Justin O'Neill (born 4 April 1991) 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 for the Melbourne Storm and North Queensland Cowboys 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 ...

and

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at international level. He represented the NRL All Stars 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 , established_ ...

in the State of Origin series and won premierships with the Storm in

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and the Cowboys in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

Background

O'Neill was born in Warwick, Queensland,

, and is of

Ni-Vanuatu Ni-Vanuatu (informally abbreviated Ni-Van) is a large group of closely related Melanesians, Melanesian ethnic groups native to the island country of Vanuatu. As such, ''Ni-Vanuatu'' are a mixed ethnolinguistic group with a shared ethnogenesis tha ...

descent through his mother. He attended The Cathedral School in

Townsville, Queensland Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

, He played his junior football for the Hughenden Hawks and

Townsville Brothers The Townsville & Districts Blackhawks are an Australian semi-professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, Queensland. They compete in Queensland's top rugby league competition, the Queensland Cup. The club was admitted to the Que ...

, before being signed by the Melbourne Storm. As a child, O'Neill held the Australian under-15

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record with a mark of 7.60m.

Playing career

Melbourne Storm

In September 2007, O'Neill re-signed with the Storm on a 2-year contract. In November 2008, O'Neill played for the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

rugby league team that toured

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and the

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. In 2009, he was selected for the Queensland under-18 team. He was a member of the Storm's

S. G. Ball Cup The S. G. Ball Cup is a junior rugby league football competition played predominantly in New South Wales, between teams made up of players aged under 19. Teams from Canberra and Melbourne (Victoria Thunderbolts) also participate. Prior to the C ...

team in early 2009, before moving into their NYC team until 2010. On 4 October 2009, O'Neill scored a try in the Storm's 2009 NYC Grand Final win over the Wests Tigers. O'Neill made his NRL debut for the Storm on 14 June 2010 against the Sydney Roosters. He scored a hat-trick of tries against the North Queensland Cowboys in round 15. In October 2010, O'Neill was selected for the Junior Kangaroos in their two-match series against the Junior Kiwis. He scored a try in both matches. On 7 May 2012, O'Neill re-signed with the Storm on a 2-year contract. He scored a try in the Storm's

2012 NRL Grand Final The 2012 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2012 NRL season. Played on Sunday, 30 September at Sydney's ANZ Stadium between the minor premiers Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and the second-placed Melbourne Sto ...

win over the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs on 30 September. In September 2012, O'Neill was named in

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...

's train-on squad for their match against

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on 20 October 2012. O'Neill did not play in the match, though some sources indicate that he did. He was a trainer for Vanuatu in their match against the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

in October 2013. In February 2013, O'Neill played for the NRL All Stars in the

2013 All Stars match The 2013 All Stars Match was the fourth of the annual representative exhibition matches played between the Indigenous All Stars and the NRL All Stars team which was held on 9 February 2013. Once again the players were selected through a voti ...

. On 22 February 2013, he played in the Storm's

2013 World Club Challenge The 2013 World Club Challenge (PROBIZ World Club Challenge for sponsorship purposes) was the fourteenth consecutive annual World Club Challenge and was contested by Super League XVII champions, Leeds Rhinos and 2012 NRL Premiers, the Melbourne St ...

win over the

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was formed in 1870 as Leeds St John's and play in the Super League, the top tier of English rugby league. They have played home matches at Headi ...

. O'Neill re-signed with the Storm on a 3-year contract on 14 June 2013. On 20 December 2014, O'Neill signed with the North Queensland Cowboys on a 2-year contract, after being released by the Storm.

North Queensland Cowboys

O'Neill made his club debut for the Cowboys in round 1 of the

2015 NRL season The 2015 NRL season was the 108th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 18th season of the National Rugby League in Australia and New Zealand. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, which was followed ...

against the Sydney Roosters, scoring a try. On 4 October 2015, O'Neill was a member of the Cowboys'

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 ...

winning side. He scored a try in his side's 17–16 victory over the Brisbane Broncos. At the end of the year he was named the club's most improved player. On 21 February 2016, he was a member of the Cowboys'

2016 World Club Challenge The 2016 World Club Series (also known as the 2016 Dacia World Club Series due to sponsorship by Dacia) was the second edition of the World Club Series and saw three Super League teams and three National Rugby League (NRL) teams participate. T ...

