Shaun Berrigan (born 4 November 1978) 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 as a and in the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s. He played for 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 ...

, with whom he won the

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

and

2006 NRL Grand Final The 2006 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding match of the NRL's 2006 Telstra Premiership season. It was played between the first-placed Melbourne Storm and the third-placed Brisbane Broncos clubs on the night of Sunday, ...

, and the

New Zealand Warriors The Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as the Aucklan ...

and 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 the

National Rugby League 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 ...

. He also played for

Hull FC Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Hull play their home games at the MKM Stadium and compete in Super League, the t ...

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 ...

. Berrigan played for

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

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.

Background

Berrigan was born in

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 ...

, Queensland, Australia on 4 November 1978. He is of Italian and German descent. His brother Barry was also a fellow professional, with whom he played in the Toowoomba Rugby League competition for Dalby Diehards in the 2014 season.

Playing career

Brisbane Broncos

Berrigan made his premiership début for the

in Round 11 of the

1999 NRL season The 1999 NRL season was the 92nd season of professional rugby league football in Australia, and the second to be run by the National Rugby League. With the exclusion of the Adelaide Rams and Gold Coast Chargers, and the joint venture of the S ...

against the

Balmain Tigers The Balmain Tigers (also known as the Sydney Tigers from 1995 to 1996) are a rugby league club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain, New South Wales, Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and on ...

, making eleven appearances during the remainder of the aforementioned NRL season. In the following season in 2000, Berrigan played from the interchange bench in the Broncos' 2000 NRL Grand Final victory over 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 ...

. Having won the 2000 NRL Premiership, the Broncos traveled to England to play against 2000's Super League V 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 ...

for the

2001 World Club Challenge The 2001 World Club Challenge was contested between Super League V champions, St. Helens and 2000 NRL season premiers, the Brisbane Broncos. The Broncos made the trip to England to play St Helens before the start of the 2001 NRL and Super Leagu ...

, with Berrigan playing at five-eighth and scoring a try in Brisbane's loss. Berrigan's regular position was but he could play a number of back-line positions as well as . Berrigan's versatility is evident in analysing the Queensland team for which Berrigan was the five-eighth for the entire

2002 State of Origin series The 2002 State of Origin series saw the 21st time that the annual three-game series between the Queensland and New South Wales representative rugby league football teams was played entirely under ' state of origin' selection rules. It was the s ...

. He played the entire

2003 State of Origin series The 2003 State of Origin series was the 22nd year that the annual three-game series between Queensland and New South Wales was contested entirely under ' state of origin' selection rules. Queensland's return to a renovated Lang Park was soured ...

at halfback for Queensland, who lost. He played in the centres for the

2004 State of Origin series The 2004 State of Origin series was the 23rd time 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. A pre-ser ...

. Berrigan was selected in the Australian team to go and compete in the end of season

2004 Rugby League Tri-Nations The second Rugby League Tri-Nations tournament (known as the Gillette (brand), Gillette Tri-Nations due to sponsorship) was contested between October 2004 in sports, 16 October and November 2004 in sports, 27 November of 2004 in sports, 2004. The ...

tournament. In the final against

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

he played at centre in the Kangaroos' 44–4 victory. Berrigan was then the top try-scorer for the 2005 Brisbane Broncos season scoring 19 tries. Berrigan played his 150th first grade game for the club in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

. He started the year in the centre position but injuries to the Broncos' full-time hookers,

Michael Ennis Michael Ennis (born 16 March 1984) is an Australian sports commentator for Fox League and former professional rugby league footballer. A New South Wales rugby league team, New South Wales State of Origin series, State of Origin representative ...

and Shaun's brother Barry, made coach Wayne Bennett move Berrigan to hooker. This turned out to be a success, with former great Peter Sterling saying that it bought a new dimension to the Broncos' game not seen for a while. He played so well at hooker in the Broncos'

victory over Melbourne that he was awarded the

Clive Churchill Medal The Clive Churchill Medal is the award given to the player judged to be man-of-the-match in the National Rugby League's annual Grand Final. The award was created to honour Clive Churchill, one of the greatest rugby league players in Australia ...

for best on field. Berrigan was superb from dummy half, but also shut down

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 ...

super-star

Greg Inglis Gregory Paul Inglis (born 15 January 1987), also known by the nickname of "G.I.", is a retired Indigenous Australian professional rugby league footballer, who regularly played as a centre, fullback, five-eighth and wing. From 2011 to 2019, Ing ...

