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| Born | (1962-04-14)14 April 1962 (age 62) Brewarrina,New South Wales | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 187 cm (6 ft 2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 90 kg (14 st 2 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Second-row, Centre | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source:[1] As of 1 February 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ron Gibbs (born 14 April 1962), also known by thenickname of"Rambo",[2] is an Australian formerrugby league footballer who played professionally[citation needed] in Australia and England.[3] An Australian Aboriginal and Country New South Wales representative three-quarter back or second-row forward, he played his club football in theNew South Wales Rugby League for Eastern Suburbs, Manly-Warringah (with whom he won the 1987 NSWRL Premiership), Gold Coast-Tweed and Western Suburbs, as well as in England forCastleford.
In 1982 Gibbs, nicknamed "Rambo" for his fearless runs at the defensive line, scored three tries for theWestern Suburbs Rosellas as they defeated Kurri Kurri to win theNewcastle Rugby League Grand Final 21–14 at theNewcastle International Sports Centre.
Gibbs made hisNSWRL Premiership début forEastern Suburbs in 1983 againstIllawarra. He was the club's captain in1984 and1985 before handing the job over toJohn Tobin.[4]
He joined theBob Fulton coachedManly-Warringah in 1986 and played in 47 games for the club, including the winning1987 Grand Final againstCanberra in the last Grand Final played at theSydney Cricket Ground. In 1987 he also representedNew South Wales Country in the annualCity v Country Origin match. His last game for the club was the1987 World Club Challenge atCentral Park inWigan,England. Gibbs became the first player sent off in aWorld Club Challenge following a high tackle on Wigan centreJoe Lydon. Wigan won a try-less game 8–2 in front of 36,895 fans.
"Rambo never cared if you were with him or against him . . . get in his way and you copped it."
In 1988 he joined the newGold Coast-Tweed club as their key signing, although he missed their opening six matches and according to observers "produced his rampaging best only rarely".[6] He spent the 1988-89 off-season in England, playing for theCastleford Tigers.[7] Ron Gibbs played atsecond-row inCastleford's 12–33 defeat byLeeds in the1988 Yorkshire Cup Final during the1988–89 season atElland Road,Leeds on Sunday 16 October 1988. In 1989 Gibbs again represented NSW Country and was made the Giants captain. In 1990 Gibbs again played for both Gold Coast-Tweed and Castleford. He also represented theAustralian Aboriginal side in the1990 Pacific Cup.[8]
During the 1990/1991 off-season, Gibbs negotiated withWests, who had acquired a number of class players and were looking at their first finals series since1982, but was drafted bywooden spoonerSouth Sydney.[9] Gibbs refused to play for South Sydney, but despite the Rabbitohs' refusal to let go of him, his court appeal was won with a unanimous vote on the twelfth of March, 1991.[9] Gibbs' victory stands in contrast to the better-known turning down of identical appeals byTerry Hill andEmosi Koloto.[10] Gibbs spent only one season with the Magpies before retiring.
Gibbs later said of his many games, "I would have been concussed in over half of them. On some of the little concussions when I got smashed I had nausea, felt like spewing, I was light-headed and you do lose your sense of balance, all of that, it all comes with it. As soon as I’d got into the next tackle my body would just click back into gear, sort of like driving a manual car. I'm sure there is after-effects. But I loved every minute of it. I’d do it all over again".[11]