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Julian O'Neill

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For the New Zealand rugby league player Julian O'Neill see Julian O`Neill.
Julian O'Neill
Personal information
Full nameJulian O'Neill
Playing information
PositionUtility back
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1991–1995 Brisbane Broncos 105 33 202 10 480
199?–199? London Broncos
1996–1997 Western Reds 26 12 63 4 178
1997–1999 South Sydney 54 9 101 0 238
2000–2001 North Queensland 47 14 122 0 300
2002–2003 Wigan Warriors 30 12 72 0 192
2003–2005 Widnes Vikings 60 13 157 7 338
2005 Wakefield Trinity 12 2 4 0 16
Total 334 95 721 21 1742
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1989 Australian Schoolboys
1993–2000 Queensland Maroons 10 2 9 0 26
1997 Queensland (SL) 1 0 0 0 0
1997 Australia (SL) 1 0 0 0 0

Julian O'Neill (born 14 October, 1972 in Hornsby, New South Wales) is an Australian former rugby league player. A talented fullback and goal-kicker, in 1994 and 1995 he was the Brisbane Broncos' top point-scorer. He enjoyed a 14-year top-grade career with several clubs in both Australia and England, but regularly made headlines for his involvement in numerous controversial off-field incidents.

Early life

O'Neill's mother, Annabelle O'Neill, a nursing sister, was killed in a car crash when he was six. His father, Brian Allan O'Neill, a gynaecologist, died of heart disease when Julian was seven.

O'Neill was raised by his grandparents and other family members. From age ten he attended boarding school at St Brendan's College in Yeppoon, Queensland. He was a prodiguous young sportsman, holding school records in athletics and swimming. He represented as an Australian Schoolboy in both rugby league and cricket.

Football career

O'Neill was signed to a sporting scholarship with the Brisbane Broncos at age fifteen and was selected for the Australian Schoolboys side in 1989. He was graded by the Broncos in 1991 and it was hoped he would take over the five-eighth position from Broncos great Wally Lewis. He showed greater form at fullback and played there in Brisbane's inaugural Grand Final victory in 1992 and then the following year when they again beat St. George for two consecutive premiership titles.

O'Neill was sacked by the Broncos in 1995 for drink-driving whilst in England. He subsequently played club football in England with the London Broncos, back in Australia with the Western Reds (for whom he holds the club records for most tries and goals in a match), the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the North Queensland Cowboys. He later returned to England to play out the rest of his career.

He played English rugby league with Wigan, enjoying victory in the Challenge Cup, until 2003 when he completed a mid-season move to the Widnes Vikings. In 2004 he had a season playing rugby union in France. He returned to rugby league in England in 2005 and played half the season with the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, then switching back to former club Widnes Vikings until their relegation from the Super League that year. He then moved to also relegated Leigh for the 2006 season.

O'Neill first represented Queensland off the interchange bench in game II of the 1993 Rugby League State of Origin series. He played at five-eighth in game III and then at fullback in all three games of the 1994 series under coach Wally Lewis. He made further appearances in 1996, 1997 and 2000 for a total of ten career State of Origin appearances.

He was playing for the Super League aligned Western Reds during the 1997 split competition and made one state and one national representative appearance for the Super League representative teams.

Off the field

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 at Conrad 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.

After being released by the Brisbane Broncos, O'Neill played a season with the London Broncos but was released by them as well after a drink driving offence.

For a time he was engaged to Australian swimming star Samantha Riley, but the engagement ended after Riley, who (despite being embroiled in a drugs controversy) was renowned for having a clean-living reputation, reportedly grew tired of O'Neill's alcohol consumption and subsequent reckless behaviour.

He made a fresh start at the Western Reds in 1996 but was released in 1997 after being fined and disqualified from driving in 1997 in Perth's Magistrates Court.

He made another clean start at the South Sydney Rabbitohs in 1998 but suffered immense publicity and a $10,000 fine from the club over a 1999 pre-season tour incident where O'Neill vomited over the walls of a Dubbo Motel room and defecated in the shoe of teammate Jeremy Schloss. This incident became known as "the poo in the shoe" affair.

In 2001, O'Neill's 13 month-old daughter Piper was tragically killed when a television set fell on to her in his family's home.

In 2004, on a trip to Australia with the Widnes club, he was accused of attempting to set fire to 13-year-old boy who was wearing a foam rubber dolphin mascot suit whilst on a river cruise in Port Macquarie. O'Neill stripped to his underwear following the incident, dived into the Hastings River and swam to shore. [1].

O'Neill began playing with amateur team, the Noosa Pirates, in the Sunshine Coast/Gympie Rugby League competition in July, 2007, alongside fellow former National Rugby League players Noel Goldthorpe and Wayne Bartrim.

Sources and Footnotes

  1. ^ Dolphin Suit
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