Clinton Schifcofske (born 10 November 1975), also known by the nickname of "Choka", is an Australian former professional
rugby league and
rugby union footballer. During his career, he played for the
Crusaders 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 ...
.
as well as the
South Queensland Crushers, the
Parramatta Eels and the
Canberra Raiders in Australia, as a . In the sport of rugby union, he played for Irish club
Ulster in the
Celtic League competition and also he spent a year with
Queensland Reds in
Super Rugby
Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...
. .
Background
Schifcofske was born in
Moranbah
Moranbah is a coal mining town and locality in the Isaac Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Moranbah had a population of 8,735 people.
In addition to the permanent population, Moranbah also has a large fly-in fly-out popula ...
,
Queensland, he is of
Polish descent, his parents were both born in Australia to Polish parents.
Rugby league
Schifcofske made his first grade debut for the now defunct South Queensland side in Round 5 1996 against the
North Sydney Bears at
North Sydney Oval.
The following year, Schifcofske made 17 appearances for the club as they finished last on the table for the second consecutive year. Schifcofske played in South Queensland's last ever game as a club which was against Western Suburbs which South Queensland won 39–18 with Schifcofske scoring a try and kicking 7 goals.
In 1998, Schifcofske joined Parramatta and played every game of the 1998 season as the club finished 4th on the table.
Schifcofske scored a try in the first half of the match as Parramatta took a 10–2 lead going into half time. With Parramatta leading 18–2 with less than 10 minutes to play, Canterbury staged a comeback scoring 3 tries in 8 minutes with Canterbury player
Daryl Halligan kicking 2 goals from the sideline to tie the game at 18-18. Parramatta player
Paul Carige
Paul Carige (born 5 August 1973) is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s. He played for the Illawarra Steelers, Parramatta Eels, and the Salford City Reds. He mostly played at centre, but occasionally he played t ...
then made a series of personal errors which cost Parramatta dearly in extra time with Canterbury going on to win 32–20.
In 1999, Parramatta finished 2nd on the ladder and qualified for the finals with Schifcofske playing every match. Parramatta went on to reach the preliminary final against Melbourne. Parramatta lead the match 16–0 at halftime before a second half capitulation similar to what happened a year earlier occurred with Melbourne winning 18–16.
In 2000, Parramatta finished 7th and qualified for the finals with the media dubbing the team "The Baby Eels" due to the age of the squad. Parramatta and Schifcofske would reach their third consecutive preliminary final with the opponents being favorites Brisbane. Brisbane went on to win the match 16–10. This would be the last game Schifcofske would play for the club and he was released at the end of 2000. Schifcofske then signed with Canberra.
In 2001 and 2004 Schifcofske was named the
Canberra Raiders' player of the year. In 2006 he was made captain of the club. In the same year, due to an injury incurred by
Karmichael Hunt, Schifcofske was chosen in the
Queensland Maroons side for the
2006 State of Origin series
The 2006 State of Origin series was the 25th year that the annual best-of-three series of interstate rugby league football matches between the Queensland and New South Wales representative teams was contested entirely under 'state of origin' sele ...
decider. He was the Maroons' third fullback for the series after
Matt Bowen
Matthew Jeremy Bowen (born 9 March 1982) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. An Australia international and Queensland State of Origin representative , he played in the National Rugby ...
was dropped after Game One.
During the middle of the 2006 season he made the decision to switch codes from Rugby League to Rugby Union signing a two-year deal with the
Queensland Reds for the
2007 season. During the 2006 season, one of Schifcofske's penalty goal attempts in a match against the
Wests Tigers was the subject of
Ray Warren's commentary; as he was taking the shot, Warren called the words: "
Eddie Jones Edward, Eddie, or Ed Jones may refer to:
Architecture
* Edward Vason Jones (1909–1980), American neoclassical architect
* Edward Jones (English architect) (born 1939), English architect who designed the Saïd Business School
* Edward Jones (Wel ...
(who was at the time the coach of the
Queensland Reds), if you're watching..." and Schifcofske nailed the shot. In the same match, he nailed a field goal in golden point to win Canberra the match. He had the best goal kicking success rate in the
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 ...
ahead of both
Andrew Johns and
Hazem El Masri. His final NRL match was played at Telstra Stadium on 9 September 2006 against the Canterbury Bulldogs where the Raiders were knocked out of the finals race. He finished the
2006 NRL season
The 2006 NRL season was the 99th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the ninth run by the National Rugby League. The lineup of teams remained unchanged from the previous year, with fifteen clubs competing for the 2006 Te ...
as the Raiders' top point-scorer. Schifcofske ran 3,741 metres with the ball in 2006, more than any other player in the competition.
Schifcofske's 1,604 points in first grade placed him 9th in Australian rugby league's all-time top point scoring list.
Rugby union
Schifcofske's Rugby Union career started when the
Queensland Reds took on Japan with Schifcofske having a sound performance in his first game and then playing for an invitational
World XV side against
The Springboks. After being planned to be used as a goal-kicking winger by
Eddie Jones Edward, Eddie, or Ed Jones may refer to:
Architecture
* Edward Vason Jones (1909–1980), American neoclassical architect
* Edward Jones (English architect) (born 1939), English architect who designed the Saïd Business School
* Edward Jones (Wel ...
the season-ending injury to Reds and
Wallabies Fullback
Chris Latham, Schifcofske was selected to play in his preferred position of Fullback. In 2007, he represented
Australia A in the
Pacific Nations Cup in all 5 games. Australia finished runners up to the
Junior All Blacks.
Schifcofske is weighing up a two-year offer from the Reds as well as interest from five other clubs, including a large deal from
Ulster Rugby. It's understood two are from
league, an unnamed
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 ...
club and
Perpignan
Perpignan (, , ; ca, Perpinyà ; es, Perpiñán ; it, Perpignano ) is the prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the ...
-based
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 ...
franchise
Catalans Dragons, while other interest comes from
rugby union clubs in England and Japan.
It has since been confirmed that he will be leaving the Reds at the end of the 2008 Super 14 season, and joining the Irish province
Ulster for three seasons.
Return to rugby league
Midway through 2010's
Super League XV
The 2010 Super League season (known as the Engage Super League XV for sponsorship reasons) was the 15th season of the European rugby league football competition, Super League. Fourteen teams competed for the League Leaders' Shield over 27 rounds ( ...
, Schifcofske signed with the Crusaders, returning to rugby league. After
Michael Witt suffered a season-ending knee injury, Schifcofske became the team's primary goal kicker. In 20 appearances for the Crusaders in 2010, he scored a team-high 120 points.
Awards and honors
*State of Origin: Played 2 games in total for Queensland (2002 & 2006)
*
2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
Dally M Fullback of the Year.
References
External links
Ulster profile*
– Rugby League Tables
Clinton Schifcofske QLD Reds Player ProfileClinton Schifcofske Raiders Player Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schifcofske, Clinton
1975 births
Living people
Australian people of Polish descent
Australian rugby union players
Canberra Raiders captains
Canberra Raiders players
Crusaders Rugby League players
Parramatta Eels players
People from Moranbah
Prime Minister's XIII players
Queensland Reds players
Queensland Rugby League State of Origin players
Rugby league fullbacks
Rugby league players from Queensland
Rugby union players from Queensland
South Queensland Crushers players
Ulster Rugby players
Australian rugby league players
Australian expatriate sportspeople in Northern Ireland
Expatriate rugby union players in Northern Ireland
Australian expatriate rugby union players