Rory O'Brien (born 2 June 1989) is an Australian former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. He most recently played for the

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. The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and thei ...

in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

, as a . He previously played for the

St. George Illawarra Dragons The St. George Illawarra Dragons is an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George, Sydney, St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League since NR ...

Background

Born in

Sydney, New South Wales Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, O'Brien is of

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

and Irish descent and played his junior football for

Hurstville United The Sydney Combined Competition (SCC) formerly Inner City Combined Competition (ICCC) is an amateur rugby league competition for both senior and junior rugby league clubs in the St. George, Canterbury-Bankstown, Balmain, Western Suburbs and E ...

, before being signed by the

Playing career

Early career

In 2008, O'Brien played for the St. George Illawarra Dragons'

NYC New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

team, before giving up the game in early 2009. In 2013, he took up rugby league again, playing with the

Collegians Collegians are an Australian rugby league football team based in Wollongong. The club are a part of Country Rugby League and compete in the Illawarra Rugby League premiership. Originally known as CBC Old Boys, the Club was founded in 1933. The ...

in the

Illawarra Rugby League The Illawarra Rugby League is a rugby league competition in Wollongong, NSW. It is one of the oldest rugby league competitions in Australia, founded in 1911 with five clubs (Dapto, Helensburgh, Mount Keira, Unanderra and Wollongong). The area p ...

and winning the 2013

Country Rugby League The Country Rugby League of New South Wales (CRL), formed in 1934 and disbanded in 2019, was the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in areas of New South Wales outside the Sydney metropolitan area until it merged with NSW Rugb ...

Player of the Year award along with former

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, th ...

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby league, Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won ...

and

Gold Coast Titans The Gold Coast Titans are a professional rugby league football club, based on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australia and New Zealand's national rugby league club competition. The ...

player

Riley Brown Riley Brown (born 15 October 1984) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Gold Coast Titans in the National Rugby League (NRL). He primarily played as a Hooker. Background Brown was born in Bundab ...

. In October 2013, he played for the New South Wales Country Residents team that toured

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

. In 2014, he joined the

Illawarra Cutters The Illawarra Rugby League Football Club were an Australian rugby league football club based in Illawarra formed in 2012. Originally known as the Illawarra Cutters, they became known as the Illawarra RLFC before the 2017 Intrust Super Premiershi ...

in the

New South Wales Cup The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserv ...

. On 26 June 2014, he signed a -year contract to return to the St. George Illawarra Dragons effective immediately.

2015

In round 1 of the

2015 NRL season The 2015 NRL season was the 108th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 18th season of the National Rugby League in Australia and New Zealand. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, which was followed ...

, O'Brien made his

NRL The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

debut for St. George against the

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm are a rugby league club based in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia that participates in the National Rugby League. The first fully professional rugby league team based in the state, the Storm entered the competition in 1998 ...

. On 26 August, he signed a 1-year contract with the

starting in 2016, after being released from the final year of his Saints contract.

2016

In round 14 of the 2016 season, O'Brien made his debut for Parramatta against the

. In August, he re-signed with Parramatta on a contract until the end of the 2017 season.

2017

O'Brien played two games for Parramatta in the 2017 season. In the opening round against Manly and then the following week against St George. O'Brien spent the rest of the season playing for the

Wentworthville Magpies The Wentworthville Magpies, colloquially known as ''Wenty'', are a rugby league team based in the suburb of Wentworthville in Sydney's Western Suburbs. Founded in 1963 (or 1937), the club has competed in various Sydney district competitions a ...

in the

Intrust Super Premiership NSW The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserv ...

. On 29 November 2017, it was revealed that O'Brien's contract with Parramatta was not renewed and he was released by the club.

References

External links

St. George Illawarra Dragons profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Rory 1989 births Living people Australian rugby league players Australian people of Māori descent New Zealand Māori rugby league players St. George Illawarra Dragons players Parramatta Eels players Illawarra Cutters players Rugby league players from Sydney Rugby league props People educated at Endeavour Sports High School Wentworthville Magpies players