Aaron Moule (born 20 June 1977) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He played club football for the South Queensland Crushers and Melbourne Storm in Australasia's National Rugby League and Widnes Vikings and

Salford City Reds The Salford Red Devils are a professional rugby league club in Salford, Greater Manchester, England, who play in the Super League. Formed in 1873, they have won six Championships and one Challenge Cup. Their home ground since 2012 has been t ...

in the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

Early life

Moule grew up in the Redcliffe, Queensland area of Brisbane, playing junior rugby league with Redcliffe Dolphins. He was later captain of the Sunshine Coast schoolboys representative team, leading the team to second place in the state carnival.

Playing career

Moule made his first grade rugby league debut for South Queensland Crushers in the

1997 ARL season The 1997 Australian Rugby League season was the 90th season of professional rugby league football in Australia, and the third season run by the Australian Rugby League. While several clubs had left the League to compete in the 1997 Super Leagu ...

, winning the club's rookie of the year honour, before joining Melbourne Storm for the

1998 NRL season 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

. Moule played at for Melbourne in their

1999 NRL Grand Final The 1999 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 1999 NRL season. It was contested by the competition's two newest clubs: the Melbourne Storm, competing in only its second year (having finished the regular season ...

victory against 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 regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League since 1999 after a joint-ve ...

. Having won the 1999 Premiership, Melbourne Storm contested in the

2000 World Club Challenge The 2000 World Club Challenge was contested by 1999 NRL season premiers, the Melbourne Storm and 1999's Super League IV champions, St. Helens. The match was played on 22 January at JJB Stadium, Wigan before a crowd of 13,394. The Melbourne Storm ...

against

Champions

St Helens R.F.C. St Helens R.F.C. is a professional rugby league club in St Helens, Merseyside who compete in the Super League, the top tier for rugby league in Great Britain. They are the current Champions, having won the last 4 consecutive titles, and becom ...

, with Moule playing at and scoring a try in the victory. A consistent, but combative player, Moule was the leading try scorer for Melbourne Storm in

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

and

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

. Moule stunned Melbourne by announcing his retirement from the NRL in April 2003, revealing that a succession of injuries had taken away his enjoyment of the game. "At 25, three shoulder reconstructions, knee surgery and a severe case of osteitis pubis head my list of injuries," he said. "Put simply, the passion to play isn't there any more." After sitting out the rest of 2003, in November Moule had agreed to return to rugby league with Widnes Vikings. Moule retired from the professional game at the end of the 2007 Super League season.

Career highlights and honours

* ''First Grade Debut:'' ::1997 – Round 11, South Queensland v Western Suburbs Magpies at Campbelltown Stadium, 18 May * ''Rookie of the Year:'' ::1997 – South Queensland Crushers * ''Premierships:'' ::1999 – Melbourne Storm * World Club Challenge Champions ::2000 – Melbourne Storm

References

External links

Salford Squad Profile: Aaron Moule
1977 births Living people Australian rugby league players South Queensland Crushers players Melbourne Storm players Widnes Vikings players Salford Red Devils players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Brisbane {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1970s-stub