Ryan Cross (footballer)
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Ryan Cross (born 6 October 1979) is a former Rugby Union footballer for Racing Metro 92 after signing from USA Perpignan in the French Top 14. He previously played for the Sydney Roosters in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition, the Western Force and the NSW Waratahs in
Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...
and the Australia national rugby union team.


Early life

Son of former professional rugby league footballer Paul Cross, a Coogee Randwick Wombats junior who played on the for the club in the 1964 and 1965 seasons, Ryan was a product of Waverley College, and was a member of the Australian Schools side in both 1996 and 1997, some of his teammates being future Wallabies Matt Dunning, Adam Freier, David Lyons, George Smith, Phil Waugh and
Craig Wing Craig Wing (born 26 December 1979), also known by the nickname of "Wingy", is an Australian-born former professional rugby league and rugby union footballer. He began his career in rugby league, playing for the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the S ...
. But he decided to switch codes and joined the Sydney Roosters rugby league club. His brother Clay is an international shot put athlete.


Rugby league career

Cross made his first-grade debut on 17 April 1998, scoring two tries against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles. After a promising start to his league career, including an appearance at centre in the 2000 NRL Grand Final, the Roosters' first in 20 years, he had two serious leg injuries. A broken leg saw him miss much of the
2001 NRL season The 2001 NRL season was the 94th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the fourth run by the National Rugby League. Also called the 2001 Telstra Premiership (due to sponsorship from Telstra Corporation) it was contested b ...
. Just a few matches into 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 ...
he suffered a major knee injury that kept him out for the remainder of that year. That season, Sydney Roosters won the Premiership, their first in 27 years. Cross returned in the
2003 NRL season The 2003 NRL premiership was the 96th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the sixth run by the National Rugby League. Fifteen teams competed, with the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles returning in place of their failed joint ...
, finishing as the club's leading try-scorer. He played at centre in the Roosters' loss to the Panthers in the
2003 NRL Grand Final The 2003 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding match of the 2003 NRL season. In what was a contest of Sydney's east versus west, defending premiers the Sydney Roosters played against minor premiers the Penrith Panthers. The ...
. In 2004 Cross was chosen to represent City Origin. He then went on to play for the Roosters at centre in their loss to cross-Sydney rivals the Bulldogs in the
2004 NRL Grand Final The 2004 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2004 NRL season. It was contested by the Sydney Roosters, who had finished the regular season in 1st place, and the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, who had finished ...
. In 2005 Cross was again chosen to represent City Origin. He was suspended for six weeks for eye-gouging Parramatta's
Glenn Morrison Glenn Adam Morrison (born 28 May 1976), is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and coach. He played for the Parramatta Eels, the Balmain Tigers, the North Sydney Bears and the North Queensland Cowboys in the National Rug ...
in a match which the Roosters won 12–8. His absence proved costly for the Roosters as they just missed the finals that year. Cross was named the
2005 Sydney Roosters season This 2005 Sydney Roosters season was the 98th in the club's history. They competed in the NRL's 2005 Telstra Premiership The 2005 NRL season was the 98th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the eighth run by the Natio ...
player of the year. In June 2006, after a period of speculation and rumour, Cross signed a two-year deal with the Australian Rugby Union and went to Perth to play for the new
Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...
side, the Western Force. Cross left the Roosters as the fifth-highest try scorer in the club's history, with 85 tries from his 143 matches. He also played in three losing Grand Finals for the club.


Rugby union career

Cross made his debut
Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...
with the Western Force on 2 February 2007, against the Highlanders. He went on to play every match that season and scored three tries. After an outstanding
2008 Super 14 season The 2008 Super 14 season started in February 2008 with pre-season matches held from mid-January. It finished on 31 May, when the Crusaders won their seventh Super Rugby title with a 20–12 victory over the Waratahs in front of the Crusaders' ...
, in which he won The West Australian/Rosendorff Emirates Western Force Player of the Year Award, Cross was called up for national duty by new Wallabies coach Robbie Deans. He scored his first Wallaby try against France at the Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, in his second test on 5 July 2008, having come on as a Second-Half replacement. He followed this with another try later on in the game, both came from Matt Giteau passes. Ryan Cross got his full test debut against New Zealand on 26 July in place of the injured Stirling Mortlock. He scored the first try which contributed to the 34–19 victory over the All Blacks. In 2011 Cross signed with the NSW Waratahs and played in 15 matches during the
2011 Super Rugby season The 2011 Super Rugby season was the first season of the new 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition, which involved teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Including its past iterations as Super 12 and Super 14, this was the 16t ...
. After playing off the bench in the first few matches, Cross then played the remaining matches as the regular starting centre, including the semi-final loss to the
Auckland Blues The Blues (known as the Auckland Blues from 1996 to 2000) is a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Auckland, who play in the Super Rugby competition. Like New Zealand's four other Super Rugby teams, the Blues were established by ...
in Auckland. At the conclusion of the 2011 Super Rugby season Cross signed for USA Perpignan in the French Top 14. The 3-month contract was cover for centres
David Marty David Marty (born 30 October 1982) is a French former rugby union footballer who played as a centre for USA Perpignan and also for France. Marty was first called up to the French rugby team during the 2005 Six Nations Championship, making his fir ...
and Maxime Mermoz who were on
2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Af ...
duty with the French team who lost the final to host team New Zealand. He currently plays for Racing Metro 92. Ryan stepped back into Suburban Rugby in Sydney and played for 2 seasons for Balmain Rugby who won the Kentwell cup competition as joint premiers in 2013..


References


External links


Western Force profile


{{DEFAULTSORT:Cross, Ryan 1979 births Living people Australian rugby league players Australian rugby union players Australia international rugby union players Western Force players New South Wales Waratahs players USA Perpignan players Rugby league centres Rugby union centres Rugby league players from Sydney Rugby union players from Sydney Australian expatriate rugby union players in France Sydney Roosters players New South Wales City Origin rugby league team players Prime Minister's XIII players People educated at Waverley College Footballers who switched code