Jonathan Docking 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 who played in the 1980s and 1990s.

Playing career

A Cronulla junior, Docking played for the Sharks for eight seasons between 1984 and 1991, debuting as a 20-year-old. He played over 160 first grade games and scored 57 first grade tries during his career. Docking played his junior career as a , where he was given a scholarship to the Sharks as a schoolboy in 1982. However, Docking was soon shifted by Cronulla to the position where he would develop into one of the club's mainstays from the day he led Cronulla to a victory over three-time premiers

Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...

in his fourth appearance in first grade. Docking was alongside

Gary Belcher Gary Belcher (born 28 May 1962) is an Australian rugby league football commentator and former player. An Australian international and Queensland State of Origin representative, he played club football in the Brisbane Rugby League premiership f ...

and

Garry Jack Garry Jack (born 14 March 1961) is an Australian former rugby league footballer and coach. He was a representative in the Australian national team and star player with the Balmain Tigers. Jack was a for the Tigers during the late 1980s, and ea ...

the best broken-field runner in the

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 ...

for most of his career, with a highlight being his brilliant display against 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 ...

in a play-off for fifth in 1989. Docking was chosen to represent New South Wales in one match during each of 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 Ov ...

series of 1987 and 1988. However, at the close of the 1991 season, Docking was told by the Sharks that his services were no longer required due to the club's financial problems,Weidler, Danny; 'Troubled Cronulla Dump Players', ''Sydney Morning Herald'', 28 August 1991, p. 61 and although he was only 28, no other Winfield Cup club sought Docking's services for 1992.

References

Australian rugby league players Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks players New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players New South Wales City Origin rugby league team players Living people People from the Sutherland Shire Rugby league players from Sydney Rugby league fullbacks 1964 births People educated at De La Salle College, Cronulla {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1960s-stub