Justin O'Neill (born 4 April 1991) 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 for 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 ...

and

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

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

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 ...

at international level. He represented the NRL All Stars and

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

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 ...

and won premierships with the Storm in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

and the Cowboys in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

.He has since joined up with a local Victorian club Northern Thunder (Broadmeadows) and is playing first grade shaking up the vic comp with a powerhouse all players giving back to local grassroots playing alongside his good friend young Tonumaipea, both taking only nominal game day fees to ensure the club can continue to sign more marquee players.

Background

O'Neill was born in

Warwick, Queensland Warwick ( ) is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in southeast Queensland, Australia, lying south-west of Brisbane. It is the administrative centre of the Southern Downs Region Local government in Australia, local go ...

, and is of

Ni-Vanuatu Ni-Vanuatu (informally abbreviated Ni-Van) is a large group of closely related Melanesians, Melanesian ethnic groups native to the island country of Vanuatu. As such, ''ni-Vanuatu'' are a mixed ethnolinguistic group with a shared ethnogenesis tha ...

descent through his mother. He attended The Cathedral School in

Townsville, Queensland The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...

, He played his junior football for the Hughenden Hawks and Townsville Brothers, before being signed by the

. As a child, O'Neill held the Australian under-15

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

record with a mark of 7.60m.

Playing career

Melbourne Storm

In September 2007, O'Neill re-signed with the Storm on a 2-year contract. In November 2008, O'Neill played for the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

rugby league team that toured

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. In 2009, he was selected for the Queensland under-18 team. He was a member of the Storm's S. G. Ball Cup team in early 2009, before moving into their NYC team until 2010. On 4 October 2009, O'Neill scored a try in the Storm's 2009 NYC Grand Final win over the

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers is an Australian professional rugby league football team, based in the Inner West of Sydney and South Western Sydney. The Tigers have competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) since being formed at the end of the 1999 N ...

. O'Neill made his NRL debut for the Storm on 14 June 2010 against the

Sydney Roosters Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club, known as the Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs. The club competes in the National Rugby Lea ...

. He scored a hat-trick of tries against the

in round 15. In October 2010, O'Neill was selected for the Junior Kangaroos in their two-match series against the

Junior Kiwis The Junior Kiwis side represents New Zealand in the sport of rugby league. They are commonly known as the Junior Kiwis, after the native bird of that name. Since 2010, they are an under-20s side, with players selected from the NRL, Intrust Sup ...

. He scored a try in both matches. On 7 May 2012, O'Neill re-signed with the Storm on a 2-year contract. He scored a try in the Storm's 2012 NRL Grand Final win over the

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilitated by ...

on 30 September. In September 2012, O'Neill was named in

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (; ), is an island country in Melanesia located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, east o ...

's train-on squad for their match against

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

on 20 October 2012. O'Neill did not play in the match, though some sources indicate that he did. He was a trainer for Vanuatu in their match against the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

in October 2013. In February 2013, O'Neill played for the NRL All Stars in the 2013 All Stars match. On 22 February 2013, he played in the Storm's 2013 World Club Challenge win over the

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home games at Headingley Rugby Stadium, AMT Headingley Rugby Stadium and compete in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby lea ...

. O'Neill re-signed with the Storm on a 3-year contract on 14 June 2013. On 20 December 2014, O'Neill signed with the North Queensland Cowboys on a 2-year contract, after being released by the Storm.

North Queensland Cowboys

O'Neill made his club debut for the Cowboys in round 1 of the 2015 NRL season against the

, scoring a try. On 4 October 2015, O'Neill was a member of the Cowboys'

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...

winning side. He scored a try in his side's 17–16 victory over 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 ...

. At the end of the year he was named the club's most improved player. On 21 February 2016, he was a member of the Cowboys' 2016 World Club Challenge winning side against the

Headingley Stadium Headingley Stadium is a stadium complex in Headingley, Leeds, West Yorkshire, and England. Linked by a two-sided stand housing common facilities, it comprises two separate grounds: Headingley Cricket Ground (home of Yorkshire County Cricket Clu ...

