as a'play maker', assuming a decision-making role on the field. Over time, however, as the game has evolved, the roles of the two halves have grown more aligned and difficult to distinguish.
Along with other key positions - fullback and scrum half - the five-eighth makes up what is known as a team's spine. One book published in 1996 stated that in senior rugby league, the five-eighth and hooker handled the ball more than any other position; the Rugby League International Federation's Laws of the Game state that the "Stand-off half or Five-eighth" is to be numbered 6. However, traditionally players' jersey numbers have varied, in the modern Super League, each squad's players are assigned individual numbers regardless of position. Traditionally in rugby football, there have always been two half-backs as well as scrums involving the forwards. Of the two half backs, the name "scrum half" was given to the one, involved in the scrum by feeding the ball into it and the name "stand-off half" was given to the one which stood off to the side of the scrum. In Britain, where rugby league originated, this terminology has been retained. In Australian English, however, "five-eighth" is the term used for the number 6, to differentiate from the "half back", the name given to the number 7.
In New Zealand, both terms appear to be used interchangeably. Five-eighths that feature in their respective nations' rugby league halls of fame are England's Roger Millward, Australia's Wally Lewis, Bob Fulton, Brett Kenny, Albert Rosenfeld and Vic Hey, New Zealand's George Menzies. Rugby league's first known black player, Lucius Banks, played in the position for Hunslet R. L. F. C. in 1912-13. Rugby league positions Rugby league gameplay
Sam Thaiday
Samuel Arthur Thaiday is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played for the Brisbane Broncos in the National Rugby League, serving as their captain from 2012 until 2013. An Australian international and Queensland State of Origin representative second-row, he can play prop and lock as well as Hooker and has spent all of his career at the Broncos, with whom he won the 2006 premiership. In 2008, Australia's centenary of rugby league and Thaiday's sixth year at the top level, he was one of only three current players to be named in the Indigenous Australian rugby league team of the century. On 6 July 2018, Thaiday announced his intention to retire from the NRL at the end of the 2018 season. Thaiday was born in Sydney, New South Wales and moved to Townsville, Queensland at the age of four years, he is of Torres Strait Islander descent. He played junior rugby league for the Brothers club in Townsville as well as attending Kirwan State High School, his cousin Milton Thaiday became an NRL footballer.
Thaiday was signed in 2002 by the Brisbane Broncos after coach Wayne Bennett watched him brawl with Sonny Bill Williams and Tom Learoyd-Lahrs in an under-17s interstate game. On 11 July 2003, aged 18, he made his National Rugby League debut for the Broncos against the Bulldogs in round 18 of the 2003 NRL season. Solid form in the first 10 weeks of the Broncos season earned Thaiday a spot on the Queensland bench for game one of the 2006 State of Origin series, he was selected on the bench for the following two games for the Maroons, who went on to win the series. After that, when the Broncos were in the "slump that wasn't a slump", coach Wayne Bennett moved Thaiday from the bench to the starting side. This, among other changes, saw the Broncos' season turn around, they ended up winning the 2006 NRL Grand Final. Thaiday was selected for his international debut for the Australian national team in Game 2 of the 2006 Tri-Nations against New Zealand after concussion ruled Willie Mason out; as 2006 NRL Premiers, the Brisbane Broncos travelled to England to face 2006 Super League champions, St Helens R.
F. C. in the 2007 World Club Challenge. Thaiday played from the interchange bench in the Broncos' 14-18 loss. In the 2007 NRL season Thaiday suffered an injury to the bone around his eye socket and missed all three games of the 2007 State of Origin series for the Queensland Maroons while waiting to recover, he made his 50th first grade appearance in the NRL in 2007 and re-signed with the Broncos until the end of 2009. In the 2008 NRL season Thaiday was back in form and started the year with a bang, winning back to back man of the match awards in rounds eight and nine to earn himself a starting spot in the 2008 State of Origin series, he was named in the Australia training squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup. In April 2009, Thaiday was named in the 25-man Queensland squad before the opening match of the 2009 State of Origin series, he was named man of the match in the second game of the series. At the end of that season Thaiday played for Australia in their successful 2009 Four Nations campaign in Europe.
For the 2010 ANZAC Test, Thaiday was selected to play for Australia at second-row forward and was named man of the match in their victory against New Zealand. During his career Sam Thaiday has seen himself under attack for the way in which he plays the game, most notably his tendency to enter brawls and scuffles late to "protect" his teammates. Loved by Brisbane and Queensland fans for his role as an'enforcer', he's vilified by opposition fans for what they claim as cheap shots and his consistency as the "Third man in". In the 2010 State of Origin series Thaiday was much maligned by NSW Blues fans for the way in which he played the game. In Game 2 Luke O'Donnell was a guilty party in a dangerous tackle that sparked an all-in brawl on YouTube, the likes of which hadn't been seen for several years. Most notable was a moment towards the end of the melee in which O'Donnell could be seen to headbutt and uppercut Queensland's Dave Taylor, upon seeing this Sam Thaiday re-entered the fray and punched O'Donnell twice.
Speaking on his involvement Thaiday said, "I saw the headbutt and I made a bee-line straight over to it. That's just not football, but headbutting - that's a bit below the belt". But the New South Welshman saw things differently, "I keep getting asked about the headbutt - I don't think there was much in that," O'Donnell said. "I was getting pulled and pushed in every direction, Taylor kept scruffing me up. I was doing. Sam Thaiday started throwing punches. There were a few dog shots coming in. Someone said. That's a bit rich considering they were hitting from behind with some cheap shots. I've got a bruised eye from a nice cheapy from someone. Self-preservation crosses your mind at some stage." Regardless, Thaiday said he felt comfortable with his role in taking on O'Donnell after coming to Taylor's aid. "I look after my mates. I'm a big family man, I look after my family and all these boys are my family," he said. In a 2010 NRL game, between the Brisbane Broncos and the North Queensland Cowboys, Sam again came under criticism, again for entering a fight as the "Third-man-in".
