Justin Poore (born 26 January 1985) 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. A

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 forward, he played in Australia's

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 ...

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

Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and ...

before moving to England to play for the

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home fixtures at the DIY Kitchen Stadium, Belle Vue and currently compete in the Super League, the top tier of the British rugby le ...

and

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers (often abbreviated to Hull KR) are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Craven Park, Hull, Craven Park and compete in Super League, the top tier of B ...

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

Born in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, Western Australia, While attending Endeavour Sports High School in 2002, Poore was selected to play for the Australian Schoolboys team. Poore played his junior football for the Helensburgh Tigers before being signed by the

Professional playing career

St. George Illawarra Dragons

In round 1 of the

2004 NRL season The 2004 NRL season (also known as the 2004 Telstra Premiership due to sponsorship from Telstra) was the 97th season of professional rugby league football in Australia, and the seventh run by the National Rugby League. Fifteen clubs competed dur ...

Poore made his premiership début for St. George Illawarra against 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 ...

. In August 2008, Poore was named in the 46-man Kangaroos preliminary squad for the

2008 Rugby League World Cup The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth World Cup for men’s rugby league national teams. It was held between 26 October and 22 November and was won by New Zealand, who defeated Australia 34–20 in the final in one of the greatest ...

. After the

2008 NRL season The 2008 NRL season was the 101st season of professional rugby league club competition in Australia, and the eleventh run by the National Rugby League. For the second year, sixteen teams competed for the 2008 Telstra Premiership title. The sea ...

, Poore and a group of

players led by former first-grader and ABC commentator

Paul Osborne Paul Anthony Osborne (born 30 September 1966) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer, administrator and politician. He played first-grade rugby league for the St George Dragons and Canberra Raiders before serving as a me ...

travelled to

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

on behalf of the Hope Rwanda charity, where they helped build 60 cement-rendered homes and a community hall. Poore planned to raise more money for the charity and travel to Rwanda again after the 2009 season. In May 2009, Poore was selected for

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

in the annual City vs Country match. In May 2009, Poore was named to make his Origin début for

in the opening match of the 2009 State of Origin series in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Victoria. He was one of only four New South Wales players who played in all 3 games of the 2009 series, the others being

Jarryd Hayne Jarryd Lee Hayne (born 1988) is an Australian semi-professional rugby league footballer who plays for Wentworthville Magpies in the Ron Massey Cup. He briefly moved to the US to play the running back position for San Francisco 49ers in the 2 ...

Kurt Gidley Kurt Geoffrey Gidley (born 7 June 1982) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Warrington Wolves in the Super League. An Australia international and New South Wales State of Origin representative a ...

and Ben Creagh. Poore made 21 appearances for St. George in his final season at the club as they won the 2009

Minor Premiership A minor premiership is the title given to the team which finishes a sporting competition first in the league standings after the regular season but prior to commencement of the finals in several Australian sports leagues. Origins The etymolo ...

but crashed out of the finals after losing both games against Parramatta 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 ...

. Poore played 128 games in total for St. George before signing a three-year contract with the

starting in 2010.

Parramatta Eels

At the start of the

2010 NRL season The 2010 NRL season was the 103rd season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the thirteenth run by the National Rugby League (NRL). The season commenced on 12 March and ended with the grand final, played on 3 ...

, Poore was one of Parramatta's high-profile recruits who was expected to bolster the club's forward pack. Poore made a total of 23 appearances for the club in 2010 as they missed out on the finals after finishing a disappointing 12th. Poore was forced to sit out for the majority of the

2011 NRL season The 2011 NRL season was the 104th season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the fourteenth and last run by the National Rugby League's partnership committee of the Australian Rugby League and News Ltd. The ...

due to a knee injury. He returned in round 22 against South Sydney which ended in a 56–6 loss at

ANZ Stadium Stadium Australia, currently known as Accor Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the suburb of Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The stadium, which is sometimes referred to as Sydney Ol ...

. Parramatta narrowly avoided the wooden spoon that year and defeated the Gold Coast in the final game of the season to avoid finishing last. In the

2012 NRL season The 2012 NRL season was the 105th season of professional rugby league club competition in Australia, and the first run by the newly formed Australian Rugby League Commission. The main competition, called the 2012 NRL Telstra Premiership due to spon ...

, Poore and Parramatta endured a horror season as the club finished last on the table for the first time since 1972. At the end of 2012, Poore was released by the club.

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats

In October 2012, Poore signed a two-year contract with the

of the

starting in 2013. Poore signed a two-year deal with

in October 2013.

Hull Kingston Rovers

Poore commenced playing with Hull KR in the 2014 Super League season. He retired at the end of the season due to a knee injury.

References

External links

2012 Parramatta Eels profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poore, Justin 1985 births Living people Australian rugby league players Australian expatriate rugby league players in England Country New South Wales Origin rugby league team players Hull Kingston Rovers players New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players Parramatta Eels players People educated at Endeavour Sports High School Rugby league players from Perth, Western Australia Rugby league props St. George Illawarra Dragons players Wakefield Trinity players 21st-century Australian sportsmen