Michael Russo (born 17 October 1983), 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 in the 2000s for

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm are a rugby league club based in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia that participates in the National Rugby League. The first fully professional rugby league team based in the state, the Storm entered the competition in 1998. ...

Early life

Russo was educated at

St Joseph's College, Nudgee , motto_translation = A Sign of Faith , location = Boondall, Queensland , country = Australia , coordinates = , other_name = St. Joseph's Nudgee College , former_name ...

, where he represented 2001 Australian Schoolboys. He played junior rugby league for the Maroochydore Swans and Nambour Crushers. Moving to Sydney, he played junior representative football for

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 ...

, but was homesick and returned to Brisbane to join the

Norths Devils The Northern Suburbs Devils, or North Brisbane Devils, or often simply referred to as Norths for short, are a rugby league club representing the northern suburbs of Brisbane, Australia. The team colours are sky blue, navy blue and gold. They pl ...

, where he was named Devils Colts Player of the Year.

Playing career

He made his

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 ...

debut in round 2 of the

2002 NRL season The 2002 NRL season was the 95th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the fifth to be run by the National Rugby League. The season was affected by the competition-leading Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs' salary cap breach fi ...

for the

against the

Sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimorp ...

. He was awarded 2002 Melbourne Storm Rookie of the Year. In April 2002, Russo and Melbourne teammate

Marty Turner Marty Turner (born 7 May 1981), is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s. He played for the Melbourne Storm from 2002 to 2003 and Oldham RLFC ( Heritage No. 1159) in England. Making his first grade r ...

were involved in a serious car accident near Geelong, returning from a surfing trip. Turner suffered fractured ribs, a ruptured spleen, severe concussion, and cuts and bruises. Russo escaped with an injured elbow and was able to return to play in Round 6 where he scored a late try to seal a 12-4 win over

St George Illawarra Dragons The St. George Illawarra Dragons is an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League since 1999 after a joint- ...

. Released by Melbourne at the end of the 2003 season, Russo joined

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 league ...

in 2004, without adding to his nine NRL games. Constant injuries cruelled Russo's rugby league career, retiring after the 2004 season. He did play one last game, representing

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

in an Ionio Cup match against

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

in October 2004. Russo was sent off for a high tackle in what was his final game of rugby league.

References

External links

Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Russo, Michael 1983 births Living people Australian rugby league players Italy national rugby league team players Melbourne Storm players Rugby league players from New South Wales Rugby league second-rows