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Nathan Friend
Nathan "The Hobbit" Friend (born 28 February 1981 in Toowoomba, Queensland) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played for the Gold Coast Titans in the National Rugby League (NRL). He previously played for the Brisbane Broncos, Melbourne Storm and New Zealand Warriors. He plays as a . Early life Born and raised in Toowoomba, Friend started playing league at the age of five for Wests Juniors, staying with the club until under-15 level. He was then picked for the Toowoomba under-17 side, subsequently playing one season in the local A-grade competition. In 2000 he joined the Brisbane Broncos' feeder club, the Toowoomba Clydesdales and in 2002 he moved to Brisbane to train full-time with the Broncos. He made his first-grade debut later that year. Playing career Friend joined the Melbourne Storm in 2003. In 2005, he announced that he would be one of the founding members of the Gold Coast in 2007. The 2006 NRL season was the first season where Friend pl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toowoomba
Toowoomba ( , nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar') is a city in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. It is west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 2021 Census was 142,163, having grown at an average annual rate of 1.45% over the previous two decades. Toowoomba is the second-most-populous inland city in the country after the national capital of Canberra and hence the largest city on the Darling Downs, and it is among the largest regional centres in Queensland. It is also referred to as the capital of the Darling Downs. The Toowoomba region is the home of two main Aboriginal language groups, the Giabal whose lands extend south of the city and Jarowair whose lands extend north of the city. The Jarowair lands include the site of one of Australia's most important sacred Bora ceremonial ground, the ‘Gummingurru stone arrangement’ dated to c.4000 BC. The site marked one of the major routes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nathan Friend
Nathan "The Hobbit" Friend (born 28 February 1981 in Toowoomba, Queensland) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played for the Gold Coast Titans in the National Rugby League (NRL). He previously played for the Brisbane Broncos, Melbourne Storm and New Zealand Warriors. He plays as a . Early life Born and raised in Toowoomba, Friend started playing league at the age of five for Wests Juniors, staying with the club until under-15 level. He was then picked for the Toowoomba under-17 side, subsequently playing one season in the local A-grade competition. In 2000 he joined the Brisbane Broncos' feeder club, the Toowoomba Clydesdales and in 2002 he moved to Brisbane to train full-time with the Broncos. He made his first-grade debut later that year. Playing career Friend joined the Melbourne Storm in 2003. In 2005, he announced that he would be one of the founding members of the Gold Coast in 2007. The 2006 NRL season was the first season where Friend pl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chad Townsend
Chad Townsend (born 10 January 1991) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who co-captains and plays as a goal-kicking for the North Queensland Cowboys in the NRL. He previously played for the Warriors and for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks over two separate spells in the National Rugby League. Townsend has also played at representative level for NSW City. He was part of the Cronulla team that won their maiden premiership title in the 2016 season, the only local junior player in that team. Background Townsend was born in Caringbah, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Playing career Early career Townsend played his rugby league for the Yarrawarrah Tigers in the Cronulla-Sutherland local rugby league competition. During his junior football he was a part of 7 premiership teams. Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks After being signed by the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, Townsend made his debut in round 13 of the 2011 NRL season. In his first match, played against the Bris ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2011 NRL Season
The 2011 NRL season was the 104th season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the fourteenth and last run by the National Rugby League's partnership committee of the Australian Rugby League and News Ltd. The NRL's main championship, called the 2011 Telstra Premiership due to sponsorship from Telstra, was contested by sixteen teams for the fifth consecutive year. Alongside was the fourth season of the Toyota Cup taking place. The season's Premiership title was awarded to the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles who took out their 8th title, only three years after their previous title, defeating the New Zealand Warriors in the Grand Final. Season summary The 2011 competition draw was announced on Thursday, 7 October 2010, with the season's first match between NRL teams to be played on Friday, 11 March. The first round of the premiership season became the highest attended round in NRL history, with 201,212 fans attending. However, the first NRL match of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 Bundaberg, Queensland. He was raised in the town of Singleton, New South Wales where, at 17 years of age, he represented Singleton Greyhounds at first team level. Playing career Brown made his NRL debut on 4 April 2004, for the Newcastle Knights against the St George Illawarra Dragons at WIN Stadium. Brown made 7 appearances for Newcastle the following season as the club finished last on the table claiming the wooden spoon. After playing 40 games for the Knights, Brown was told to look elsewhere after coach Brian Smith's clean-out midway through the 2007 season. Brown was signed by the Sydney Roosters for the 2008 season. In his first game for the Roosters, Brown infamously injured South Sydney player Craig Wing in the 8th minute of the ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phil Gould (rugby League)
Phillip Ronald Gould (born 24 January 1958), also nicknamed "Gus", is an Australian rugby league broadcaster, journalist, administrator and formerly a player and coach. He works as the General Manager of Football for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the NRL. Background Gould was born in Sydney, New South Wales in January 1958. He played junior rugby league with Wentworthville Magpies. Playing career Graded by Penrith in 1976, he spent two years in the lower grades, before becoming a regular first-grader in 1979. Gould would continue to have a link with the Warriors to provide assistance to their pathways staff. Commentary Gould currently works as an expert for Channel 9 and Triple M radio during rugby league telecasts, including NRL, State of Origin and International football contests. He also does a weekly podcast called ‘Six Tackles with Gus’ co-hosted by Mathew Thompson. He also writes for the ''Sydney Morning Herald''. He is considered controversial within rugb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aaron Payne
