Luke Priddis

Luke Priddis

Personal information
Born	14 April 1977 (1977-04-14) Dubbo, New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
Height	177 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	93 kg (14 st 9 lb)
Position	Hooker
Club
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
1997–98	Canberra Raiders	44	11	0	0	44
1999–01	Brisbane Broncos	79	17	0	0	68
2002–08	Penrith Panthers	162	34	0	0	136
2009–10	St. George Illawarra	30	1	0	0	4
	Total	315	63	0	0	252
Representative
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
1997	Australia	2	0	0	0	0
1997	New South Wales (SL)	2	0	0	0	0
2001	New South Wales	3	0	0	0	0
2004–06	Country Origin	2	0	0	0	0
Source: Rugby League Project

Luke Priddis (born 14 April 1977 in Dubbo, New South Wales) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer of the 1990s and 2000s. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative hooker, he played club football in the National Rugby League for the Canberra Raiders, Brisbane Broncos (with whom he won the 2000 NRL Premiership) and Penrith Panthers (with whom he won the 2003 NRL Premiership and Clive Churchill Medal) and, finally, the St. George Illawarra Dragons.

Playing career

Priddis started his career with the Canberra Raiders, winning the club's rookie of the year award in his debut season. He later moved to the Brisbane Broncos and then the Penrith Panthers.

Priddis has represented Australia and also gained representative honours playing for New South Wales in the State of Origin.

In the 2003 NRL grand final, Priddis won the Clive Churchill Medal when the Penrith Panthers defeated the Sydney Roosters 18–6. He scored one try and set up both other tries for winger Luke Rooney. After this match be became the only Panther to have played in two successful Grand Finals, having won with Brisbane in 2000. No hooker had previously won the Clive Churchill Medal since it was instigated in 1986, though two others have won it since.

Priddis made his debut for Australia in 2005's ANZAC Test.

In 2009 Priddis was re-united with his former coach at the Broncos, Wayne Bennett, after they both transferred to the Dragons.

Despite being advised by Dragons coach Wayne Bennett to retire at the end of the 2009 season, Priddis went on to make his 300th NRL appearance in 2010. While Priddis did not play in the 2010 Grand Final, he played a very important role in the team's success after taking over from Nathan Fien, who suffered a broken leg in Round 1 which kept him out most of the season. By not playing in the Dragons' victorious Grand Final squad, he missed a golden opportunity to have won three Grand Finals at three different clubs, a feat not achieved since Glenn Lazarus did so with the Broncos, Canberra Raiders and Melbourne Storm. Priddis retired at the end of the season.

External links

• Player Details at stateoforigin.com.au
• St George Illawarra Dragons player profile

Preceded by Craig Fitzgibbon (Sydney Roosters)

Clive Churchill Medallist 2003

Succeeded by Willie Mason (Bulldogs)