Robbie Ross (born 24 January 1975) is an Australian former

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 1990s and 2000s. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative fullback, he played his club football with 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 ...

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite com ...

and

Hunter Mariners The Hunter Mariners were an Australian professional rugby league club based in the Hunter Region's largest city, Newcastle. Hunter was formed in mid-1995 and was later disbanded at the end of 1997. The club was formed because of the Super Leag ...

before settling at the

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. ...

with whom he won the 1999 Premiership.

Early life

Born in

Griffith, New South Wales Griffith is a major regional city in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area that is located in the north-western part of the Riverina region of New South Wales, known commonly as the food bowl of Australia. It is also the seat of the City of Griffith ...

. Ross was educated at

Swansea High School Swansea High School in Swansea, South Carolina, Swansea, South Carolina is a public high school offering education for grades 9–12, serving the surrounding communities of Swansea, South Carolina, Swansea, Gaston, South Carolina, Gaston, and part ...

, where he represented 1992 Australian Schoolboys. Robbie is a local

junior.

Playing career

Ross forced clubmate Robbie O'Davis onto the wing during the 1995 season. Ross, who signed a

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 ...

contract that year, joined

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

while

News Ltd News Corp Australia is an Australian media conglomerate and wholly owned subsidiary of the American News Corp. One of Australia's largest media conglomerates, News Corp Australia employs more than 8,000 staff nationwide and approximately 3,0 ...

fought a battle through the courts to stage its rebel competition. The potent attacking later honoured his contract with the newly formed

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

. Ross represented

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 ...

in the Super League Tri-series competition, but following the demise of the Mariners and the re-unification of the game, quickly secured a contract with the

. A great start to the 1999 season saw Ross chosen for the

New South Wales rugby league team The New South Wales rugby league team has represented the Australian state of New South Wales in rugby league football since the sport's beginnings there in 1907. Also known as the Blues due to their sky blue jerseys, the team competes in the ann ...

. In the second match of

1999 State of Origin series The 1999 State of Origin series saw the 18th year that the annual three-game series between the Queensland and New South Wales representative rugby league football teams was contested entirely under 'state of origin' selection rules. The series w ...

, Ross scored the fastest try in Origin history when

Ryan Girdler Ryan Girdler (born 19 September 1972) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. A New South Wales State of Origin and Australia international representative goal-kicking centre, he played h ...

sent him over in the corner from the second tackle of the match. Later that year, Ross played at fullback for Melbourne in their historic

1999 NRL Grand Final The 1999 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 1999 NRL season. It was contested by the competition's two newest clubs: the Melbourne Storm, competing in only its second year (having finished the regular season ...

victory and was catapulted into the Australian Test team. After making his debut in the first match of the 1999 Tri-nations series, a 24–22 loss to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, he was replaced by

Darren Lockyer Darren James Lockyer (born 24 March 1977) is an Australian television commentator and former professional rugby league footballer. Lockyer was an Australian international and Queensland State representative captain, who played his entire profes ...

for the remainder of the tournament. Having won the 1999 Premiership,

contested in the

2000 World Club Challenge The 2000 World Club Challenge was contested by 1999 NRL season premiers, the Melbourne Storm and 1999's Super League IV champions, St. Helens. The match was played on 22 January at JJB Stadium, Wigan before a crowd of 13,394. The Melbourne Storm ...

against

Champions

St Helens R.F.C. St Helens R.F.C. is a professional rugby league club in St Helens, Merseyside who compete in the Super League, the top tier for rugby league in Great Britain. They are the current Champions, having won the last 4 consecutive titles, and becom ...

, with Ross playing at and scoring two tries in the victory. Ross started the

2000 NRL season The 2000 NRL season was the 93rd season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the third to be run by the National Rugby League. Fourteen teams competed from February till August for the NRL Premiership, culminating in the 2000 ...

in superlative form. He scored 9 tries in 13 matches and retaining his position as New South Wales fullback, but was ruled out with a knee injury that was more serious than first thought. He was also awarded the

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, offi ...

for his contribution to Australia's international standing in rugby league. After being sidelined for the season, Ross returned in

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

only to be hampered by chronic hamstring trouble. During 2002–03, matches were kept to a minimum, where Ross spent lengthy amounts of time on the sidelines with hamstring, knee and back injuries. He retired just before the start of the 2004 season at only 29 years of age, after it was revealed he had a

bulging disc Spinal disc herniation is an injury to the cushioning and connective tissue between vertebrae, usually caused by excessive strain or trauma to the spine. It may result in back pain, pain or sensation in different parts of the body, and physic ...

in his back.

Statistics

NRL

: ''Statistics are correct to the end of career''

State of Origin

Australia

:Robbie Ross' International player profile at Rugby League Project
/ref>

References

External links

Robbie Ross at stateoforigin.com.au
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Robbie 1975 births Living people Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league players Brisbane Broncos players Hunter Mariners players Melbourne Storm players New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players Newcastle Knights players Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Newcastle, New South Wales