Tobias Eric Rudolf (born 29 January 1996) is an Australian 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 plays as a and forward for the

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in the Sutherland Shire of Southern Sydney, Southern Sydney, New South Wales. Cronulla compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier 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 ...

Background

Rudolf is of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

descent. About sexuality, he said: "Sexuality is very fluid. I’ve been out and kissed many gay men, kissed many straight women, and kissed many gay women"...I’m not a one-stop shop. Love is love, and I love to share it with everyone. That’s probably why I love going to all the gay bars in Sydney as well. I love dancing with my shirt off and getting down Universal on Oxford Street until 2 am".

Playing career

2018

A South Eastern Seagulls junior, Rudolf began his playing career in South Sydney's Under 20s side before graduating to the club's then feeder side

North Sydney North Sydney is a suburb and commercial district on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. And is the administrative centre for the local government area of North Sydney Council. History The Indigenous people on the s ...

. Rudolf played one season for Norths in the

Canterbury Cup 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 reserve ...

before signing with

Queensland Cup The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league, rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League, Queensland Rugby ...

side

Redcliffe Dolphins Redcliffe Dolphins are a semi-professional rugby league club based in Redcliffe, Queensland, Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1947, they were accepted into the Brisbane Rugby League premiership (rugby league competition), Brisbane R ...

for 2018. Rudolf was part of Redcliffe's 2018 premiership team and won the Duncan Hall Medal for man of the match in the grand final. However Rudolf ruptured his ACL a week later playing for the Dolphins in the 2018

NRL State Championship The NRL State Championship is a rugby league match contested by the premiers of the two elite second-tier competitions in Australia, the New South Wales Cup and the Queensland Cup. The match has been played as a curtain-raiser to the NRL Grand ...

final.

2019

After being noticed by Cronulla-Sutherland, Rudolf signed a two-year deal with the club starting in 2019. Rudolf returned from his ACL to play for Cronulla's feeder club side Newtown and went onto win the 2019

premiership and the 2019

final where he was awarded man of the match.

2020

Rudolf made his NRL debut in round 1 of the

2020 NRL season The 2020 NRL season was the 113th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 23rd season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 14th consecutive year. ; Notes : : : Pre-season ...

for Cronulla-Sutherland against South Sydney 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 ...

. In round 18 of the

, Rudolf scored his first try in the top grade in Cronulla's 22-14 victory over 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 ...

Kogarah Oval Jubilee Stadium (also known as Kogarah Oval) is a multi-purpose stadium in Carlton, a suburb in Sydney, Australia. The stadium is mainly used for rugby league and the A-League, and is one of the home grounds of the National Rugby League (NRL) ...

. The victory meant Cronulla qualified for the finals at New Zealand's expense.

2021

In round 20 of the

2021 NRL season The 2021 NRL season was the 114th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 24th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 15th consecutive year. Regular season Ladd ...

, Rudolf was sent to the sin bin for headbutting an opponent during Cronulla's 22-40 loss against rivals Manly in the "Battle of the Beaches" match. Rudolf played every game for Cronulla in the

which saw the club narrowly miss the finals by finishing 9th on the table.

2022

On 15 August, Rudolf was ruled out from playing for four weeks with a grade two medial ligament tear. Rudolf played a total of 22 games for Cronulla in the

2022 NRL season The 2022 NRL season was the 115th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 25th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 16th consecutive year. This became the second longest ...

as the club finished second on the table. In the qualifying final, Rudolf scored a memorable individual try as he beat five

North Queensland North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its Tropical North Queensland, trop ...

players to the try line. North Queensland would go on to win the match 32-30. The following week, Rudolf played in the elimination final which Cronulla lost 38-12 against South Sydney.

2023

Rudolf played a total of 15 matches for Cronulla in the

2023 NRL season The 2023 NRL season was the 116th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 26th season run by the National Rugby League. The season consisted of 27 competition rounds, the longest in league history, followed by a finals series ...

as they finished sixth on the table. Rudolf played in the clubs 13-12 upset loss against 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 ...

which ended their season.

2024

On 25 March, it was announced that Rudolf would miss 3-6 weeks with an ankle injury which he sustained during Cronulla's upset loss against the Wests Tigers in round 3 of the

2024 NRL season The 2024 NRL season was the 117th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 27th season run by the National Rugby League (NRL). The season consisted of 27 competition rounds, followed by a finals series contested by the top eight ...

. Rudolf played 21 games for Cronulla in the

as the club finished 4th on the table and qualified for the finals. During the off-season Rudolf while on holiday injured his shoulder while surfing and would undergo shoulder surgery and will miss the first month of the 2025 season.

Statistics

Controversy

NRL CEO Andrew Abdo labelled the comments “offensive and derogatory” before issuing Cronulla and Rudolf with an official warning.

References

External links

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rudolf, Toby 1996 births Living people Australian rugby league players Australian people of German descent Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks players North Sydney Bears NSW Cup players Newtown Jets NSW Cup players Rugby league players from Sydney Rugby league props 21st-century Australian sportsmen