Aaron Gorrell (born 31 March 1981) is an Australian former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who played as a in the 2000s. He played for the

St. George Illawarra Dragons The St. George Illawarra Dragons are an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) since 1999 after a j ...

and the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...

in the

NRL The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

, and for the

Catalans Dragons The Catalans Dragons (French language, French: ''Dragons Catalans'', Catalan language, Catalan: ''Dracs Catalans'') are a professional rugby league club from Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales department, France. Despite being based in France the ...

in the

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

Background

Gorrell was born in

Wollongong Wollongong ( ; Dharawal: ''Woolyungah'') is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near water' or 'sound ...

, New South Wales, Australia.

Playing career

Gorrell made his first grade debut for St. George Illawarra in round 5 of the

2002 NRL season The 2002 NRL season was the 95th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the fifth to be run by the National Rugby League. The season was affected by the competition-leading Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs' salary cap breach f ...

against

Parramatta Parramatta (; ) is a suburb (Australia), suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney. Parramatta is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It is co ...

which ended in a 20-all draw at

WIN Stadium Wollongong Showground, known as WIN Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium located in Wollongong, Australia. The stadium was officially opened in 1911. From 1982 until 1998 it played host to every home match for the Illawa ...

. Gorrell was made famous by slotting in the last-minute conversion in a round 15 of the

2006 NRL season The 2006 NRL season was the 99th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the ninth run by the National Rugby League. The lineup of teams remained unchanged from the previous year, with fifteen clubs competing for the 2006 Te ...

game against the

Suncorp Stadium Brisbane Stadium (Lang Park), currently known as Suncorp Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Milton, Queensland, Milton, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Nicknamed The Cauldron, it is a three-tiered rect ...

. St. George won the match 18-16. Gorrell had converted rookie

Brett Morris Brett Morris (born 23 August 1986) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played on the and as a for the St George Illawarra Dragons, Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and the Sydney Roosters in the National Rugby Leagu ...

' try in the 78th minute after coach Nathan Brown gave him the

goal A goal or objective 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 ...

-kicking duties after Mathew Head had kicked the last two conversions. In 2007 he joined

for their second season in the

. With his NRL experience he proved a key influence in the opening rounds of the season, before suffering a season-ending knee injury in round four which required a knee reconstruction. It was confirmed by the Brisbane Broncos on 27 September 2007 that Gorrell has signed with them for the 2009 season, where he will fill the vacancy left by the departing

Michael Ennis Michael Ennis (born 16 March 1984) is an Australian sports commentator for Fox League and former professional rugby league footballer. A New South Wales rugby league team, New South Wales State of Origin series, State of Origin representative ...

. Gorrell made his club debut for Brisbane in round 1 of the

2009 NRL season The 2009 NRL season was the 102nd season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the twelfth run by the National Rugby League. For the third consecutive year, sixteen teams competed for the 2009 Telstra Premiersh ...

against

North Queensland North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its Tropical North Queensland, trop ...

. He played a total of twelve games for the Brisbane club. Gorrell played for and coached the Queanbeyan Kangaroos in the Canberra Raiders cup between 2012 and 2017 but then moved into a full time coach role with the club in 2018.

Career highlights

*''Junior Club:'' Albion Park-Oak Flats *''First Grade Debut:'' Round 5, St George Illawarra v Parramatta, WIN Stadium, 14 April 2002 *''First Grade Record:'' 2002 - 2006 8 tries & 94 goals *''Super League:'' 2007-2010 signing with

References

External links

Super League profileAaron Gorrell Official Player ProfileAaron Gorrell NRL Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gorrell, Aaron 1981 births Living people Australian rugby league players Brisbane Broncos players Catalans Dragons players New South Wales Residents rugby league team players Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from Wollongong St. George Illawarra Dragons players Queanbeyan Kangaroos players 21st-century Australian sportsmen