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| Full name | Robert Lindner | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1962-11-10)10 November 1962 (age 63) Brisbane,Queensland, Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Height | 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 94 kg (14 st 11 lb; 207 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Lock, Second-row | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Bob Lindner (born 10 November 1962) is an Australian former professionalrugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s, andcoached in the 1990s. AnAustralia national andQueenslandState of Origin representative forward, he is one of a handful of players to be named man-of-the-match in State of Origin football more than once. Fifteen years after his retirement from football in Australia, he had made the most appearances and scored the most tries of anyforward in State of Origin history.
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Lindner went to Iona College, Brisbane. Lindner playedlock forSouth Brisbane Magpies in theBrisbane Rugby League from 1983 to 1984, playing in South's losing 1984 Grand Final team alongsideMal Meninga,Gary Belcher andPeter Jackson. In 1985 he signed with the team who had defeated Souths in the 1984 Grand Final, theWynnum-Manly Seagulls, where he played alongsideQueensland andAustralia captainWally Lewis,Gene Miles,Greg Dowling andColin Scott. The 1985 BRL Grand Final saw Souths Magpies defeat Wynnum-Manly 10–8.
Lindner won his only BRL premiership in 1986 as the Seagulls defeatedPast Brothers 14–6 in the Grand Final atLang Park.[3]
Following his successful Kangaroo tour, Lindner signed with reigning NSWRL premiers, theParramatta Eels as a much-anticipated[citation needed] replacement for club captainRay Price, who had retired following the Eels 1986 Grand Final win overCanterbury-Bankstown.
Lindner played in Queensland's 2–11987 State of Origin series win and retained his place atlock in the Australian test team for the one-off test against New Zealand atLang Park which saw the Kiwis cause an upset with a 13–7 win, snapping Australia's 9 game winning streak.[4] At the end of the1987 NSWRL season, Lindner played a short stint withEnglish club sideCastleford (Heritage No. 655) for part of the1987–88 Rugby Football League season. He scored atry in Castleford's 12–12 draw withBradford Northern in the1987 Yorkshire Cup Final atHeadingley inLeeds on Saturday 17 October 1987, but he did not play in the 11–2 defeat by Bradford in the final's replay atElland Road in Leeds two weeks later.
Back in Australia in 1988 following his stint atWheldon Road (Castleford's home ground), Lindner played in Queensland's 3–0Origin series sweep ofNew South Wales before being selected for all threeAshes series tests against thetouring Great Britain side. The Australian's defeated the Lions 2–1 to retain The Ashes that they had not lost since 1970.[5][6]
After 28 games over two seasons for the Eels in which they failed to play finals football, Lindner signed with newly created expansion team, theGold Coast Giants for the1989 NSWRL season.
A broken leg suffered in Game 2 of the1989 State of Origin series at theSydney Football Stadium saw Lindner ruled out of the Australian teamsmid-season tour of New Zealand.[7]
Following his year on the Gold Coast, Lindner signed with Sydney teamWestern Suburbs for the1990 NSWRL season. He was named man-of-the-match in the Game III of the1990 State of Origin series, and at the end of the season was selected to hissecondKangaroo Tour. His performances for the 1990 Kangaroos saw him named the player of the tour. Lindner suffered another broken leg in early 1991 but made a strong recovery before breaking the leg again playing in the first test of the1991 Trans-Tasman series against New Zealand inMelbourne.[8]
1992 saw him named man-of-the-match in the second game of theState of Origin series and during the1992 Great Britain Lions tour, he helped Australia retainThe Ashes, pushing his Test tally to 19, before playing in the1992 Rugby League World Cup final win over Great Britain at theWembley Stadium inLondon.[9]
Wests' salary cap problems[citation needed] saw him join his fourth NSWRL club, theIllawarra Steelers, in 1993, but after playing for Australia in themid-season test series against New Zealand, and for Queensland in theOrigin series (including a try-scoring performance in the Maroons' 24–12 game 3 win, his last game for his state), he announced his intention to leave Australia and play abroad. Lindner's player agent, the Sydney businessmanMichael Saad, received many offers and the 24-Test veteran subsequently announced that he had signed forOldham (Heritage No. 1017).[citation needed]
During the1993–94 Rugby Football League season, Lindner took over as captain-coach of Oldham following the departure of fellow Australian forward,Peter Tunks and successfully averted the team's relegation to Second Division.[10]
Lindner then returned to Australia and linked with the short-livedSouth Queensland Crushers where he was originally recruited as a player but retired in order to replaceBill Gardner as club coach in 1995–96.[citation needed] He stood down as coach in 1997, the Crushers' final year in theAustralian Rugby League premiership.
In 2000, Lindner was awarded theAustralian Sports Medal for his contribution to Australia's international standing in rugby league. In June 2008, he was chosen in theQueensland Rugby League's Team of the Century at lock-forward.[11]
In 2009, Lindner was a member of theNational Rugby League's judiciary panel.[12]
He has also been a qualifiedOptometrist since 1985. Lindner's university exams actually fell during both his début State of Origin series in1984, and again in1985, causing him to have to miss team bonding sessions so he could study.[13]