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| Born | (1972-10-14)14 October 1972 (age 53) Hornsby, New South Wales, Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 92 kg (14 st 7 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Fullback, Five-eighth, Centre | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Brian Julian O'Neill (born 14 October 1972) is an Australian former professionalrugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. Primarily agoal-kickingfullback orfive-eighth, during his 14-year top-grade career he played with several clubs in both Australia and England, which included twoNSWRL premierships, aChallenge Cup victory as well as state and national representative honours. However O'Neill also regularly made headlines for his involvement in numerous controversial off-field incidents.
O'Neill was born inHornsby, New South Wales on 14 October 1972. His mother, Patricia O'Neill, a nursing sister, was killed in a car crash when he was seven. His father, Brian Allan O'Neill, agynaecologist, died of heart disease when Julian was eight.[5]
O'Neill was raised by his grandparents and other family members from time to time. From age ten he attended boarding school atSt Brendan's College inYeppoon, Queensland. He was a prodigious young sportsman, holding school records in athletics and swimming. He also represented as an Australian Schoolboy in rugby league, cricket and tennis.[5]
O'Neill was signed to a sporting scholarship with theBrisbane Broncos at age fifteen and was selected for theAustralian Schoolboys side in 1989 and 1990. However, he was ruled ineligible to play for this representative side in 1990 due to having already been a non-playing bench player for the Brisbane Broncos in a match against St George while O’Neill was still in Year 12.[citation needed]
O'Neill was graded by the Broncos in 1990. He showed greater form atfullback and played there in Brisbane's inaugural Grand Final victory in1992. In the weeks following the grand final O'Neill travelled with the Broncos to England, where he played at fullback in the1992 World Club Challenge against British championsWigan, helping Brisbane become the first NSWRL club to win the match in Britain.
O'Neill is only 19 and he will play for Queensland and Australia. When I saw him play schoolboy football, I said to my president,Barry Nelson, 'We'll go big for this kid'. You normally give schoolboys $5,000. We offered him $40,000, and he still signed with the Broncos.
O'Neill briefly signed for English clubWidnes,[7] who were then coached byPhil Larder and he appeared as a substitute in the1993 Challenge Cup Final atWembley Stadium, only to suffer a 20–14 defeat byWigan. O'Neill first representedQueensland, coming off the interchange bench, in Game II of the1993 State of Origin series. He played at five-eighth in Game III. The Broncos reached the1993 Winfield Cup Grand Final and O'Neill played at fullback as they again beatSt. George for a second consecutive premiership title.
O'Neill then played at fullback in all three games of the1994 State of Origin series under coachWally Lewis. During the1994 NSWRL season, O'Neill played at lock forward for defending premiers Brisbane when they hosted British championsWigan for the1994 World Club Challenge, but were defeated by the British club on this occasion. In1994 and1995, O'Neill was theBrisbane Broncos' top point-scorer. As his fame and confidence grew at the Broncos, O'Neill found himself at the centre of a number of alcohol-fuelled incidents. At Southport Magistrates Court in 1995 he faced five charges, following an incident atConrad Jupiters Casino where he was reported to have urinated under a blackjack table, including indecent exposure and offensive behavior. He was found not guilty, three fraud charges were dropped and he was awarded costs.[5]
After being released by theBrisbane Broncos, O'Neill signed with theLondon Broncos but was released after just three games following a drink-driving incident.[8]
O'Neill returned to Australia with theWestern Reds in1996 ARL season. Whilst playing for them he was selected to play for Queensland atfive-eighth in Game II of the1996 State of Origin series. He was playing for theSuper League-aligned Western Reds during the 1997 split competition and made one state and one national representative appearance for the Super League representative teams: O'Neill was selected to play for Australia from the interchange bench in theinaugural Anzac Test and at fullback for Queensland in Game 1 of theSuper League Tri-series. O'Neill set club records for most tries and goals in a match but was released by the Reds 9 rounds into 1997 after multiple off-field incidents including phoning teammates and asking for money during a late night gambling session.[9]
O'Neill then switched to play in the1997 ARL season with theSouth Sydney Rabbitohs. He gained selection for Queensland, playing from the interchange bench in Game II of the1997 State of Origin series making him the only player in history to appear in both the Tri-Series and State of Origin in the same season. In 1998, however he suffered immense publicity and a $10,000 fine from the club over a 1999 pre-season tour incident where a drunken O'Neill defecated in the footwear of teammateJeremy Schloss. This incident became known as "the poo in the shoe" affair, and gained much media attention and public ridicule after O'Neill reportedly uttered the alliterative line, "I just shat in Schlossy's shoe," to his teammates.[5] For a time he was engaged to Australian swimming starSamantha Riley, but the engagement ended. Riley was renowned for having a clean-living reputation despite being embroiled in a drugs controversy herself in the lead-up to the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
O'Neill was signed to play the2000 NRL season for theNorth Queensland Cowboys and was selected to play at five-eighth in Game II of the2000 State of Origin series. He was then named the Cowboys' player of the year.[10] He made a total of ten career State of Origin appearances.
In 2001, O'Neill's 13-month-old daughter, Piper, was killed when a television set fell onto her in his family's home.[5][11] O'Neill returned to England the2002 Super League season for theWigan Warriors, enjoying victory in theChallenge Cup, until 2003 when he completed a mid-season move to theWidnes Vikings. In 2004, while on a pre-season trip to Australia with theWidnes Vikings, he was accused of drunkenly attempting to set fire to a 13-year-old boy who was wearing a foam-rubber dolphin mascot suit whilst on a river cruise in Port Macquarie. To avoid apprehension, O'Neill stripped to his underwear following the incident, dived into the Hastings River and swam to shore, before hitchhiking and being picked up by a passing car.[12] In 2004, he had a season playingrugby union in France.[13]
O'Neill returned to rugby league in England in 2005 and played half the season with theWakefield Trinity Wildcats, then switching back to former club theWidnes Vikings until their relegation from theSuper League that year. He then moved to also relegatedLeigh Centurions for the 2006 season. In 2015, O'Neill was involved in an ugly facebook saga with former playerJack Elsegood. O'Neill had posted a comment congratulating his son Ethan on making the Queensland Under 16 team, Elsegood then forwarded the message onto O'Neill's ex-wife. O'Neill then took to facebook and messaged Elsegood saying "Cheers to Jack Elsegood for sending my Facebook status to my ex wife – your [sic] a dog. Game over".[14]