for the entire match. He was later selected in the 2006 Tri-Nations side for Australia and played in the final which Australia won. In the 2006 and 2007 Origin series Berrigan has been the utility back for Queensland on the bench, playing the majority of these games as Hooker when

Cameron Smith Cameron or Cam Smith may refer to: * Cammie Smith (Cameron Wilberforce Smith, born 1933), West Indian cricketer * Cam Smith (artist), British comic book artist * Cameron Smith (rugby league, born 1983), Australian rugby league player * Cameron S ...

was off the field. As 2006 NRL Premiers, the

travelled to England to face 2006

champions,

in the

2007 World Club Challenge The 2007 Carnegie World Club Challenge was played between Super League XI champions, St. Helens and 2006 National Rugby League premiers, the Brisbane Broncos. It was a replay of the 2001 World Club Challenge, and both clubs' fifth WCC appear ...

. Berrigan played at in the Broncos' 14–18 loss. Berrigan was selected to play for the Australian national team from the interchange bench in the 2007 ANZAC Test match victory against New Zealand. During the

2007 NRL season The 2007 NRL season was the one hundredth season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the tenth run by the National Rugby League. Sixteen teams contested the NRL's 2007 Telstra Premiership, and with the inclusi ...

, at the Broncos' 20-year anniversary celebration, the club announced a list of the 20 best players to play for them to date which included Berrigan. Berrigan's

contract ended at the end of the 2007 season. Berrigan was a regular representative player, appearing twelve times in the State of Origin for the Queensland Maroons and in five test matches for Australia.

Hull FC

Berrigan signed a four-year deal with English

team and 2006 Grand Final runners up, Hull FC. His contract commenced with the start of the 2008 season when he replaced former Broncos teammate Richard Swain, who retired from the game at the end of the 2007 season, thus freeing up a free quota space. In regards to the signing, Berrigan said "I have had a fantastic career at the Broncos, winning premierships, playing for Queensland and of course for Australia. I am really excited to be joining Hull and playing in the

and

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 ...

. I am excited by their plans, I believe the club has a fantastic future and I am looking forward to being a part of it for the next 4 years". Berrigan scored his first try for new club Hull in Round 2 of 2008's

Super League XIII Engage Super League XIII was the official name, due to sponsorship, for the 2008 Super League season by Engage Mutual. Twelve teams competed for the League Leader's Shield over 27 rounds (including Magic Weekend, Millennium Magic), after which th ...

. On 30 August Shaun Berrigan appeared for Hull at Wembley in the 2008 Challenge Cup Final. During his Hull career Berrigan continued to play at .

New Zealand Warriors

At the start of 2011, Berrigan secured a release from Hull so he could move to be closer to his family following the death of his father in 2010. After being linked with the

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 ...

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) premiership, Australia's elite rugby league competition. Since 2008, the ...

, Berrigan signed a one-year deal with the

for the 2011 season. During the 2011 NRL season, Berrigan played from the bench and at centre, although he did not play in their grand final loss against Manly.

Canberra Raiders

On 19 October 2011, the

announced they had signed Berrigan on a one-year contract for the 2012 season with the option for an extension. He announced his retirement at the end of the

2013 NRL season The 2013 NRL season was the 106th season of professional rugby league club competition in Australia. The National Rugby League's main competition, named the 2013 Telstra Premiership after major sponsors Telstra Corporation, was contested by sixt ...

Post playing

After retiring from the sport in 2013, Berrigan had moved to work in the mines. In 2023, Berrigan played in the FOG side that versed the Queensland Police Service Rugby League Association.

Statistics

NRL / Super league

References

External links

Canberra Raiders profile
(archived 2013) * (archived by web.archive.org
Stats → PastPlayers → B at hullfc.com
* (archived by web.archive.org
Statistics at hullfc.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Berrigan, Shaun 1978 births Living people Australian rugby league players Australian people of German descent Australian people of Italian descent Australia national rugby league team players Brisbane Broncos players Canberra Raiders players Clive Churchill Medal winners Hull F.C. players Mount Pritchard Mounties players New Zealand Warriors players Queensland Rugby League State of Origin players Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league hookers Rugby league centres Rugby league utility players Rugby league players from Brisbane Sportspeople of Italian descent