Michael Dobson (born 29 May 1986) is an Australian

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 plays for the

Wynnum Manly Seagulls The Wynnum-Manly Seagulls are an Australian rugby league football club based at Kougari Oval, in Brisbane's bayside suburb of Manly West, which neighbours the suburb of Wynnum. They competed in the Brisbane Rugby League from 1951 to 1997. Since ...

in the

Intrust Super Cup The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by four ...

. He primarily plays and . In 2009, he won the prestigious

Albert Goldthorpe Medal The Albert Goldthorpe Medal is an award that has been created by ''Rugby Leaguer & League Express'' to honour the leading players in the Super League and to honour Albert Goldthorpe, who was English rugby league's first superstar at the turn of ...

Background

Born in Junee, New South Wales, Dobson attended Erindale College and played his junior rugby league for the

Junee Diesels The Junee Rugby League Football Club, nicknamed the ''Diesels'', is an Australian rugby league football club based in Junee, New South Wales. Formed in 1926, the club competes in the Group 9 Rugby League competition. The club also has an affili ...

, before being signed by the Canberra Raiders. In 2003 and 2004, Dobson played for the Australian Schoolboys team.

Professional playing career

Catalans Dragons

In 2006, the Canberra Raiders loaned Dobson to French club Catalans Dragons of

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

as a replacement for injured halfback Stacey Jones.

Wigan Warriors

After impressing at the Catalans Dragons, Dobson attracted the attention of several other

clubs, subsequently being signed by the

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors are a professional rugby league club in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the Super League. Formed in 1872 as Wigan Football Club, Wigan was a founding member of the Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby ...

in May 2006. There was some controversy over Dobson's signing for the Wigan Warriors. Under English law, Dobson was not permitted to play in England because he did not have a work permit. However, the Wigan Warriors managed to obtain a work permit for him, albeit in controversial circumstances. When Dobson signed for the Wigan Warriors, they were at the bottom of the

table, 6-points behind the nearest team and heading towards relegation. Dobson's impact at the Wigan Warriors helped the team survive relegation in the 2006 season. In 2006, Dobson was statistically the best goal-kicker in the world with a success rate of 84%, equal to or better than St. Helens' Jamie Lyon, 81% and National Rugby League players Hazem El Masri, 84% and Andrew Johns, 80%. Mick Dobson

Canberra Raiders

At the end of 2006, Dobson rejoined the Canberra Raiders. In 2007, Dobson was the club's leading point-scorer. In April 2008, Dobson signed a -year contract with the Hull Kingston Rovers effective immediately after being released from his Raiders contract. He was also linked to

clubs

Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and were ...

and Harlequins RL.

Hull Kingston Rovers

In 2009, Dobson helped the Hull Kingston Rovers into fourth place in only their third

season. His individual performances saw him become the second winner of the

which is presented by ''

Rugby Leaguer & League Express ''Rugby Leaguer & League Express'' is a weekly newspaper published every Monday in the United Kingdom. Other rugby league titles published by League Publications Ltd include the monthly magazine ' Rugby League World' and the annual 'Rugby League ...

''. Dobson started the 2010 season with a try and 5 goals in a 30–12 win over

Salford City Reds The Salford Red Devils are a professional rugby league club in Salford, Greater Manchester, England, who play in the Super League. Formed in 1873, they have won six Championships and one Challenge Cup. Their home ground since 2012 has been t ...

. In 2013, Dobson played for the

Exiles Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. On 27 June 2013, Dobson signed a 1-year contract with the Newcastle Knights starting in 2013 to return to the National Rugby League in Australia.

Newcastle Knights

Dobson started playing for the Knights in the

2014 NRL season The 2014 NRL season was the 107th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 17th season of the National Rugby League in Australia and New Zealand. The season started in New Zealand, for the Auckland Nines, replacing the Rugby Leagu ...

. Dobson played for the Knights in the inaugural

Auckland Nines The NRL Nines is a rugby league nines competition, normally held during the NRL preseason each year. It was initially held in Auckland, New Zealand, between 2014 and 2017 before going on hiatus. Returning in 2020, hosting duties moved to Perth ...

series prior to the 2014 NRL season in February 2014. With an injury to the Newcastle Knights regular Jarrod Mullen, Dobson made his top-grade début for the Knights in their 30–8 defeat by Penrith Panthers. Dobson made 25 tackles in the game, the third highest on the day for the Knights. Dobson also played against his former club Canberra Raiders (in a 20–26 defeat), Melbourne Storm (in a 28–20 defeat), Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks (in a 30–0 victory), North Queensland Cowboys (in a 28–2 defeat) and Brisbane Broncos (in a 48–6 defeat). On 21 September 2014, Dobson was named at in the 2014 New South Wales Cup Team of the Year.

Salford Red Devils

On 22 May 2014, it was reported that the Salford Red Devils of the

, had recruited Dobson for the 2015 season. In the match report following Salford's 4–25 defeat by the

, it was reported "Salford will have re-inforcements next season with former Hull Kingston Rovers player Michael Dobson arriving from Australia after a far from happy time 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 ...

." On 16 June 2014, Dobson officially signed a 4-year contract with the Red Devils starting in 2015.

References

External links

Salford Red Devils profileMichael Dobson Wigan Career Page
on the Wigan RL Fansite. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dobson, Michael 1986 births Living people Australian rugby league players Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Australian expatriate sportspeople in France Canberra Raiders players Catalans Dragons players Hull Kingston Rovers captains Hull Kingston Rovers players Newcastle Knights players Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from Junee Salford Red Devils captains Salford Red Devils players Wigan Warriors players