Robbie Kearns (born 12 December 1971) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s, and 2000s. An Australia international and New South Wales State of Origin representative forward, he played for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, Western Reds and the Melbourne Storm.

Early life

Born in

Sydney, New South Wales Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountains ...

. Kearns was educated at St John Bosco College, Engadine. Robbie played junior football for the Engadine Dragons and St John Bosco Bulldogs. He then signed with Cronulla Sharks.

Playing career

He made his First Grade Debut for the Cronulla Sharks in Round 1 v Brisbane at Lang Park, 20 March 1992, becoming a regular in the Cronulla Sharks side. Kearns signed with the Western Reds for 1997. In the 1997 post season, 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 ...

from the interchange bench in all three matches of the Super League Test series against Great Britain. Kearns signed on with the newly created Melbourne Storm for the

1998 NRL season 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

. That year he was named the club's player of the year. Having won the 1999 Premiership, the Melbourne Storm travelled to England to contest 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

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 ...

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 Kearns captaining at prop forward in the victory. In 2000 Kearns was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for his contribution to Australia's international standing in rugby league. Kearns captained the Melbourne Storm from 2000 to 2002 and again in 2005. At the end 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 ...

, he went on the 2001 Kangaroo tour He was again named the Storm's player of the season in 2003 and he went on the 2003 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France, helping Australia to victory over Great Britain in what would be the last time the two nations contested an Ashes series. He retired at the conclusion of the 2005 season after a 13-year career but remained with the Melbourne Storm in a marketing capacity. Melbourne Storm released a 'team of the decade' as part of their 10-year celebrations in 2007, with Kearns named at prop.

Representative career

*''State of Origin:'' Played 8 games in total for New South Wales between 1998 and 2003 *''International:'' Played 23 tests for Australia including the 2000 World Cup

Career stats

283 career games to date scoring 31 tries, 2 goals (128 points)

References

External links

Robbie Kearns at stateoforigin.com

Robbie Kearns at melbournestorm.com.au

2001 Ashes profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kearns, Robbie 1971 births Living people Australian rugby league players Australia national rugby league team players Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks players Melbourne Storm players New South Wales City Origin rugby league team players Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players Rugby league players from Sydney Rugby league props Western Reds players