Bob Lindner (born 10 November 1962) is an Australian former professional

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 in the 1980s and 1990s, and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

ed in the 1990s. An Australia national and

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

State of Origin A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco Ov ...

representative forward, he is one of a handful of players to be named man-of-the-match in State of Origin football more than once. Fifteen years after his retirement from football in Australia, he had made the most appearances and scored the most tries of any

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

in State of Origin history.

Brisbane Rugby League

Lindner went to Iona College, Brisbane. Lindner played for South Brisbane Magpies in the

Brisbane Rugby League The Brisbane Rugby League is a rugby league football competition in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was first held in 1922 and for every year until 1997. The competition was reinstated in 2001, known as the FOGS premiership under the Queen ...

from 1983 to 1984, playing in South's losing 1984 Grand Final team alongside

Mal Meninga Malcolm Norman Meninga (; born 8 July 1960) is an Australian professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of the Australian national team and a former professional rugby league footballer. Meninga is widely regarded as one of the fin ...

Gary Belcher Gary Belcher (born 28 May 1962) is an Australian rugby league football commentator and former player. An Australian international and Queensland State of Origin representative, he played club football in the Brisbane Rugby League premiership f ...

and Peter Jackson. In 1985 he signed with the team who had defeated Souths in the 1984 Grand Final, the

Wynnum-Manly Seagulls The Wynnum-Manly Seagulls are an Australian rugby league football club based at Kougari Oval, in Brisbane's bayside suburb of Manly West, which neighbours the suburb of Wynnum. They competed in the Brisbane Rugby League from 1951 to 1997. Sin ...

, where he played alongside

and Australia captain

Wally Lewis Walter James Lewis AM (born 1 December 1959) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and coached in the 1980s and 1990s. He became a commentator for television coverage of the sp ...

Gene Miles Gene Miles (born 21 July 1959) is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. An Australian international and Queensland State of Origin representative , he played his club football in the Brisbane Rugby Lea ...

Greg Dowling Greg Dowling (born 15 January 1959) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. An Australian international and Queensland State of Origin representative prop forward, he played his club foot ...

and Colin Scott. The 1985 BRL Grand Final saw Souths Magpies defeat Wynnum-Manly 10–8. Lindner won his only BRL premiership in 1986 as the Seagulls defeated

Past Brothers The Past Brothers Rugby League Football Club, or Brisbane Brothers Rugby League Football Club nicknamed the Leprechauns, or more commonly known as Brothers, or as The Brethren, was a rugby league club based in the city of Brisbane, Australia, t ...

14–6 in the Grand Final at Lang Park.

New South Wales rugby league

Following his successful Kangaroo tour, Lindner signed with reigning NSWRL premiers, the

Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League. The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and their ...

as a much-anticipated replacement for club captain Ray Price, who had retired following the Eels 1986 Grand Final win over

Canterbury-Bankstown Canterbury-Bankstown is a customary region of Sydney, Australia, in the south-western suburbs. The area is located around the Bankstown railway line, to the west of the St George region and to the south of the Inner West region. The suburbs ...

. Lindner played in Queensland's 2–1

1987 State of Origin series The 1987 State of Origin series saw the sixth time the annual three-match series between the New South Wales and Queensland representative rugby league football teams was contested entirely under 'State of Origin' selection rules. It saw the em ...

win and retained his place at in the Australian test team for the one-off test against New Zealand at Lang Park which saw the Kiwis cause an upset with a 13–7 win, snapping Australia's 9 game winning streak. At the end of the

1987 NSWRL season The 1987 NSWRL season was the 80th season of professional rugby league football in Australia. Thirteen clubs competed for the New South Wales Rugby League premiership's J J Giltinan Shield and Winfield Cup during the season, which culminated i ...

, Lindner played a short stint with

English club English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

side

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the town centre the River Calder joins th ...

( Heritage No. 655) for part of the

1987–88 Rugby Football League season The 1987–88 Rugby Football League season was the 93rd season of rugby league football in Britain. Season summary During the season, defending champions Wigan hosted NSWRL champions, the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in the 1987 World Club Challe ...

. He scored a

try Try or TRY may refer to: Music Albums * ''Try!'', an album by the John Mayer Trio * ''Try'' (Bebo Norman album) (2014) Songs * "Try" (Blue Rodeo song) (1987) * "Try" (Colbie Caillat song) (2014) * "Try" (Nelly Furtado song) (2004) * " Try (Ju ...

in Castleford's 12–12 draw with

Bradford Northern The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is pre ...

in the

1987 Yorkshire Cup File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

Final at

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

on Saturday 17 October 1987, but he did not play in the 11–2 defeat by Bradford in the final's replay at Elland Road in Leeds two weeks later. Back in Australia in 1988 following his stint at

Wheldon Road Wheldon Road (known as the Mend-A-Hose Jungle for sponsorship purposes) is the home ground of Castleford Tigers Rugby league Club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England. It is on Wheldon Road, just outside Castleford town centre. The record att ...

(Castleford's home ground), Lindner played in Queensland's 3–0 Origin series sweep of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

before being selected for all three

Ashes series The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, ''The Sporting Times'', immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, its first Te ...

tests against the touring Great Britain side. The Australian's defeated the Lions 2–1 to retain The Ashes that they had not lost since 1970. After 28 games over two seasons for the Eels in which they failed to play finals football, Lindner signed with newly created expansion team, the

Gold Coast Giants The Gold Coast Chargers were a professional rugby league club which played in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership from New South Wales Rugby League season 1988, 1988 to New South Wales Rugby League season 1994, 1994, the Australian Ru ...

for the

1989 NSWRL season The 1989 NSWRL season was the 82nd season of professional rugby league football in Australia. Sixteen clubs competed for the New South Wales Rugby League's J.J. Giltinan Shield and Winfield Cup Premiership during the season, which culminated ...

