Dale Shearer (born 25 July 1965), also known by the
nickname
A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...
of "Rowdy", 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 112 ...
footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. A
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
, established_ ...
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 Oval ...
and
Australian international representative of
Aboriginal heritage, he played club football in Queensland, New South Wales and England. His playing career included a
NSWRL Premiership
The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia and contributor to today's National Rugby League. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League (initially named the New Sout ...
win with
Manly-Warringah
The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...
in 1987 and a
Rugby League World Cup
The Rugby League World Cup is an international rugby league tournament contested by the top national men's representative teams. The tournament is administered by the International Rugby League and was first held in France in 1954, which was ...
Final win in 1988. Ten years after his retirement, Shearer was still the all-time top try-scorer in
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 Oval ...
and he was named on the wing of the Indigenous Australian team of the century.
Shearer is a captivating speaker who shares his experiences as a professional athlete, the life challenges he has faced, mental health, and overcoming personal adversity.
Shearer is a passionate advocate for cancer awareness after losing his wife and father to cancer.
Biography
Shearer was born in
St George, Queensland
St George is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Balonne, Queensland, Australia. It is the administrative centre for the Shire of Balonne. In the , St George had a population of 3,048 people.
Geography
The town is due west of Brisban ...
.
Playing career
1980s
At the age of 18, Shearer caught the attention of many people during his time at the Queensland club
Sarina Crocodiles
Sarina is a rural town and coastal locality in the Mackay Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Sarina had a population of 5,522 people.
Geography
Sarina lies just inland of the east coast of Queensland, south of the city of Mackay, and a ...
in the
Winfield State League
The Winfield State League was a rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It was administered by the Queensland Rugby League. The competition was the QRL's parallel to the NSWRL's Amco Cup knockout and ran alongside the Brisbane ...
with some impressive performances. Shearer was a member of Mackay's second successful
Foley Shield
The Foley Shield is a rugby league competition in North Queensland administered by the Queensland Rugby League.
Prior to 1948 an inter-town competition known as the Carlton Cup was contested in North Queensland. This was revamped, and renamed in ...
team in 1984, as well as representing
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
, established_ ...
in a match against
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
.
The
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...
coach and
rugby league Immortal,
Bob Fulton
Robert Fulton (1 December 1947 – 23 May 2021), also nicknamed "Bozo", was an Australian international rugby league footballer, coach and later commentator. Fulton played, coached, selected for and has commentated on the game with great succe ...
, was quick to sign the 19-year-old before anyone else prior to the
1985 NSWRL season
The 1985 New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the seventy-eighth season of professional rugby league football in Australia. Thirteen teams competed for the J J Giltinan Shield and Winfield Cup during the season, which culminated in a grand ...
. Shearer made his debut for Manly in round 1 of the season against
Penrith, before going on to make his
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 Oval ...
début for Queensland in the same year. Playing mostly on the wing or in the centres, Shearer played 22 games in his début season for Manly, scoring 8 tries. It would prove to be the most number of club games he would play in a season in his 14-year career. He scored his first try for Manly at their home ground,
Brookvale Oval
Brookvale Oval (also known by the commercial sponsorship name 4 Pines Park) is a sporting ground located within Brookvale Park at Brookvale, New South Wales, Australia. The ground is owned by Northern Beaches Council and is primarily used by th ...
, in their 24-4 win over the
reigning premiers 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 o ...
in round 3.
He made his test début on the wing for
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
in 1986 against New Zealand at
Carlaw Park
Carlaw Park was a multi-purpose stadium in Parnell, New Zealand, Parnell, a central suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It neighboured the Auckland Domain's Northern end. It was primarily used for rugby league and had a peak spectator capacity of aro ...
in
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
, scoring a try on debut. Though an injury suffered in the game saw him unavailable for the
final two tests against New Zealand at the Sydney Cricket Ground and
Lang Park
Lang Park, also known as Brisbane Football Stadium, by the sponsored name Suncorp Stadium, and nicknamed: 'The Cauldron', is a multi-purpose stadium in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Milton. The current facility co ...
in Brisbane. His good form for Manly, Queensland and Australia saw him selected on the
1986 Kangaroo Tour The 1986 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France was the sixteenth Kangaroo tour in which the Australian national rugby league team (known as the Winfield Kangaroos due to sponsorship) plays a number of tour matches against British and French te ...
where he played 13 games on tour, including two tests against
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
and two against
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, scoring 12 tries. He scored a record four tries in the second test against France in the last match of the tour, in a then record 52–0 win.
Although played at either fullback or in the centres for Manly by Fulton, Shearer was picked on the wing for both Queensland and Australia in 1987, helping the Maroon's to regain the
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 Oval ...
shield from
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 ...
, and in Australia's shock 6–13 loss to New Zealand at Lang Park. He was Manly's starting fullback in their 18-8
Winfield Cup
The Winfield Cup was an Australian rugby league trophy awarded to the winner of the New South Wales Rugby League premiership (NSWRL) Grand Final from 1982 to 1994, and then to the winner of the newly-founded Australian Rugby League (ARL) Grand Fin ...
grand final
Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...
win over the
Canberra Raiders
The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby ...
in the last ever grand final played at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 1987. Manly had finished the season as minor premiers with a 20-5-1 record (which included a 12-game winning streak), with Shearer playing 20 games (14 at fullback and 6 in the centres) and scoring a career high 13 tries to be the club's leading try scorer for the season. Following the grand final victory he travelled with Manly to England for the
1987 World Club Challenge
The 1987 World Club Challenge (also known as the 1987 Foster's World Club Challenge due to sponsorship by brewers, Foster's) was the second game of its kind to be played between Britain's and Australia's domestic rugby league champion clubs. Ch ...
against the English champions,
Wigan
Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...
