Neil Piccinelli (born 4 March 1967) 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 11 ...

footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. He played with the

Illawarra Steelers The Illawarra Steelers are an Australian rugby league football club based in the city of Wollongong, New South Wales. The club competed in Australia's top-level rugby league competition from 1982 until 1998. On the 13th of December 1980, they ...

Hunter Mariners The Hunter Mariners were an Australian professional rugby league club based in the Hunter Region's largest city, Newcastle. Hunter was formed in mid-1995 and was later disbanded at the end of 1997. The club was formed because of the Super Leag ...

and the

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, th ...

. Most notable was his stint with the Steelers from 1989–1996. He was named in an Illawarra 25th anniversary "Team of Steel" at second-row.

Playing career

Piccinelli made his first grade debut for Illawarra against St George in Round 1 1989. In 1992, Illawarra finished 3rd on the table and qualified for its first ever finals campaign. Piccinelli played in all 3 finals games as Illawarra reached the preliminary final but fell short of a maiden grand final appearance losing to St George 4–0. Piccinelli played with Illawarra up until the end of 1996 and then joined the

for the 1997 Super League season. Piccinelli played 17 games for the club in their one and only season before they were liquidated. In 1998, Piccinelli joined defending premiers Newcastle in the reunified NRL competition. Piccinelli's final game in first grade was the elimination final loss against Canterbury during the 1998 finals series.

References

External links

Neil Piccinelli Yesterdays Hero
* 1967 births Living people Australian rugby league players Illawarra Steelers players Hunter Mariners players Newcastle Knights players Rugby league second-rows Place of birth missing (living people) {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1960s-stub