Adam Connelly (born 28 April 1979) is an Australian former

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

footballer who played for the

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest town in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...

in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

. He primarily played .

Background

A Norths Ipswich junior, Connelly attended

Ipswich Grammar School , motto_translation = Work and Honour , address = Darling Street , city = Ipswich , state = Queensland , postcode = 4305 , country = Australia , coordinates = , type = Independent, single-sex, day & boa ...

, where he played

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

and was selected for the Australian under-16 side before being signed by the

Playing career

In 1998, while contracted to the Cowboys, Connelly played for the

Townsville Stingers Townsville Stingers Rugby League Club are an Australian rugby league football club based in Townsville formed in 1998. The team played in the Queensland Cup The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is ...

in the

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

. In Round 9 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 St. ...

, Connelly made his NRL debut, starting on the wing and scoring a try in the Cowboys' 20–14 win over the

Balmain Tigers The Balmain Tigers (also known as the Sydney Tigers from 1995–96) are a rugby league club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and one of the most successful i ...

Dairy Farmers Stadium The Willows Sports Complex, currently known as 1300SMILES Stadium through sponsorship, is a grass football stadium situated in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. It has been a predominantly rugby league ground as the home ground of the North Q ...

. He finished his debut season having played eight games, scoring three tries, and playing predominantly for the

Cairns Cyclones The Cairns Cyclones were a rugby league team that competed in the QRL Queensland Cup competition from 1996 to 2000. The inaugural 1996 team included the Captain/Coach and six first grade players from CDRL's Smithfield-based Ivanhoes Rugby Lea ...

. In 2000, he played 11 games for the Cowboys, scoring four tries, primarily playing on the wing. In 2001, his final season with the club, he played seven games. After leaving the Cowboys, Connelly switched to rugby union, playing for the ACT Griffins and trialling with the

ACT Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005–2022 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 feral horses which inh ...

. In 2004, Connelly played for the

Ipswich Jets The Ipswich Jets are an Australian rugby league football club based in Ipswich, Queensland. Their name comes from nearby RAAF Base Amberley, one of the largest airbases in Australia. The Jets compete in the Queensland Cup competition. Original ...

in the

before again switching to rugby union at the end of the season, where he played for the

University of Queensland Rugby Club The University of Queensland Rugby Club is an Australian rugby club, based at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Queensland. They currently compete in the Queensland Premier Rugby competition. They were formed in 1911, as rugby was adopte ...

Statistics

NRL

: ''Statistics are correct to the end of the 2001 season''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Connelly, Adam 1979 births Living people Australian rugby league players Ipswich Jets players North Queensland Cowboys players Rugby league players from Ipswich, Queensland Rugby league wingers