The NRL match review committee chairman Greg McCallum issued Thaiday a warning for his repeat infringements and threatened him with a ban. McCallum said that Thaiday was treading a fine line rushing in to "protect" teammates he felt had been aggrieved. Broncos fans and teammates took a different view, "Sam's there to protect his players whether he's playing for us, his state or his country," Broncos hooker Andrew McCull
Shaun Berrigan
Shaun Berrigan is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer of the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s. A Queensland State of Origin and Australia national representative utility player, he played his club football in the National Rugby League for the Brisbane Broncos, the New Zealand Warriors and the Canberra Raiders, he played in the Super League for English club Hull FC. Brother of fellow professional, Shaun was a versatile footballer, having played numerous games as a hooker, five-eighth and centre, for Australia and Brisbane. Berrigan was a regular representative player, appearing twelve times in the State of Origin for the Queensland Maroons and in five test matches for Australia. Berrigan, along with his brother Barry will play in the Toowoomba Rugby League completion for Dalby Diehards in the 2014 season. Berrigan was born in Brisbane, Queensland on 4 November 1978, he is of German descent. Berrigan made his premiership début for the Brisbane Broncos in Round 11 of the 1999 NRL season against the Balmain Tigers, making eleven appearances during the remainder of the aforementioned NRL season.
In the following season in 2000, Berrigan played from the interchange bench in the Broncos' 2000 NRL Grand Final victory over the Sydney Roosters. Having won the 2000 NRL Premiership, the Broncos traveled to England to play against 2000's Super League V Champions, St Helens R. F. C. for the 2001 World Club Challenge, with Berrigan playing at five-eighth and scoring a try in Brisbane's loss. Berrigan's regular position was centre but he could play a number of back-line positions as well as hooker. Berrigan's versatility is evident in analysing the Queensland team for which Berrigan was the five-eighth for the entire 2002 State of Origin series, he played the entire 2003 State of Origin series at halfback for Queensland. He played in the centres for the 2004 State of Origin series. Berrigan was selected in the Australian team to go and compete in the end of season 2004 Rugby League Tri-Nations tournament. In the final against Great Britain he played at centre in the Kangaroos' 44-4 victory. Berrigan was the top try-scorer for the 2005 Brisbane Broncos season scoring 19 tries.
Berrigan played his 150th first grade game for the club in 2006. He started the year in the centre position but injuries to the Broncos' full-time hookers, Michael Ennis and Shaun's brother Barry, made coach Wayne Bennett move Berrigan to hooker; this turned out to be a success, with former great Peter Sterling saying that it bought a new dimension to the Broncos' game not seen for a while. He played so well at hooker in the Broncos' 2006 NRL Grand Final victory over Melbourne that he was awarded the Clive Churchill Medal for best on field. Berrigan was superb from dummy-half, but shut down Melbourne Storm super-star Greg Inglis for the entire match, he was selected in the 2006 Tri-Nations side for Australia and played in the final which Australia won. In the 2006 and 2007 Origin series Berrigan has been the utility back for Queensland on the bench, playing the majority of these games as Hooker when Cameron Smith was off the field; as 2006 NRL Premiers, the Brisbane Broncos travelled to England to face 2006 Super League champions, St Helens R.
F. C. in the 2007 World Club Challenge. Berrigan played at hooker in the Broncos' 14-18 loss. Berrigan was selected to play for the Australian national team from the interchange bench in the 2007 ANZAC Test match victory against New Zealand. During the 2007 NRL season, at the Broncos' 20-year anniversary celebration, the club announced a list of the 20 best players to play for them to date which included Berrigan. Berrigan's Brisbane contract ended at the end of the 2007 season. Berrigan signed a four-year deal with English Super League team and 2006 Grand Final runners up, Hull FC, his contract commenced with the start of the 2008 season when he replaced Richard Swain, who retired from the game at the end of the 2007 season, thus freeing up a free quota space. In regards to the signing, Berrigan said "I have had a fantastic career at the Broncos, winning premierships, playing for Queensland and of course for Australia. I am excited to be joining Hull and playing in the Super League and Challenge Cup.
I am excited by their plans, I believe the club has a fantastic future and I am looking forward to being a part of it for the next 4 years". Berrigan scored his first try for new club Hull in Round 2 of 2008's Super League XIII. On 30 August Shaun Berrigan appeared for Hull at Wembley in the 2008 Challenge Cup Final. During his Hull career Berrigan continued to play at hooker. At the start of 2011 Berrigan secured a release from Hull so he could move to be closer to his family following the death of his father in 2010. After being linked with the North Queensland Cowboys and Gold Coast Titans, Berrigan signed a one-year deal with the New Zealand Warriors for the 2011 season. During the 2011 NRL season, Berrigan played from the bench and at centre, although he did not play during their grand final loss against Manly. On 19 October 2011 the Canberra Raiders announced they had signed Berrigan on a one-year contract for the 2012 season with the option for an extension, he announced his retirement at the end of the 2013 NRL season.
Stats → PastPlayers → B at hullfc.com Statistics at hullfc.com Shaun Berrigan at the Former Origin Greats website
