Julian O'Neill - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

O'Neill then played at fullback in all three games of the 1994 State of Origin series under coach Wally Lewis

Wally Lewis

Walter James "Wally" Lewis AM is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and coach. Currently a commentator of the sport, he is widely regarded as the greatest rugby league player of all time...

. During the 1994 NSWRL season, O'Neill played at lock forward for defending premiers Brisbane when they hosted British champions Wigan

Wigan Warriors

Wigan Warriors is an English rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club's first team squad competes in the engage Super League and the team are the current Challenge Cup holders as of the 27th August 2011....

for the 1994 World Club Challenge

1994 World Club Challenge

The 1994 MMI World Club Challenge was a replay of the 1992 World Club Challenge, with 1993–94 Rugby Football League season champions Wigan facing the 1993 NSWRL season premiers, the Brisbane Broncos, this time in Australia. Wigan were clearly the dominant club in the English game, having won the...

. In 1994

Brisbane Broncos 1994

The 1994 Brisbane Broncos season was the seventh in the club's history. As defending Premiers the Broncos competed in the NSWRL's 1994 Winfield Cup competition, finishing the regular season 5th...

and 1995

Brisbane Broncos 1995

The 1995 Brisbane Broncos season was the eighth in the club's history. They competed in the Australian Rugby League's 1995 Winfield Cup premiership, finishing in the regular season 3rd and making it to the semi-finals before being knocked out by eventual premiers, the Canterbury-Bankstown...

O'Neill was the Brisbane Broncos

Brisbane Broncos

The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the city of Brisbane, the capital of the state of Queensland. Founded in 1988, the Broncos play in Australasia's elite competition, the National Rugby League premiership. They have won six premierships and two...

' top point-scorer. He was sacked by the Broncos in 1995 for drink-driving whilst in England.

O'Neill 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

South Sydney Rabbitohs

The South Sydney Rabbitohs are an Australian professional rugby league football team based in Redfern, a suburb of South-central Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League premiership and are one of nine existing teams from the state capital...

and the North Queensland Cowboys

North Queensland Cowboys

The North Queensland Cowboys are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, Queensland. They compete in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby League premiership...

. He later returned to England to play out the rest of his career. He made further appearances for the Maroons in 1996, 1997 and 2000 for a total of ten career State of Origin appearances. He was playing for the Super League

Super League (Australia)

Super League was an Australian rugby league football administrative body that conducted professional competition in Australasia for one season in 1997. Along with Super League of Europe, it was created by News Corporation during the Super League war which arose following an unsuccessful attempt to...

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

In 2000 he was named the Cowboys' player of the year.

He played English rugby league with Wigan

Wigan Warriors

, enjoying victory in the Challenge Cup

Challenge Cup

The Challenge Cup is a knockout cup competition for rugby league clubs organised by the Rugby Football League. Originally it was contested only by British teams but in recent years has been expanded to allow teams from France and Russia to take part....

, until 2003 when he completed a mid-season move to the Widnes Vikings

Widnes Vikings

Widnes Vikings RLFC are an English professional rugby league club based in Widnes, Cheshire. They currently play in the Engage Super League, the top tier of European rugby league, after being awarded a license to compete in the top-flight Super League from 2012 onward...

. In 2004 he had a season playing rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

in France. He returned to rugby league in England in 2005 and played half the season with the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats are a professional rugby league club that plays in the European Super League and is based in Wakefield. They achieved promotion in 1999 and have remained in the League since. They are known to their fans as Wakey, Trinity, Wildcats, or historically The Dreadnoughts...

, then switching back to former club Widnes Vikings

Widnes Vikings

until their relegation from the Super League

Super League

Super League is the top-level professional rugby league football club competition in Europe. As a result of sponsorship from engage Mutual Assurance the competition is currently officially known as the engage Super League. The League features fourteen teams: thirteen from England and one from...

that year. He then moved to also relegated Leigh for the 2006 season.

Off the field

In 2004, on a trip to Australia with the Widnes club

Widnes Vikings

, 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.
.

Sources and Footnotes

ABC Online. Transcript of 1999 Australian Story article. http://www.abc.net/austory/series4

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.