Chris Sheppard (born 16 March 1981) 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, and former chief executive officer of

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 ...

club Northern Pride. Sheppard played at

NRL 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 ...

level 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 ...

and 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 ...

before finishing his career in the

with Northern Pride.

Background

Sheppard was born in

Mareeba Mareeba is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Mareeba in Far North Queensland, Australia. Between 2008 and 2013, it was within the Tablelands Region. The town's name is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning ''meeting of the waters'' ...

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 ...

, Australia. Sheppard played all his early football career for Mareeba in the CDRL competition. Chris was part of the 1999 Gladiators team that won the premiership

Playing career

Sheppard made his

first grade debut for the Cowboys in their Round 4 clash against the

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith that competes in the NRL. The team is based west of the centre of Sydney, at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Penrit ...

in Cairns on 10 March 2001. Sheppard took Northern Pride to victory in the 2010

Final, winning the Duncan Hall Medal for his man-of-the-match performance in his last game before retirement.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheppard, Chris 1981 births Living people Australian rugby league players North Queensland Cowboys players St. George Illawarra Dragons players Northern Pride RLFC players Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league players from Queensland People from Mareeba