Tom Learoyd-Lahrs (born 13 September 1985 in

Tweed Heads, New South Wales Tweed Heads is a town in New South Wales. It is located on the Tweed River in north-eastern New South Wales, Australia, in Tweed Shire, next to the border with Queensland and adjacent to its "twin town" of Coolangatta, which is a suburb of the ...

) is an Australian former 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 2000s and 2010s, he played in the

National Rugby League 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 ...

(NRL) competition. A New South Wales State of Origin and Australian international representative forward, he played for the

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 ...

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby ...

and 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. ...

Early life

While educated at Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School, Tamworth. Learoyd-Lahrs represented the 2002 & 2003 Australian Schoolboys.

Playing career

Learoyd-Lahrs made his first grade debut for the

against

Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...

in round 2 of the

2004 NRL season The 2004 NRL season (also known as the 2004 Telstra Premiership due to sponsorship from Telstra) was the 97th season of professional rugby league football in Australia, and the seventh run by the National Rugby League. Fifteen clubs competed dur ...

Suncorp Stadium Lang Park, also known as Brisbane Football Stadium, by the sponsored name Suncorp Stadium, and nicknamed: 'The Cauldron', is a multi-purpose stadium in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Milton. The current facility co ...

. In the same year, he played in the club's elimination final against

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. In the

2005 NRL season The 2005 NRL season was the 98th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the eighth run by the National Rugby League. The lineup of clubs remained unchanged from the previous year, with fifteen teams contesting the 2005 Telst ...

, he made only two appearances for Brisbane and then joined Canberra. Learoyd-Lahrs' first three seasons with Canberra were disrupted by injuries, but in 2009 he discovered his best form and began a series of impressive displays that led to his selection on the bench for

NSW ) , 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 Game 3 of the

State of Origin series The State of Origin series is an annual best-of-three rugby league series between two Australian state representative sides, the New South Wales Blues and the Queensland Maroons. Referred to as “Australian sport's greatest rivalry”, the ...

after being the 18th man for Game 2. Despite playing in the second row Learoyd-Lahrs also covered the front row. Luke Bailey once commented that "Learoyd-Lahrs is about 600 kilos". He typically played an "enforcer" type role similar to the role played by

Anthony Watmough Anthony Watmough (born 10 July 1983) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative forward, he played the majority of his career with the Manly-Warrin ...

and

Neville Costigan Neville Costigan (born 16 March 1985) is a Papua New Guinean former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. A Papua New Guinea international and Queensland State of Origin representative forward, he played in the ...

. Learoyd-Lahrs was eligible to play for the

Indigenous DreamTime team The Indigenous Australian rugby league team (also known as the Indigenous All Stars or Indigenous Dreamtime team) is a rugby league football team that represents Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders. The team was first formed in 1 ...

. He represented Australia in the

2010 Four Nations The 2010 Rugby League Four Nations tournament was played in Australia and New Zealand in October and November 2010. The tournament was the second time the Four Nations had been held, following on from the 2009 edition held in England and France. ...

tournament. He made 109 appearances for Canberra and featured in the club's 2010 and 2012 finals campaigns. Learoyd-Lahrs signed on with the

for the

2015 NRL season The 2015 NRL season was the 108th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 18th season of the National Rugby League in Australia and New Zealand. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, which was followed ...

. He made his Melbourne Storm debut in round 2 against

Manly-Warringah The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...

. Following the season, he announced his retirement due to ongoing injury. After retiring from the NRL, he played one last season for

North Tamworth Bears The North Tamworth Bears are a rugby league team located in the suburb of North Tamworth, in Tamworth, New South Wales, Australia. They were formed in 1911, three years after Rugby league came to New South Wales, and are one of the oldest clubs ...

in the

Group 4 Rugby League Group 4 is a rugby league competition in the New England and north west area of New South Wales, run under the auspices of the Country Rugby League. Structure The Group runs a first grade, reserve grade, league tag and under 18s competitions. All ...

competition in 2016, winning the premiership with them. For the 2022 TDRL (Townsville & Districts Rugby league) season Tom plays for the Norths Devils.

References

External links

Tom Learoyd-Lahrs at ''Raiders.com.au''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Learoyd-Lahrs, Tom 1985 births Living people Australia national rugby league team players Australian people of German descent Australian rugby league players Brisbane Broncos players Canberra Raiders players Country New South Wales Origin rugby league team players Indigenous All Stars players Indigenous Australian rugby league players Melbourne Storm players Mount Pritchard Mounties players New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players Prime Minister's XIII players Rugby league players from Tweed Heads, New South Wales Rugby league props Rugby league second-rows Sunshine Coast Falcons players