winning side against the

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. On 1 July 2016, O'Neill re-signed with the Cowboys for a further 2 years, keeping him at the club until the end of the 2018 season. O'Neill made his debut for

in the 2016 State of Origin, playing at centre in all 3 of their matches. He had previously been a member of Queensland's Emerging Origin after being first selected in 2012, and was named as a reserve for Queensland in 2013. On 4 October 2016, O'Neill was selected in

's Four Nations squad. He made his debut in Australia's Round 2 against Scotland where his nation was successful in a 40-point victory. O'Neill retained his spot at Centre in the Round 3 victory against New Zealand where he ran for a game high 203 metres. He would go on to have a try disallowed during the 14–8 win for Australia. He was named 19th man for the final round of the tournament against England. O'Neill was named as the 18th man for the

2017 ANZAC Test The 2017 Anzac Test was a rugby league test match played between Australia and New Zealand at Canberra Stadium. It was the 18th and last Anzac Test played between the two nations since the first was played under the Super League banner in 1997 ...

against New Zealand in May 2017. O'Neill was named at centre for the Queensland Maroons in Game I of the 2017 State of Origin Series. On 1 October, O'Neill started at centre in the Cowboys'

2017 NRL Grand Final The 2017 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2017 National Rugby League season and was played on Sunday October 1 at Sydney's ANZ Stadium. The match was contested between minor premiers the Melbourne Storm and ...

loss to his former club, the Melbourne Storm. In 2018, O'Neill played 21 games for the Cowboys, starting 17 of them at centre and four on the wing, scoring 2 tries. On 16 October 2018, the Cowboys' confirmed that O'Neill had taken up his player option to remain at the club for the 2019 season. In 2019, after being dropped to the

Townsville Blackhawks The Townsville & Districts Blackhawks are an Australian semi-professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, Queensland. They compete in Queensland's top rugby league competition, the Queensland Cup. The club was admitted to the Que ...

earlier in the season, O'Neill returned to first grade in great try scoring form, with eight tries in eight games. In May 2019, despite earlier reports, O'Neill revealed he had actually re-signed with the Cowboys for three seasons, not one. In Round 11 of the

2019 NRL season The 2019 NRL season was the 112th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 22nd season run by the National Rugby League. The Sydney Roosters became the first team to win back-to-back Premierships since the Brisbane Broncos in 1992 ...

, O'Neill suffered a severe spleen injury in the Cowboys' win over the Canberra Raiders, his 100th NRL game for the club. The following morning he was rushed to hospital where it was discovered that two broken ribs had punctured his spleen, causing internal bleeding. He underwent three blood transfusions and spent four days in the

intensive care unit 220px, Intensive care unit An intensive care unit (ICU), also known as an intensive therapy unit or intensive treatment unit (ITU) or critical care unit (CCU), is a special department of a hospital or health care facility that provides intensiv ...

. Upon returning to Townsville, he spent a further six days in hospital after undergoing a second operation on his bowel. In 2020, O'Neill successfully returned from his spleen injury, starting at centre in the Cowboys' Round 1 loss to the Brisbane Broncos. He played 17 games for the Cowboys in 2020, scoring six tries. On 27 August 2021, O'Neill announced his immediate retirement from rugby league due to a chronic knee injury. He played just six games for the Cowboys in his final season with the club.

Achievements and accolades

Team

: Melbourne Storm – Winners *

2015 NRL Grand Final The 2015 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2015 NRL season and was played on Sunday 4 October at Sydney's ANZ Stadium between the Brisbane Broncos and North Queensland Cowboys. North Queensland won the match ...

: North Queensland Cowboys – Winners *

: North Queensland Cowboys – Winners

Statistics

NRL

: ''Statistics are correct to the end of the 2021 season''

International

State of Origin

Personal life

O'Neill and his wife Chantelle have two daughters, Giselle and Kasia. His younger brother, Samsen, played for the Cowboys' NYC side, while his older brother, Paul, has represented

References

External links

North Queensland Cowboys profileNRL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oneill, Justin 1991 births Living people Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league players Australian people of Vanuatuan descent Queensland Rugby League State of Origin players Melbourne Storm players North Queensland Cowboys players NRL All Stars players Mackay Cutters players Junior Kangaroos players Rugby league centres Rugby league wingers Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Queensland Rugby league players from Townsville