, at
Central Park
Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...
.
In the following off-season he also played 14 games in the championship-winning
Widnes team in England during the
1987–88 RFL championship. Shearer played for Manly until 1989
1990s
Shearer joined the
Brisbane Broncos
The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite com ...
. He was selected to play for Queensland in all three games 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 ...
at centre. Shearer was the
1990 Brisbane Broncos season
The 1990 Brisbane Broncos season was the third in the club's history. They competed in the NSWRL's 1990 Winfield Cup premiership and again improved on their previous year, finishing the regular season in second position before going on to come w ...
's goal kicker. He was selected to go on the
1990 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France
The 1990 Kangaroo Tour was the seventeenth Kangaroo Tour, where the Australian national rugby league team (known as the Castlemaine XXXX, XXXX Kangaroos due to sponsorship reasons) travelled to Europe and played eighteen matches against British a ...
. Shearer was selected to play for Queensland from the interchange bench in the
1991 State of Origin series
The 1991 State of Origin series saw the tenth time the annual three-match State of Origin series between the New South Wales and Queensland representative rugby league teams was played entirely under 'state of origin' selection rules. It was nota ...
' 2nd and 3rd games. He was then selected to play for Australia in the first match of the
1991 Trans-Tasman Test series on the wing.
Shearer then joined the
Gold Coast Seagulls
The Gold Coast Chargers were a professional rugby league club which played in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership from 1988 to 1994, the Australian Rugby League premiership from 1995 to 1997, and the National Rugby League premiership ...
. He was selected as Queensland's fullback for all three games of the
1992 State of Origin series
The 1992 State of Origin series saw the 11th time that the annual three-game series between the New South Wales and Queensland representative rugby league football teams was contested entirely under "state of origin" selection rules. It was the ...
. He played for Queensland at fullback in games 2 and 3 of the
1993 State of Origin series
The 1993 State of Origin series was the 12th year that the annual best-of-three series of rugby league football matches between the Queensland and New South Wales representative teams was contested under 'state of origin' selection rules. Queen ...
. Shearer was Australia's fullback and goal kicker in all three matches of the
1993 Trans-Tasman Test series. He played his last match for Australia in 1993. Shearer then joined the
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 ...
. He was selected to play for Queensland at in the
1995 State of Origin series
The 1995 State of Origin series was the 14th annual three-game series between the Queensland and New South Wales representative rugby league teams. Due to the Australian Rugby League's ongoing conflicts with Super League, they ruled that no Super ...
. He played his last game for Queensland in 1996. Shearer later joined the
Sydney Roosters
The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby league, Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won ...
. The
1998 North Queensland Cowboys season was Shearer's last.
Post-playing
In 2000 he 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 "outstanding achievement in rugby league". In August, 2008, Shearer was named at wing in the ''Indigenous Team of the Century'', joining other legends such as
Eric Simms,
Steve Renouf
Steven "Pearl" Renouf (born 8 June 1970) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. He was known as one of the sport's greatest s. Renouf set numerous records for the Brisbane Broncos ...
,
Lionel Morgan,
Laurie Daley
Laurie William Daley AM (born 20 October 1969), also known by the nicknames of "Lozza" and "Loz", is an Australian professional rugby league football coach and a former player who played as a and in the 1980s and 1990s.
He represented Aus ...
,
Greg Inglis
Gregory Paul Inglis (born 15 January 1987), also known by the nickname of "G.I.", is a retired Australian professional rugby league footballer. His regular playing positions were Centre, Fullback, Five-eighth and Wing.
From 2011 to 2019 he pl ...
,
Jonathan Thurston,
Arthur Beetson
Arthur Henry "Artie" Beetson OAM (21 January 1945 – 1 December 2011 ,
Cliff Lyons
Cliff Lyons (born 19 October 1961) is an indigenous Australian former international rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. A Clive Churchill Medalllist and two-time Dally M Medallist, he made 309 first-grade appearances wit ...
and
John Ferguson in the team.
Shearer was critically injured in a car crash at
Peregian Springs on 21 February 2009. The crash came one year after the death from cancer of his wife Delyse.
In 2010 Shearer faced bankruptcy when ordered to repay approximately $1.5m to former State of Origin teammate
Adrian Lam
Adrian Lam (born 25 August 1970) is a Papua New Guinean professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of the Super League Club Leigh Leopards (was Leigh Centurions), and a former rugby league footballer.
He played for the Sydney Rooste ...
for an outstanding loan which dated back to 2005.
References
External links
Dale Shearer at fogs.com.au
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shearer, Dale
1965 births
Living people
Australian rugby league players
Australian people of Scottish descent
Australian expatriate sportspeople in England
Brisbane Broncos players
Gamilaraay
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles players
North Queensland Cowboys players
Gold Coast Chargers players
Sydney Roosters players
South Queensland Crushers players
Indigenous Australian rugby league players
Australia national rugby league team players
Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal
Queensland Rugby League State of Origin players
Rugby league five-eighths
Rugby league centres
Rugby league fullbacks
Rugby league wingers
Rugby league players from Ipswich, Queensland
Rugby league players from Mackay, Queensland
Widnes Vikings players