Tom O'Reilly is a Papua New Guinean 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 represented

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

in the 2000 World Cup.

Playing career

O'Reilly played for the

Redcliffe Dolphins The Redcliffe Dolphins are a semi-professional rugby league club based in Redcliffe, Queensland, Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1947, they were accepted into the Brisbane Rugby League premiership (rugby league competition), Brisba ...

in the

Brisbane Rugby League The Brisbane Rugby League is a rugby league football competition in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was first held in 1922 and for every year until 1997. The competition was reinstated in 2001, known as the FOGS premiership under the Queen ...

, and was part of their first premiership since 1965 when they defeated the

Wests Panthers The Western Suburbs Panthers, often simply referred to as Wests for short, are a rugby league club based in the western suburbs of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The club is the oldest in the QRL and despite absences from the top grade in rec ...

in the 1994 grand final. He also represented the

Queensland Residents The Queensland Residents rugby league team is a representative rugby league team consisting of players who compete in the Intrust Super Cup (Queensland Cup) competition. They currently play an annual fixture against NSW Cup Representative Team, ...

. O'Reilly played for the

Gold Coast Chargers The Gold Coast Chargers were a professional rugby league club which played in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership from New South Wales Rugby League season 1988, 1988 to New South Wales Rugby League season 1994, 1994, the Australian Ru ...

in 1997 and 1998, playing in 34 matches including the club's final game in first grade which was a 20-18 loss against Cronulla. In 2000, O'Reilly transferred to

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

( Heritage № 1099) in England. After the 2000 World Cup he had trials with the

Salford City Reds The Salford Red Devils are a professional rugby league club in Salford, Greater Manchester, England, who play in the Super League. Formed in 1873, they have won six Championships and one Challenge Cup. Their home ground since 2012 has been t ...

. He joined

Warrington Wolves The Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league club based in Warrington, England, that competes in the Super League. They play rugby at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2004. Founded as Warrington Z ...

in September 2001, after a trial there. He also played for the

Bramley Buffaloes Bramley Buffaloes RLFC is a rugby league club from the Bramley area of West Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. History At the end of the 1999 season Bramley RLFC resigned from the Northern Ford Premiership to become a feeder team for Leeds, b ...

, and the

Sheffield Eagles The Sheffield Eagles are a professional rugby league club that play in the Championship (rugby league), Betfred Championship. The club play their home games at the Olympic Legacy Park (OLP) on the former site of Don Valley Stadium, their forme ...

. O'Reilly then transferred to the

Pia Donkeys The Baroudeurs de Pia XIII, later known as the Pia Donkeys, are a French Rugby league team based in Pia, Pyrénées-Orientales in the Languedoc-Roussillon region. The ''Baroudeurs'' play in the Elite Two Championship during their existence the ...

in France, scoring a try in the 2003

Lord Derby Cup The French Rugby League Cup (french: Coupe de France de Rugby à XIII), also called Lord Derby Cup (french: Coupe Lord Derby) after its championship trophy, is the premier knockout competition for the sport of rugby league football in France. The ...

Final and playing in the 2004

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

Representative career

O'Reilly made his representative début during the

Super League war The Super League war was a commercial competition between the Australian Rugby League (ARL) and the Australian Super League to establish pre-eminence in professional rugby league competition in Australia and New Zealand in the mid-1990s. Super ...

, playing in two "test matches" against

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 ...

. Only the

Australian Rugby League The Australian Rugby League Commission (ARL), formerly the Australian Rugby Football League known as the Australian Rugby League is an Australian rugby league football competition operator. It was founded in 1986 as the Australian Rugby Footbal ...

recognises the matches as tests, and not the

International Rugby League Board The International Rugby League (IRL) is the global governing body for the sport of rugby league football. Previously known as the ''Rugby League Imperial Board'', the '' International Rugby League Board'' and latterly the ''Rugby League Internat ...

or any other organisation.PNG NRL vs Australia 1996
''rugbyleagueproject.org'' In 1996 O'Reilly played for a rebel

Papua New Guinea National Rugby League The Papua New Guinea National Rugby League Competition (or the PNGNRL for short, for sponsorship reasons the PNGNRL Digicel Cup) is a semi-professional rugby league competition held annually in Papua New Guinea. Changes in Sponorship have mean ...

competition selection and in 1997 he was selected for the Rest of the World side. In 2000, O'Reilly made his début for

, against

in a warm up match for the 2000 World Cup. He was selected for the tournament and played in all four matches for Papua New Guinea. His last match for PNG came in 2001, again against Australia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OReilly, Tom 1974 births Living people Baroudeurs de Pia XIII players Bramley Buffaloes players Gold Coast Chargers players Oldham R.L.F.C. players Papua New Guinea national rugby league team players Papua New Guinean rugby league players Papua New Guinean sportsmen Place of birth missing (living people) Redcliffe Dolphins players Rugby league centres Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league hookers Rugby league locks Sheffield Eagles players Warrington Wolves players