Justin Poore (born 26 January 1985) 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. A

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 ...

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 ...

representative forward, he played in Australia's NRL for the St. George Illawarra Dragons and

Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League. The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and their ...

before moving to England to play for the

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, betw ...

and the

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challen ...

in the Super League.

Background

Born in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

, Western Australia, While attending Endeavour Sports High School in 2002, Poore was selected to play for the Australian Schoolboys team. Poore played his junior football for the Helensburgh Tigers before being signed by the St. George Illawarra Dragons.

Professional playing career

St. George Illawarra Dragons

In round 1 of the

2004 NRL season The 2004 NRL season (also known as the 2004 Telstra Premiership due to sponsorship from Telstra) was the 97th season of professional rugby league football in Australia, and the seventh run by the National Rugby League. Fifteen clubs competed dur ...

Poore made his premiership début for St. George Illawarra against 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 August 2008, Poore was named in the 46-man Kangaroos preliminary squad 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 ...

. After the 2008 NRL season, Poore and a group of NRL players led by former first-grader and ABC commentator

Paul Osborne Paul Anthony Osborne (born 30 September 1966) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer, administrator and politician. He played first-grade rugby league for the St George Dragons and Canberra Raiders before serving as a ...

travelled to Rwanda on behalf of the Hope Rwanda charity, where they helped build 60 cement-rendered homes and a community hall. Poore planned to raise more money for the charity and travel to Rwanda again after the 2009 season. In May 2009, Poore was selected for

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...

in the annual

City vs Country A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

match. In May 2009, Poore was named to make his Origin début for

in the opening match of the

2009 State of Origin series The 2009 State of Origin series was the 28th time that the annual three-game series between the Queensland and New South Wales representative rugby league football teams was played entirely under 'state of origin' selection rules. Queensland won ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Victoria. He was one of only four New South Wales players who played in all 3 games of the 2009 series, the others being

Jarryd Hayne Jarryd Lee Hayne (born 15 February 1988) is a former professional rugby league footballer who also briefly played American football and rugby union sevens. Hayne began his career in 2006 as a er for the Parramatta Eels, winning the NRL's Dal ...

Kurt Gidley Kurt Geoffrey Gidley (born 7 June 1982) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Warrington Wolves in the Super League. An Australia international and New South Wales State of Origin representative an ...

and Ben Creagh. Poore made 21 appearances for St. George in his final season at the club as they won the 2009 Minor Premiership but crashed out of the finals after losing both games against Parramatta and 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 c ...

. Poore played 128 games in total for St. George before signing a three-year contract with the

starting in 2010.

Parramatta Eels

At the start of the

2010 NRL season The 2010 NRL season was the 103rd season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the thirteenth run by the National Rugby League. The season commenced on 12 March and ended with the Grand Final, played on 3 Octobe ...

, Poore was one of Parramatta's high-profile recruits who was expected to bolster the club's forward pack. Poore made a total of 23 appearances for the club in 2010 as they missed out on the finals after finishing a disappointing 12th. Poore was forced to sit out for the majority of the

2011 NRL season The 2011 NRL season was the 104th season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the fourteenth and last run by the National Rugby League's partnership committee of the Australian Rugby League and News Ltd. The N ...

due to a knee injury. He returned in round 22 against South Sydney which ended in a 56–6 loss at

ANZ Stadium ANZ may refer to: People * Anz (musician), a British DJ and electronic musician Banks * ANZ (bank), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, the fourth-largest bank in Australia ** ANZ Bank New Zealand, the largest bank in New Zealand * ...

. Parramatta narrowly avoided the wooden spoon that year and defeated the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

in the final game of the season to avoid finishing last. In the

2012 NRL season The 2012 NRL season was the 105th season of professional rugby league club competition in Australia, and the first run by the newly formed Australian Rugby League Commission. The main competition, called the 2012 NRL Telstra Premiership due to spon ...

, Poore and Parramatta endured a horror season as the club finished last on the table for the first time since 1972. At the end of 2012, Poore was released by the club.

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats

In October 2012, Poore signed a two-year contract with the

of the Super League starting in 2013. Poore signed a two-year deal with

in October 2013.

Hull Kingston Rovers

Poore commenced playing with Hull KR in the 2014 Super League season. He retired at the end of the season due to a knee injury.

References

External links

2012 Parramatta Eels profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poore, Justin 1985 births Living people Australian rugby league players Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Country New South Wales Origin rugby league team players Hull Kingston Rovers players New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players Parramatta Eels players People educated at Endeavour Sports High School Rugby league players from Perth, Western Australia Rugby league props St. George Illawarra Dragons players Wakefield Trinity players