Ron Costello (born 1942) was an Australian 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 1960s and 1970s. He played for the

Western Suburbs Magpies The Western Suburbs Magpies (legal name: Western Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club Ltd) are an Australian rugby league football club based in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Formed in 1908, Wests, as they are commonly r ...

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilita ...

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 ...

and for the

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 Au ...

national side. From

Shellharbour Shellharbour (also known as Shellharbour Village) is a suburb located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. It also gives its name to the local government area, City of Shellharbour, and its central business district, Shellhar ...

on the South Coast of

, Costello went to Shellharbour Public School (1948–1954), and then went to the

in Sydney and played lower grades in 1964-1965. He was signed by Collegians Wollongong RLFC (Illawarra Division) in 1967 by then coach

Kevin Smyth Kevin Smyth (born November 22, 1973) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played 58 games in the National Hockey League. He played with the Hartford Whalers. He spent parts of three seasons with the Hartford Whalers between 1 ...

(a former Kangaroo 1963). Collegians won the Club Championship and First Grade Premiership that season with Costello representing New South Wales. Costello played at Collegians in 1968 and in 1969 he was selected to play for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, becoming Kangaroo No.430,ARL Annual Report 2005, page 54 and toured New Zealand and appeared in one test. He was then signed by

and played there for three seasons between 1970-1972. In 1970 he represented Australia again in the third Ashes test against Great Britain. At the end of that year he was selected to play in the World Cup. His final test appearance was against New Zealand in 1971. He returned to the Illawarra Competition in 1973 with the Port Kembla Club. He finished his career at Shellharbour in 1980 where it started. Costello was named in the

Illawarra Rugby League The Illawarra Rugby League is a rugby league competition in Wollongong, NSW. It is one of the oldest rugby league competitions in Australia, founded in 1911 with five clubs (Dapto, Helensburgh, Mount Keira, Unanderra and Wollongong). The area pr ...

Team of the Century in 2010.

References

Sources

* Whiticker, Alan & Hudson, Glen (2006) ''The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players'', Gavin Allen Publishing, Sydney 1942 births Living people Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league players Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs players Rugby league players from New South Wales Western Suburbs Magpies players {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1940s-stub