David Shillington (born 24 June 1983 in

Brisbane, Queensland Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

) 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 last played for the

Gold Coast Titans The Gold Coast Titans are a professional rugby league football club, based on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australia and New Zealand's national rugby league club competition. The ...

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 ...

. A Queensland State of Origin and Australian international representative prop forward, he previously played for 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 ...

and

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 ...

. Shillington also works as a columnist for ''

The Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in ...

''.

Early and personal life

Shillington has two older brothers and a younger brother. He attended

Padua College, Brisbane Padua College is an independent Roman Catholic boys' primary and high school located in the Brisbane suburb of Kedron, Queensland, Australia. The College is the only school owned and operated by the Franciscan Friars in Australia and only the ...

. Shillington played his junior rugby league for the

Brisbane 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, ...

Playing career

Sydney Roosters

He started his NRL career playing for the

from 2005 until 2008. In April 2008, Shillington was demoted to reserve grade after breaching the club's strict alcohol policy by admitting to going out drinking and turning up late for Monday morning training. He was thought to be eligible to represent

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 ...

for the

2008 Rugby League World Cup The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup since its inauguration in 1954, and the first since the 2000 tournament. The tournament was held in Australia from 26 October, culminating in the final b ...

. Shillington signed a 4-year deal with the

starting in 2009. David Shillington at an Raiders autograph session at Bolton Park

Canberra Raiders

In April 2009, he was named in the preliminary 25-man squad to represent

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 the opening

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 ...

match for 2009. He did not make an appearance for the Maroons until the 3rd game of the series though. At the end of the 2009 season Shillington was selected as part of the Australian squad that travelled to Europe for the

2009 Four Nations The 2009 Rugby League Four Nations tournament (officially known as the Gillette Four Nations due to sponsorship) was the first Rugby League Four Nations since its expansion from the Tri-Nations tournament. Played in England and France over three ...

tournament. He made his debut against England. In December, 2009, Shillington was arrested for drink driving after testing more than twice the legal limit. For the 2010 ANZAC Test, Shillington was selected to play 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 ...

as a prop forward in their victory 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 ...

. Shillington was named the winner of the

Mal Meninga Medal The Mal Meninga Medal is the name of the award that goes to the Canberra Raiders' Player of the Year. The award was named after former Raiders captain and coach, Mal Meninga Malcolm Norman Meninga (; born 8 July 1960) is an Australian profess ...

as the Raiders' player of the year for 2010. In 2011, Shillington was picked in the Australia V New Zealand test played in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

playing off the Bench, before heading to Great Britain for the 2011 Four Nations tournament in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. For the first two games (VS New Zealand & England), Shillington played off the bench wearing the number 16,but in the game VS Wales, he will start at prop (number 8). When Australia played New Zealand in England, Isaac Luke (New Zealand hooker) came in late on Shillington's legs which looked like it would end his Four Nations tournament. He was in doubt played against England at Wembley but did play. For the 2013 State of Origin series Shillington was selected to play in Game I, but after the Blues' win was not retained for Game II.

Gold Coast Titans and retirement

On 25 June 2015, Shillington signed a 2-year contract with the

starting in 2016. Shillington announced his immediate retirement from rugby league on 9 February 2017 due to chronic injuries.

References

External links

Gold Coast Titans profile
*http://www.foxsports.com.au/league/player?id=107749&name=david-shillington&team=55004 *https://web.archive.org/web/20120323005505/http://www.raiders.com.au/default.aspx?s=player-profile-display&id=486&player=david-shillington&team=Raiders *https://web.archive.org/web/20120323005514/http://www.raiders.com.au/default.aspx?s=article-display&id=42239&title=shillington-praises-extra-efforts *http://www.raiders.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&id=42030&title=shillington-named-raiders-‘black-dog'-ambassador *http://www.raiders.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&id=41767&title=replay-shillington's-live-chat-with-fans *https://web.archive.org/web/20120323005642/http://www.raiders.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&id=41739&title=shillington-nominated-for-the-ken-stephen-medal *https://web.archive.org/web/20120323005656/http://www.raiders.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&id=38867&title=david-shillington---raiders-tv-extra *https://web.archive.org/web/20120323005715/http://www.raiders.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&id=38829&title=shillington-a-raider-until-2015 *http://www.raiders.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&id=36209&title=shillington:-we-need-strike-fear-at-home *http://www.nrl.com/telstrapremiership/playerstats/playerprofile/tabid/10898/clubid/2/playerid/329/seasonid/7/default.aspx {{DEFAULTSORT:Shillington, David 1983 births Australian rugby league players Australia national rugby league team players Canberra Raiders players Sydney Roosters players Gold Coast Titans players Prime Minister's XIII players Queensland Rugby League State of Origin players NRL All Stars players Redcliffe Dolphins players Rugby league props Mount Pritchard Mounties players Rugby league second-rows Rugby league players from Brisbane People educated at Padua College (Brisbane) Tweed Heads Seagulls players Living people