Jamie Ainscough (born 20 July 1972) 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 in the 1990s and 2000s. An

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

international and

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

State of Origin representative three-quarter back, he played his club football for Western Suburbs, the

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league team based in Newcastle, New South Wales that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, the Knights joined the top-tier competition in New ...

, the St. George Illawarra Dragons and the

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors is an English professional rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club competes in the Super League, the top tier of the British rugby league system. Formed in 1872, the club is a founding member of the Ru ...

(with whom he won the 2002

Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...

Background

Born in Sydney, Ainscough played for the Macquarie Cobras J.R.L.F.C in

Cartwright, New South Wales Cartwright is a suburb in south-western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 38 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Liverpool. Geography It is bounded by ...

. While attending Elderslie High School, Ainscough played for the Australian Schoolboys team in 1989.

Playing career

1990s

The following year he was playing first grade in the

New South Wales Rugby League premiership The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia and contributor to today's National Rugby League. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League (initially named the New Sout ...

for Western Suburbs. Ainscough also played 87 games with the

from 1992 to 1996. He made one international appearance for

against

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in the 3rd Test of 1995 Brisbane. In that game Ainscough came on as a replacement and scored a try. Ainscough represented the

New South Wales Rugby League team The New South Wales rugby league team has represented the Australian state of New South Wales in rugby league football since the sport's beginnings there in 1907. Also known as the Blues due to their sky blue jerseys, the team competes in the an ...

in the

State of Origin series The State of Origin series is an annual best-of-three rugby league series between two States and territories of Australia, Australian state representative sides, the New South Wales rugby league team, New South Wales Blues and the Queensland ru ...

in 12 games between 1996 and 2001 (three as a replacement). Ainscough joined

St George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the R ...

in 1997 and played on the wing in the

1999 NRL Grand Final The 1999 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 1999 NRL season. It was contested by the competition's two newest clubs: the Melbourne Storm, competing in only its second year (having finished the regular seas ...

loss against the

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm is a rugby league football club based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia that participates in the National Rugby League (NRL). The club plays its home games at AAMI Park, and wears a purple and navy blu ...

. St. George led 14-nil at half time but were run down by Melbourne. The illegal tackle he made on Craig Smith resulted in a penalty try contributing to St. George losing the premiership.

2000s

On 24 October 2000, Ainscough was awarded the

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, off ...

for his achievements. He played 106 games with

or the merged

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 ...

up until 2001 at centre or wing. Ainscough concluded his career 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 ...

with English side the

in 2002 when they won the

. He played in a Wigan Warriors team studded with Australians in Brett Dallas,

Julian O'Neill Brian Julian O'Neill (born 14 October 1972) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. Primarily a goal-kicking or , during his 14-year top-grade career he played with several clubs in both ...

Adrian Lam Adrian Lam (born 25 August 1970) is a Papua New Guinean professional rugby league coach, and former player, who is currently the head coach of the Super League club Leigh Leopards. He played for the Sydney Roosters in the National Rugby Leagu ...

, Craig Smith,

David Furner David Furner (born 6 February 1971) is an Australian professional rugby league football coach who was the head coach of the Leeds Rhinos, and a former player. He is an assistant coach for the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the NRL, and the former he ...

and coached by

Stuart Raper Stuart Raper (born 5 January 1965) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and coach. He has since become a sideline commentator for the NRL with Foxsports. He is widely known for his father being Rugby League legend Johnny ...

. Following that season he went close to needing to have his arm amputated following an infection that was found to have been caused after one of St. Helens centre Martin Gleeson's teeth was left embedded in Ainscough's arm.

References

External links

*
Jamie Ainscough Wigan Career Page
on the Wigan RL Fansite''

Sources

* Andrews, Malcolm (2006) ''The ABC of Rugby League'' Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney * Whiticker, Alan & Hudson, Glen (2006) ''The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players'', Gavin Allen Publishing, Sydney
State of Origin Official website Rugby League Player Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ainscough, Jamie 1972 births Living people Rugby league players from Sydney Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league players Australian expatriate rugby league players in England Western Suburbs Magpies players Newcastle Knights players St. George Dragons players 20th-century Australian sportsmen St. George Illawarra Dragons players Wigan Warriors players New South Wales City Origin rugby league team players New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players Rugby league wingers Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league centres