Kyle O'Donnell (born 9 October 1990) 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. He played at and and played for the

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, th ...

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 ...

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 ...

. He is the younger brother of

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

international

Luke O'Donnell Luke O'Donnell (born 22 October 1980) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative forward, he previously ...

Playing career

Born in

Nowra, New South Wales Nowra is a city in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located south-southwest of the state capital of Sydney (about as the crow flies). As of the 2021 census, Nowra has an estimated population of 22,584. Situated in th ...

, O'Donnell played his junior football for the Greystanes Devils, he attended Primary school at Mount Pritchard East in Sydney's south-western suburbs. In 2008, O'Donnell played for the NSW CCC side. He was then signed by the

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Cronulla, in the Sutherland Shire, Southern Sydney, New South Wales. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugby leag ...

. O'Donnell played for the Sharks'

NYC New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

team in 2009 and 2010, scoring 7 tries in 30 games. In the NYC, he played in the s and on the , occasionally appearing in the back-row. On 27 June 2010, O'Donnell signed a 2-year contract with the

starting in 2011. Knights coach

Rick Stone Rick Stone (born 14 February 1967) is a professional rugby league football coach and former player. He has coached the Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League, the Huddersfield Giants in the Super League, the Sydney Roosters in the NRL ...

said O'Donnell was player with real potential. In 2010, O'Donnell was selected in the

Junior Kangaroos The Junior Kangaroos side represents Australia in the sport of rugby league. They are commonly known as the Junior Kangaroos, after the native marsupial of that name. Since 2019, they are an under-23 side, with players selected from the NRL. The ...

squad to play the Junior Kiwis. In 2011, O'Donnell played for the Knights'

NSW Cup The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserv ...

team, the

Central Coast Centurions The Central Coast Roosters, formerly Central Coast Centurions, are an Australian rugby league football club (previously known as the Rip or Storm) based in the Central Coast (New South Wales), Central Coast region in New South Wales. They compe ...

, playing mainly in the . He moved to in 2012 with success, making the New South Wales Residents representative team. In the same week as playing for Residents team, O'Donnell made his NRL debut for the Knights against the

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional Australian rugby league club based in Redfern, a suburb of inner-southern Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and are one of nine existing tea ...

in Round 18 of the 2012 season after initially being named 18th man. Just 7 minutes into his debut, O'Donnell was knocked out from clashing heads with

Sam Burgess Samuel Burgess (born 14 December 1988) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played as a or forward in the 2000s and 2010s. He played in England for the Bradford Bulls in the Super League and in Australia for the Sout ...

and had to be assisted off the field with concussion. On 2 August 2012, O'Donnell signed a 2-year contract with the

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith that competes in the NRL. The team is based west of the centre of Sydney, at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Penrit ...

starting in 2013. In 2012, O'Donnell was selected on the bench for the NSW Residents team to play the QLD Residents at

Suncorp Stadium 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 ...

as a curtain raiser to the Game 3,

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 ...

decider. On 18 November 2013, O'Donnell signed a 1-year contract with the

starting in 2014 after not being able to break into the Panthers' NRL team. While at Canberra, O'Donnell played for the

Mount Pritchard Mounties The Mounties Rugby League Football Club (sponsored by Mounties Group) is an Australian rugby league football club based in Mount Pritchard, New South Wales formed in 1927. They currently play in the NSW Cup, Ron Massey Cup and Sydney Shield. ...

in the

before retiring at the end of the 2015 season.

References

External links

Canberra Raiders profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Odonnell, Kyle 1990 births Living people Australian people of Irish descent Australian rugby league players Canberra Raiders players Central Coast Centurions players Junior Kangaroos players Mount Pritchard Mounties players Newcastle Knights players Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Nowra, New South Wales Rugby league props Rugby league second-rows