. On 1 July 2016, O'Neill re-signed with the Cowboys for a further 2 years, keeping him at the club until the end of the 2018 season. O'Neill made his debut for

in the 2016 State of Origin, playing at centre in all 3 of their matches. He had previously been a member of Queensland's Emerging Origin after being first selected in 2012, and was named as a reserve for Queensland in 2013. On 4 October 2016, O'Neill was selected in

's Four Nations squad. He made his debut in Australia's Round 2 against Scotland where his nation was successful in a 40-point victory. O'Neill retained his spot at Centre in the Round 3 victory against New Zealand where he ran for a game high 203 metres. He would go on to have a try disallowed during the 14–8 win for Australia. He was named 19th man for the final round of the tournament against England. O'Neill was named as the 18th man for the

2017 ANZAC Test The 2017 Anzac Test was a Test match (rugby league), rugby league test match played between Australia national rugby league team, Australia and New Zealand national rugby league team, New Zealand at Canberra Stadium. It was the 18th and last Anzac ...

against New Zealand in May 2017. O'Neill was named at centre for the Queensland Maroons in Game I of the 2017 State of Origin Series. On 1 October, O'Neill started at centre in the Cowboys'

2017 NRL Grand Final The 2017 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2017 National Rugby League season and was played on Sunday October 1 at Sydney's ANZ Stadium. The match was contested between minor premiers the Melbourne Storm ...

loss to his former club, the

. In 2018, O'Neill played 21 games for the Cowboys, starting 17 of them at centre and four on the wing, scoring 2 tries. On 16 October 2018, the Cowboys' confirmed that O'Neill had taken up his player option to remain at the club for the 2019 season. In 2019, after being dropped to the Townsville Blackhawks earlier in the season, O'Neill returned to first grade in great try scoring form, with eight tries in eight games. In May 2019, despite earlier reports, O'Neill revealed he had actually re-signed with the Cowboys for three seasons, not one. In Round 11 of the

2019 NRL season The 2019 NRL season was the 112th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 22nd season run by the National Rugby League. The Sydney Roosters became the first team to win back-to-back Premierships since the Brisbane Broncos in 1992 ...

, O'Neill suffered a severe spleen injury in the Cowboys' win over the

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugb ...

, his 100th NRL game for the club. The following morning he was rushed to hospital where it was discovered that two broken ribs had punctured his spleen, causing internal bleeding. He underwent three blood transfusions and spent four days in the

intensive care unit An intensive care unit (ICU), also known as an intensive therapy unit or intensive treatment unit (ITU) or critical care unit (CCU), is a special department of a hospital or health care facility that provides intensive care medicine. An inten ...

. Upon returning to Townsville, he spent a further six days in hospital after undergoing a second operation on his bowel. In 2020, O'Neill successfully returned from his spleen injury, starting at centre in the Cowboys' Round 1 loss to the

. He played 17 games for the Cowboys in 2020, scoring six tries. On 27 August 2021, O'Neill announced his immediate retirement from rugby league due to a chronic knee injury. He played just six games for the Cowboys in his final season with the club. In March 2025, Justin's chronic knee injury got better. He chose to come out of retirement to play local footy for a little known club in Victoria, Australia.

Post playing

On 7 January 2024, O'Neill was announced as the assistant coach for the Melbourne Storm SG Ball squad with

Matt Duffie Matthew David Duffie (born 16 August 1990) is a New Zealand former professional rugby footballer who last played rugby union for the Blues (Super Rugby), Blues in Super Rugby. He previously played rugby league with the Melbourne Storm in th ...

named as head coach.

Achievements and accolades

Team

* 2012 NRL Grand Final:

– Winners * 2013 World Club Challenge:

– Winners *

2015 NRL Grand Final The 2015 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2015 NRL season and was played on Sunday 4 October at Sydney's ANZ Stadium between the Brisbane Broncos and North Queensland Cowboys. North Queensland won the ma ...

– Winners * 2016 World Club Challenge:

– Winners

Statistics

NRL

: ''Statistics are correct to the end of the 2021 season''

International

State of Origin

Personal life

O'Neill and his wife Chantelle have two daughters, Giselle and Kasia. His younger brother, Samsen, played for the Cowboys' NYC side, while his older brother, Paul, has represented

References

External links

North Queensland Cowboys profileNRL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oneill, Justin 1991 births Living people Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league players Australian people of Vanuatuan descent Queensland Rugby League State of Origin players Melbourne Storm players North Queensland Cowboys players NRL All Stars players Mackay Cutters players Junior Kangaroos players Rugby league centres Rugby league wingers Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Queensland Rugby league players from Townsville 21st-century Australian sportsmen