Andrew McCullough (born 30 January 1990) is a former Australian 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 as a 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 ...

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 ...

, and

St. George Illawarra Dragons The St. George Illawarra Dragons is an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League since 1999 after a joint-ve ...

in the

NRL 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 ...

, and has played for

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

in 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 ...

Background

McCullough was born in

Dalby, Queensland Dalby () is a rural town and locality in the Western Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Dalby had a population of 12,719 people. It is on the Darling Downs and is the administrative centre for the Western Downs Regi ...

, Australia to Wendy and Graham McCullough. In 2018, McCullough married Carlie Harrison in a ceremony at

Byron Bay Byron Bay ( Minjungbal: ''Cavvanbah)'' is a beachside town located in the far-northeastern corner of the state of New South Wales, Australia on Bundjalung Country. It is located north of Sydney and south of Brisbane. Cape Byron, a hea ...

Biography

McCullough attended Dalby State School and subsequently

Dalby State High School Dalby State High School is a heritage-listed state high school at 28B Nicholson Street, Dalby, Western Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1953 to 1954. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 19 August 2016. ...

, before accepting a scholarship to

Brisbane State High School , motto_translation = Knowledge is Power , city = South Brisbane , state = Queensland , country = Australia , coordinates = , type = Public, selective, co-educational, secondary, ...

for grade 12. During his time in Dalby, he played for the Dalby Devils and on a number of school teams. He played for the Australian Schoolboys team in 2007 while attending

. In 2003, while he was in grade 8, he had already signed with the Brisbane Broncos. He made his debut in the Telstra Premiership against the

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Cronulla, in the Sutherland Shire, Southern Sydney, New South Wales. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugby league ...

on 17 May 2008, becoming the first player born in the 1990s to make his debut in the NRL's top grade. In 2009, he was named the Broncos' "Rookie of the Year". McCullough was named the 2012 Brisbane Broncos season's player of the year. He played for the Broncos in their extra-time loss to the

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest town in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...

in the

2015 NRL Grand Final The 2015 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2015 NRL season and was played on Sunday 4 October at Sydney's ANZ Stadium between the Brisbane Broncos and North Queensland Cowboys. North Queensland won the match ...

, and was selected to make his

State of Origin A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco Oval ...

debut for

in 2018, starting all three games of that series at hooker following the retirement of former Queensland captain

Cameron Smith Cameron Smith may refer to: * Cameron Smith (rugby league, born 1983), Australian rugby league footballer * Cameron Smith (rugby league, born 1998), English rugby league footballer * Cameron Smith (golfer) (born 1993), Australian golfer * Cammy Smi ...

. After 260 games for the club, but by now being overlooked for a spot in the starting line-up ahead of the younger

Jake Turpin Jake Turpin (born 16 November 1996) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Sydney Roosters in the NRL. He previously for the Brisbane Broncos in the National Rugby League. Background Turpin was born in ...

, McCullough left the Broncos on 21 May 2020 to join the

for the remainder of the 2020 season. He played in 8 matches for the Knights and scored two tries before having his season ended by a hamstring injury. He was then removed from the Knights' playing squad list to make way for the mid-season signing of

Blake Green Blake Green (born 18 September 1986) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a and in the 2000s, 2010s and 2020s. Green was regarded as somewhat of a journeyman during his career after playing for nine sepa ...

. Newcastle chose not to renew McCullough's contract and he was able to return to Brisbane after taking up a player option in his contract for 2021. On 15 February 2021, he signed a three-year deal to join St. George Illawarra. He made his debut for St. George Illawarra in round 1 of the

2021 NRL season The 2021 NRL season was the 114th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 24th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 15th consecutive year. Regular season Ladd ...

against rivals Cronulla-Sutherland where the Dragons lost 32-18 at

Kogarah Oval Jubilee Stadium, also known as Kogarah Oval or by its sponsored name Netstrata Jubilee Stadium, is a multipurpose stadium in Carlton, New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. The stadium is mainly used for rugby league and the A-League, and is one ...

. McCullough was selected for the

Queensland Maroons The Queensland rugby league team represents the Australian state of Queensland in rugby league football. Nicknamed the "Maroons" after the colour of their jersey, they play three times a year against arch-rivals New South Wales in the State of O ...

in Game 2 of the

2021 State of Origin Series The 2021 State of Origin series was the 40th annual best-of-three series between the Queensland and New South Wales rugby league teams. Before this series, Queensland has won 22 times, NSW 15 times, with two series drawn. The venue for Game 1 wa ...

, following an injury to incumbent hooker Harry Grant. In round 22 of the

, McCullough was taken from the field with an ankle injury in the Saints loss against Penrith. On 17 August 2021, it was announced that McCullough would be ruled out for the remainder of the season. On 10 November 2022, McCullough announced his immediate retirement from rugby league with a year remaining on his contract with St. George Illawarra.

Statistics

References

External links

St. George Illawarra profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCullough, Andrew 1990 births Living people Brisbane Broncos players Newcastle Knights players St. George Illawarra Dragons players Norths Devils players Queensland rugby league team players Queensland Rugby League State of Origin players Prime Minister's XIII players Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from Queensland People educated at Brisbane State High School People from the Darling Downs