. A broken leg suffered in Game 2 of the

1989 State of Origin series The 1989 State of Origin series was the eighth time the annual three-game series between New South Wales and Queensland was contested entirely under 'state of origin' selection rules. It was Queensland's second consecutive Origin clean-sweep and ...

at the Sydney Football Stadium saw Lindner ruled out of the Australian teams mid-season tour of New Zealand. Following his year on the Gold Coast, Lindner signed with Sydney team Western Suburbs for the

1990 NSWRL season The 1990 New South Wales Rugby League season was the eighty-third season of professional rugby league football in Australia. Sixteen clubs competed for the J J Giltinan Shield and Winfield Cup during the premiership season, which culminated in a g ...

. He was named man-of-the-match in the Game III of the

1990 State of Origin series The 1990 State of Origin series saw the ninth time that the annual three-game series between New South Wales and Queensland representative rugby league football teams was contested entirely under "state of origin" selection rules. It was the firs ...

, and at the end of the season was selected to his second Kangaroo Tour. His performances for the 1990 Kangaroos saw him named the player of the tour. Lindner suffered another broken leg in early 1991 but made a strong recovery before breaking the leg again playing in the first test of the 1991 Trans-Tasman series against New Zealand in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. 1992 saw him named man-of-the-match in the second game of the

State of Origin series The State of Origin series is an annual best-of-three rugby league series between two Australian state representative sides, the New South Wales Blues and the Queensland Maroons. Referred to as “Australian sport's greatest rivalry”, the ...

and during the 1992 Great Britain Lions tour, he helped Australia retain

The Ashes The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, '' The Sporting Times'', immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, its first ...

, pushing his Test tally to 19, before playing in the

1992 Rugby League World Cup Final The 1992 Rugby League World Cup final was the conclusive game of the 1989–1992 Rugby League World Cup tournament and was played between Great Britain and Australia on 24 October 1992 at Wembley Stadium in London, England. Australia won the fina ...

win over Great Britain at the

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Wests' salary cap problems saw him join his fourth NSWRL club, the

Illawarra Steelers The Illawarra Steelers are an Australian rugby league football club based in the city of Wollongong, New South Wales. The club competed in Australia's top-level rugby league competition from 1982 until 1998. On the 13th of December 1980, they ...

, in 1993, but after playing for Australia in the mid-season test series against New Zealand, and for Queensland in the Origin series (including a try-scoring performance in the Maroons' 24–12 game 3 win, his last game for his state), he announced his intention to leave Australia and play abroad. Lindner's player agent, the Sydney businessman

Michael Saad Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...

, received many offers and the 24-Test veteran subsequently announced that he had signed for

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham ...

( Heritage No. 1017). During the

1993–94 Rugby Football League season The 1993–94 Rugby Football League season was the 99th ever season of professional rugby league football in Britain. Sixteen teams competed from August 1993 until May 1994 for a number of titles, primarily the Stones Bitter Championship. Season ...

, Lindner took over as captain-coach of Oldham following the departure of fellow Australian forward, Peter Tunks and successfully averted the team's relegation to Second Division.

Post-playing career

Lindner then returned to Australia and linked with the short-lived

South Queensland Crushers The South Queensland Crushers were an Australian rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. In 1992 it was decided that the team would be admitted into the New South Wales Rugby League competition, along with three other teams, a ...

where he was originally recruited as a player but retired in order to replace Bill Gardner as club coach in 1995–96. He stood down as coach in 1997, the Crushers' final year in the

Australian Rugby League The Australian Rugby League Commission (ARL), formerly the Australian Rugby Football League known as the Australian Rugby League is an Australian rugby league football competition operator. It was founded in 1986 as the Australian Rugby Footbal ...

premiership. In 2000, Lindner was awarded the

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, offi ...

for his contribution to Australia's international standing in rugby league. In June 2008, he was chosen in the

Queensland Rugby League's Team of the Century The Queensland Rugby League Team of the Century is a hypothetical team comprising the best players who have played for Queensland to form a team for 1909 until 2008. Rugby league in Queensland was initiated in 1909 with the Queensland Rugby Foot ...

at lock-forward. In 2009, Lindner was a member of 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 ...

's judiciary panel. He has also been a qualified Optometrist since 1985. Lindner's university exams actually fell during both his début State of Origin series in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

, and again in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, causing him to have to miss team bonding sessions so he could study.

References

External links

Bob Lindner at stateoforigin.com.au''Queensland Team of the Century named'' - article at nz.leagueunlimited.comBob Lindner at yesterdayshero.com.auQueensland Representatives at qrl.com.au
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lindner, Bob 1962 births Living people Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league coaches Australian rugby league players Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Australian optometrists Brisbane rugby league team players Castleford Tigers players Gold Coast Chargers players Illawarra Steelers players Oldham R.L.F.C. captains Oldham R.L.F.C. coaches Oldham R.L.F.C. players Parramatta Eels players Queensland Rugby League State of Origin players Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Brisbane Rugby league second-rows South Queensland Crushers Souths Logan Magpies players Western Suburbs Magpies players Wynnum Manly Seagulls players