Aaron Payne (born 18 November 1982) is an Australian rugby league coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Townsville Blackhawks in the Intrust Super Cup. Primarily a , he played his entire career for the North Queensland Cowboys. Background Born in Townsville, Queensland, Payne played his junior rugby league for the Central Tigers and attended Kirwan State High School before being signed by the North Queensland Cowboys. His father, Mark, played two games for Queensland in 1979. Playing career In 1999, while playing for Centrals, Payne represented the Queensland under-17 team, starting at halfback in a loss to New South Wales. In 2001, he represented the Queensland under-19 team, coming off the bench in a 28–14 win over the Blues. In Round 12 of the 2002 NRL season, Payne made his NRL debut for the Cowboys in a 40–32 win over the St George Illawarra Dragons. In his rookie season, he played five games, starting one at . In 2003, Payne represented t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kevin Kingston
Kevin Kingston (born 17 May 1983) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, Parramatta Eels and the Penrith Panthers in the NRL (National Rugby League) in the 2000s and 2010s. He played in Parramatta's 2009 NRL Grand Final loss to Melbourne. Kingston played at representative level for the Prime Minister's XIII in 2012. Playing career 2005 Kingston made his first grade debut for Cronulla against the Newcastle Knights at Shark Park in round 19 of the 2005 NRL season. Kingston played in the club's elimination final loss to St. George in the same year. 2006–2008 From 2006 through 2008, Kingston was a regular part of the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks side at hooker or off the bench. 2009 Kingston was signed by the Parramatta Eels for the 2009 NRL season. In round 11 he became a regular part of the Parramatta squad coming off the bench to replace Matt Keating. Kingston was a major contributor in the club's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jake Friend
Jake Friend (born 1 February 1990) is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played as a . He spent his entire first-grade career, spanning 2008 to 2021, with the Sydney Roosters in the NRL; at the time of his retirement, he was the club's co-captain. Friend won three premierships with the Roosters, in 2013, 2018 and 2019. Internationally, Friend represented Australia in a Test in 2016. Friend also represented the Prime Minister's XIII, World All Stars and Queensland. With the latter, he won the 2020 State of Origin series, playing in all three games, in what would be the final full season of his playing career. Background Friend was born in Nambour, Queensland, Australia. Junior career The Noosa Pirates junior joined the Roosters on a scholarship when he was 15 and, in 2008, progressed from SG Ball through to Toyota Cup to the NRL in just four months. First grade career Friend made his first grade debut for the Sydney Roosters against Canterbury-Bankstown in rou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andrew McCullough
Andrew McCullough (born 30 January 1990) is a former Australian professional rugby league footballer who played as a for the Brisbane Broncos, Newcastle Knights, and St. George Illawarra Dragons in the NRL, and has played for Queensland in the State of Origin series. Background McCullough was born in Dalby, Queensland, Australia to Wendy and Graham McCullough. In 2018, McCullough married Carlie Harrison in a ceremony at Byron Bay. Biography McCullough attended Dalby State School and subsequently Dalby State High School, before accepting a scholarship to Brisbane State High School for grade 12. During his time in Dalby, he played for the Dalby Devils and on a number of school teams. He played for the Australian Schoolboys team in 2007 while attending Brisbane State High School. In 2003, while he was in grade 8, he had already signed with the Brisbane Broncos. He made his debut in the Telstra Premiership against the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks on 17 May 2008, becoming the fir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matt Ballin
Matthew Ballin (born 5 January 1984) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Wests Tigers in the National Rugby League and also the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. Ballin is the current head coach for the Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles which is the feeder team playing in the NSW Cup Competition, prior to that he was the Under 20s Head Coach. He has played one game for Queensland in State of Origin. He played at and previously played for the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles, with whom he won the 2008 and 2011 Premierships. Early years Although he was born in Nanango, Queensland, Australia, Ballin grew up in Kingaroy and attended Kingaroy State High School where his father was the school principal. Ballin played his junior football with the Kingaroy Red Ants, and although he played in the lower grades with the Brisbane Broncos, he did not play first grade for the club. Playing career 2005-2014 Ballin signed with Sydney based club Manly-Warrin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cameron Smith (rugby League, Born 1983)
Cameron Wayne Smith (born 18 June 1983) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a , spending his entire career with the Melbourne Storm in the National Rugby League (NRL). An n international and Queensland State of Origin representative, Smith is regarded by some as one of the greatest players of all time. During his nineteen year career, Smith won the Dally M Medal as the NRL's player of the year in 2006 and 2017, the Golden Boot Award as the international player of the year in 2007 and 2017, and the NRL's Dally M Hooker of the Year on nine occasions. He was the captain of the Storm for fifteen years, during which time they won the 2012, 2017, and 2020 NRL Premierships, and also Australia and Queensland from 2012 until his retirement from representative matches in 2018. Considered a future Immortal, Smith is currently the NRL's games record holder, with 430 matches played; he is the only player to have played over 400 matches. He is also the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
