Brian Julian O'Neill (born 14 October 1972) is an Australian former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. Primarily a

goal A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ...

-kicking or and goal-kicker, during his 14-year top-grade career he played with several clubs in both Australia and England, which included two NSWRL premierships, a

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involve ...

victory as well as state and national representative honours. However O'Neill also regularly made headlines for his involvement in numerous controversial off-field incidents.

Early life

O'Neill was born in

Hornsby, New South Wales Hornsby is a suburb in the Northern Sydney region, or Upper North Shore of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia, approximately north-west of the Sydney central business district. It is the administrative centre of the local gove ...

on 14 October 1972. His mother, Patricia O'Neill, a nursing sister, was killed in a car crash when he was seven . His father, Brian Allan O'Neill, a

gynaecologist Gynaecology or gynecology (see spelling differences) is the area of medicine that involves the treatment of women's diseases, especially those of the reproductive organs. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, forming the combined ar ...

, died of heart disease when Julian was eight O'Neill was raised by his grandparents and other family members from time to time. From age ten he attended boarding school at St Brendan's College in

Yeppoon, Queensland Yeppoon is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Livingstone, Queensland, Australia. Yeppoon is renowned for its beaches, tropical climate, and the islands out on the bay. Located from the city of Rockhampton, Yeppoon is the seat of the ...

. He was a prodigious young sportsman, holding school records in athletics, swimming. represented as an Australian Schoolboy in rugby league, cricket and tennis .

Playing career

O'Neill was signed to a sporting scholarship with the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite c ...

at age fifteen and was selected for the

Australian Schoolboys The Australian Schoolboys refer to junior teams that represent Australia in various sports. The name is mainly used in rugby league, rugby union and baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players ...

side in 1989.

1990s

O'Neill was graded by the Broncos in 1990 and it was hoped he would take over the position from Broncos great

Wally Lewis Walter James Lewis AM (born 1 December 1959) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and coached in the 1980s and 1990s. He became a commentator for television coverage of the sp ...

. He showed greater form at and played there in Brisbane's inaugural Grand Final victory in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engin ...

. In the weeks following the grand final O'Neill travelled with the Broncos to England, where he played at fullback in the

1992 World Club Challenge The 1992 World Club Challenge match was contested by the 1991–92 Rugby Football League season champions Wigan and the 1992 NSWRL season's premiers, the Brisbane Broncos. The match took place on Friday night, 30 October in England, during th ...

against British champions

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington ...

, helping Brisbane become the first NSWRL club to win the match in Britain. O'Neill briefly signed for English club

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the northern bank of the River Mersey where the estuary narrows to form th ...

, who were then coached by Phil Larder and he appeared as a substitute in the 1993 Challenge Cup Final at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

, only to suffer a 20-14 defeat by

. O'Neill first represented

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, coming off the interchange bench, in Game II of the

1993 State of Origin series The 1993 State of Origin series was the 12th year that the annual best-of-three series of rugby league football matches between the Queensland and New South Wales representative teams was contested under 'state of origin' selection rules. Queen ...

. He played at five-eighth in Game III. The Broncos reached the

1993 Winfield Cup The 1993 NSWRL season (known as the 1993 Winfield Cup Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the eighty-sixth season of professional rugby league football in Australia. The New South Wales Rugby League's sixteen teams competed for the J. J. G ...

Grand Final and O'Neill played at fullback as they again beat St. George for a second consecutive premiership title. O'Neill then played at fullback in all three games of the

1994 State of Origin series The 1994 State of Origin series saw the 13th year that the annual three-game series between the Queensland and New South Wales representative rugby league football teams was contested entirely under 'state of origin' selection rules. Mark Coyne ...

under coach

. During the

1994 NSWRL season The 1994 NSWRL season (known as the 1994 Winfield Cup Premiership due to sponsorship from Winfield (cigarette), Winfield) was the eighty-seventh season of professional rugby league football in Australia. Sixteen clubs, including 14 from within the ...

, O'Neill played at lock forward for defending premiers Brisbane when they hosted British champions

for the

1994 World Club Challenge The 1994 MMI World Club Challenge was a replay of the 1992 World Club Challenge, with 1993–94 Rugby Football League season champions Wigan facing the 1993 NSWRL season premiers, the Brisbane Broncos, this time in Australia. Wigan were cle ...

, but were defeated by the British club on this occasion. In

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...

and

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

O'Neill was the

' top point-scorer. As his fame and confidence grew at the Broncos, O'Neill found himself at the centre of a number of alcohol-fuelled incidents. At Southport Magistrates Court in 1995 he faced five charges, following an incident at

Conrad Jupiters The Star Gold Coast (formerly Jupiters Hotel and Casino) is a casino and hotel located in the suburb of Broadbeach on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. The casino, which was Queensland's first, is situated next to the Nerang River and ...

Casino where he was reported to have urinated under a blackjack table, including indecent exposure and offensive behavior. He was found not guilty, three fraud charges were dropped and he was awarded costs.Australian Story article
/ref> However he walked away from the Broncos in 1995. After being released by the

, O'Neill played a season with the

London Broncos The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club in London, England. The club competes in the RFL Championship. It was a member of Super League from its inaugural season in 1996 until the end of the 2014 season, when they were relegat ...

