Robbie Ross (born 24 January 1975) is an Australian former

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 Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative fullback, he played his club football with 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 ...

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 ...

and

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 Leagu ...

before settling at 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 ...

with whom he won the 1999 Premiership.

Early life

Born in

Griffith, New South Wales Griffith is a major regional city in the northern Riverina region of western New South Wales, known commonly as the food bowl of Australia. It is also the seat of the City of Griffith Local government in Australia, local government area. Like ...

. Ross was educated at

Swansea High School Swansea High School in Swansea, South Carolina is a public high school offering education for grades 10–12, serving the surrounding communities of Swansea, Gaston, and parts of Pelion. It derives its name from its location next to Swansea, Sout ...

, where he represented 1992 Australian Schoolboys. Robbie is a local

junior.

Playing career

Ross forced clubmate Robbie O'Davis onto the wing during the 1995 season. Ross, who signed a

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 ...

contract that year, joined

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

while

News Ltd News Corp Australia is an Australian media conglomerate and wholly owned subsidiary of News Corp. The group's interests span newspaper and magazine publishing, Internet, market research, DVD and film distribution, and film and television prod ...

fought a battle through the courts to stage its rebel competition. The potent attacking later honoured his contract with the newly formed

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

. Ross represented

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 ...

in the Super League Tri-series competition, but following the demise of the Mariners and the re-unification of the game, quickly secured a contract with another newly formed club, the

as the first player signed by the club. A great start to the 1999 season saw Ross chosen for 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 second match of

1999 State of Origin series The 1999 State of Origin series saw the 18th year that the annual three-game series between the Queensland and New South Wales representative rugby league football teams was contested entirely under ' state of origin' selection rules. The series ...

, Ross scored the fastest try in Origin history when

Ryan Girdler Ryan Girdler (born 19 September 1972) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. A New South Wales State of Origin and Australia international representative goal-kicking centre, he played ...

sent him over in the corner from the second tackle of the match. Later that year, Ross played at fullback for Melbourne in their historic

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 ...

victory and was catapulted into the Australian Test team. After making his debut in the first match of the 1999 Tri-nations series, a 24–22 loss to

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 ...

, he was replaced by

Darren Lockyer Darren James Lockyer (born 24 March 1977) is an Australian television commentator and former professional rugby league footballer. Lockyer was an Australian international and Queensland State representative captain, who played his entire profe ...

for the remainder of the tournament. Having won the 1999 Premiership,

contested in the

2000 World Club Challenge The 2000 World Club Challenge was contested by 1999 NRL season premiers, the Melbourne Storm and 1999's Super League IV champions, St. Helens. The match was played on 22 January at JJB Stadium, Wigan before a crowd of 13,394. The Melbourne St ...

against

Champions

St Helens R.F.C. St Helens R.F.C., commonly known as Saints, is a professional rugby league club in St Helens, Merseyside, England. Founded in 1873, the club is one of the oldest members of the Rugby Football League, and one of the most successful clubs in its ...

, with Ross playing at and scoring two tries in the victory. Ross started the

2000 NRL season The 2000 NRL season was the 93rd season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the third to be run by the National Rugby League. Fourteen teams competed from February until August for the NRL Premiership, culminating in the 200 ...

in superlative form. He scored 9 tries in 13 matches and retaining his position as New South Wales fullback, but was ruled out with a knee injury that was more serious than first thought. He was also 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 contribution to Australia's international standing in rugby league. After being sidelined for the season, Ross returned in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

only to be hampered by chronic hamstring trouble. During 2002–03, matches were kept to a minimum, where Ross spent lengthy amounts of time on the sidelines with hamstring, knee and back injuries. He retired just before the start of the 2004 season at only 29 years of age, after it was revealed he had a

bulging disc A disc herniation or spinal disc herniation is an injury to the intervertebral disc between two vertebrae, usually caused by excessive strain or trauma to the spine. It may result in back pain, pain or sensation in different parts of the body, ...

in his back.

Statistics

NRL

: ''Statistics are correct to the end of career''

State of Origin

Australia

:Robbie Ross' International player profile at Rugby League Project
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References

External links

Robbie Ross at stateoforigin.com.au
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Robbie 1975 births Living people Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league players Brisbane Broncos players Hunter Mariners players 20th-century Australian sportsmen Melbourne Storm players New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players Newcastle Knights players Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Newcastle, New South Wales