Timothy Atkinson (born 5 July 1977) is an Australian former professional

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player.

Biography

Atkinson was born in

Mackay Mackay may refer to: *Clan Mackay, the Scottish clan from which the surname "MacKay" derives Mackay may also refer to: Places Australia * Mackay Region, a local government area ** Mackay, Queensland, a city in the above region *** Mackay Airport ...

and educated at Slade Point State School.

Rugby career

A utility back, Atkinson captained

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 ...

in rugby sevens and featured at the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Manchester, England, ...

. Atkinson was an Australia "A" representative and competed for the

ACT Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005 to 2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the brumby, feral horses wh ...

in the

2002 Super 12 season The 2002 Super 12 season was the seventh season of the Super 12, an annual rugby union competition contested by teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The season ran from February to May 2002, with each team playing all the others o ...

as an outside centre, with

George Gregan George Musarurwa Gregan AM (born 19 April 1973) is a former rugby union player who played as scrum-half. Born in Lusaka, Zambia, Gregan represented Australia at an international level, and is Australia's second most capped player. He played S ...

occupying his favoured position of scrum-half. In 2003, Atkinson returned to his native Queensland to play with the

Reds Reds may refer to: General * Red (political adjective), supporters of Communism or socialism * ''Reds'' (film), a 1981 American film starring and directed by Warren Beatty * Reds (January Uprising), a faction of the Polish insurrectionists duri ...

, where he was used in most backline positions. His time at the Reds was impacted by injury, missing most of 2003 with a broken ankle, playing all but one Super 12 match in 2004, before being sidelined for all of 2005 by shoulder surgery. He had a stint in Japan with

Kyuden Voltex Kyūshu Kyuden Voltex is a Japanese rugby team owned by Kyushu Electric Power Co. (Kyūshū Denryoku). The nickname "Voltex" is a conflation of "Voltage" and "Techniques" and was decided after the team won promotion to the Top League. The team i ...

and was a player-coach for South Darwin on his return home.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Atkinson, Tim 1977 births Living people Australian rugby union players Australia international rugby sevens players Rugby union players from Queensland Sportspeople from Mackay, Queensland Rugby union centres Rugby union scrum-halves Kyuden Voltex players Australian expatriate rugby union players in Japan ACT Brumbies players Queensland Reds players Rugby sevens players at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games rugby sevens players for Australia