. O'Neill made a fresh start back in Australia with the

Western Reds The Western Reds were a rugby league football club based in Perth, Western Australia. Founded in 1992 as the Western Reds, they entered into the Australian Rugby League competition in 1995 before defecting to the rival Super League competition i ...

1996 ARL season The 1996 ARL premiership (also known as the 1996 Optus Cup due to sponsorship from Optus) was the 89th season of professional rugby league football in Australia, and the second to be administered by the Australian Rugby League (ARL). Twenty tea ...

. Whilst playing for them he was selected to play for Queensland at in Game II of the 1996 State of Origin series. He was playing for the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of w ...

-aligned Western Reds during the 1997 split competition and made one state and one national representative appearance for the Super League representative teams: O'Neill was selected to play for Australia from the interchange bench in the inaugural Anzac Test and at fullback for Queensland in Game 1 of the

Super League Tri-series The Super League Tri-series was an international rugby league football tournament contested in 1997 between Queensland, New South Wales, and New Zealand representative rugby league teams. It was run by the breakaway Super League organisation as an ...

. O'Neill set club records for most tries and goals in a match but was released by the Reds in 1997 as the super club could not afford to pay him, soon after the Western Reds folded and so did super league. O'Neill made another clean start, switching to play in the

1997 ARL season The 1997 Australian Rugby League season was the 90th season of professional rugby league football in Australia, and the third season run by the Australian Rugby League. While several clubs had left the League to compete in the 1997 Super Leagu ...

with the

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional Australian rugby league club based in Redfern, a suburb of inner-southern Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and are one of nine existing tea ...

. He gained selection for Queensland, playing from the interchange bench in Game II of the

1997 State of Origin series The 1997 State of Origin series was the 16th year that the annual best-of-three series of interstate rugby league football matches between the Queensland and New South Wales representative teams was contested entirely under 'state of origin' selec ...

. In 1998 however he suffered immense publicity and a $10,000 fine from the club over a 1999 pre-season tour incident where a drunken O'Neill defecated in the footwear of teammate

Jeremy Schloss Jeremy Schloss (born 18 September 1973) is a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s for the South Sydney Rabbitohs, Gold Coast Seagulls and North Queensland Cowboys. He represented Queensland in the 1997 State of Or ...

. This incident became known as "the poo in the shoe" affair, and gained much media attention and public ridicule after O'Neill reportedly uttered the alliterative line, "I just shat in Schlossy's shoe," to his teammates. For a time he was engaged to Australian swimming star

Samantha Riley Samantha Linette Pearl Riley (born 13 November 1972) is an Australian breaststroke swimmer of Aboriginal descent who competed for Australia in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona and the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, winning three medals ...

, but the engagement ended. Riley who was renowned for having a clean-living reputation despite being embroiled in a drugs controversy herself in the lead-up to the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

2000s

O'Neill was signed to play the

2000 NRL season The 2000 NRL season was the 93rd season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the third to be run by the National Rugby League. Fourteen teams competed from February till August for the NRL Premiership, culminating in the 200 ...

for the

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest town in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...

and was selected to play at five-eighth in Game II of the

2000 State of Origin series The 2000 State of Origin series was the 19th year that the annual three-game series between the Queensland and New South Wales representative rugby league football teams was played entirely under 'state of origin' selection rules. During the 2000 ...

. He was then named the Cowboys' player of the year.Honours
at ''cowboys.com.au'' He made a total of ten career State of Origin appearances. In 2001, O'Neill's 13-month-old daughter, Piper, was killed when a television set fell onto her in his family's home.https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2002/apr/27/rugbyleague.wiganwarrior O'Neill returned to England the 2002 Super League season for the

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors are a professional rugby league club in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the Super League. Formed in 1872 as Wigan Football Club, Wigan was a founding member of the Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby ...

, enjoying victory in the

, until 2003 when he completed a mid-season move to the

Widnes Vikings The Widnes Vikings are an English rugby league club in Widnes, Cheshire, which competes in the Betfred Championship. The club plays home matches at the Halton Stadium. Founded as Widnes Football Club, they are one of the original twenty-two r ...

. O'Neill returned to rugby league in England in 2005 and played half the season with the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, then switching back to former club the

until their relegation from the

that year. He then moved to also relegated

Leigh Centurions The Leigh Leopards are a professional rugby league club based in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England, who compete in the Betfred Super League. The club was founded in 1878, and is one of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern R ...

for the 2006 season.

Sources and footnotes

External links

Julian O'Neill at stateoforigin.com.au

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20090414071143/http://www.yesterdayshero.com.au/PlayerProfile_Julian-ONeill_11222.aspx Julian O'Neill at yesterdayshero.com.au
Article at smh.com.au

Julian O'Neill's Super League Stats at rleague.com

News Article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oneill, Julian 1972 births Living people Australian rugby league players Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Brisbane Broncos players North Queensland Cowboys players Queensland Rugby League State of Origin players Australia national rugby league team players Leigh Centurions players London Broncos players Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Sydney South Sydney Rabbitohs players Sportsmen from New South Wales Wakefield Trinity players Western Reds players Widnes Vikings players Wigan Warriors players