Adam MacDougall

  • Playing Career

Playing Career

Vital Statistics

Born
Thursday, 8th May, 1975
Current Age
48 years and 316 days
Place Of Birth
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Known Family Links

Brother
Luke MacDougall
Ben MacDougall
Father
Gil MacDougall

Biography

Hard-running winger/centre, the son of 1960s Wests’ clubman Gil MacDougall and the brother of fellow first graders Ben and Luke MacDougall took his place in Newcastle’s grand final winning team in 1997 after starting his career with the Sydney Roosters. MacDougall had a great grand final match in the centres but following Newcastle’s emotional 22-16 win he was cited and suspended for accidentally stomping on Geoff Toovey’s face. The following year he was selected on the wing for NSW in three matches and impressed with his powerful running and dynamic defence. Then, in July 1998, he became the fourth player (and the third Newcastle player after Robbie O’Davis and Wayne Richards) to test positive for a banned substance. Facing an automatic 22 week suspension it was revealed during his appeal that MacDougall had suffered a severe head injury in 1993 that damaged his pituitary gland and it was essential that he take prescribed medication, called Sustanon 250, which included a banned steroid. This medication restored normal hormone levels in his body and without it, he would suffer potentially serious side effects and not be able to lead a normal life, let alone play football. While MacDougall’s appeal was subsequently dismissed it was unfortunate that he had to serve his suspension with the stigma of being labelled a ‘drug cheat’ along with players who were trying to gain a performance advantage through steroid use. MacDougall resumed his career midway through 1999 - but with stringent guidelines in place to allow his use of a banned drug - having lost a year’s income, an estimated $90,000 in legal bills and the momentum of a burgeoning Test career. He made up for lost time though, making regular appearances as a winger for NSW and Australia in the following years. In 2000 he made his Test debut in the 82-0 thrashing of Papua New Guinea, scored five tries in a World Cup trial against NZ Residents and played in all six matches in Australia’s successful World Cup campaign. After an injury to Penrith’s Ryan Girdler MacDougall played in the centres in Australia’s 40-12 win over NZ in the final and spent much of the 2001 season in that position. The man Knights fans called ‘Mad Dog’ appeared in the opening two matches of the State of Origin series in 2001 but was cited and suspended for raising his knee in a tackle and missed the deciding match of the series. Selected as an interchange player for the one-off Test against NZ in July, Newcastle’s victory in the 2001 grand final saw MacDougall back on the flank. It seems that MacDougall’s entire career has been under one fitness cloud or another and he was ruled out of the Papua New Guinea Test in October with a respiratory complaint before touring England on the shortened Kangaroo Tour. One of the most destructive attacking players in the game MacDougall’s two try-saving tackles in the deciding Third Test in Wigan was a significant contribution to Australia’s Ashes success. However, in early 2002, he spent six weeks recovering from a groin injury only to damage his knee in his comeback match. In 2003 MacDougall appeared in just 12 matches (although he scored 11 tries, including three on his return against the Dragons) but the Knights effectively severed ties with the veteran clubman and he signed with Souths in 2004. MacDougall was in good early season form with the Rabbitohs but snapped his Achilles tendon in the Round 6 loss to Melbourne and was ruled out for the season. The former Test winger was released by the club before the end of the 2006 season after he publicly criticised the form of his clubmates and returned to Newcastle in 2007.
- ALAN WHITICKER

Playing Career Statistics

All statistics shown in this section are based only on data available in the RLP database, and are not necessarily a complete and/or 100% accurate representation of a player's career. This information should be used as a guide only. If you see a question mark (?), it denotes that the figure is not available.

To view a list of corresponding matches, click on the List button.

Competitions

Competition   App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
NRL 195 92 1   - 370 106 87 2 54.36% List
NRL Finals 13 4 -   - 16 7 6 0 53.85% List
State of Origin 11 4 -   - 16 6 4 1 54.55% List
Tour Matches Australia 1 5 -   - 20 1 0 0 100.00% List
World Cup 6 5 -   - 20 6 0 0 100.00% List
Test Series 3 2 -   - - 2 1 0 66.67% List
The Ashes 3 2 -   - 16 2 1 0 66.67% List
City vs Country 1 - -   - - 1 0 0 100.00% List


International

Test Matches - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Australia 2000-01 11 8 -   - 32 10 1 0 90.91% List

World Cup Matches - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Australia 2000 6 5 -   - 20 6 0 0 100.00% List


Representative

Australia - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
NSW 1998-01 11 4 -   - 16 6 4 1 54.55% List
NSW Country 2006 1 - -   - - 1 0 0 100.00% List
Overall1998-2006 12 4 0   0 16 7 4 1 58.33% List


Club Career

NRL/NSWRL - By Year

Team Season App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Sydney City ARL 1995 6 - -   - - 4 2 0 66.67% List
Newcastle ARL 1997 11 5 -   - 20 8 3 0 72.73% List
Newcastle NRL 1998 12 7 -   - 28 10 2 0 83.33% List
Newcastle NRL 1999 9 4 -   - 16 6 3 0 66.67% List
Newcastle NRL 2000 21 16 -   - 64 11 9 1 52.38% List
Newcastle NRL 2001 20 14 -   - 56 15 5 0 75.00% List
Newcastle NRL 2002 1 - -   - - 1 0 0 100.00% List
Newcastle NRL 2003 12 11 -   - 44 7 5 0 58.33% List
Souths NRL 2004 5 1 -   - 4 2 3 0 40.00% List
Souths NRL 2005 17 2 -   - 8 6 10 1 35.29% List
Souths NRL 2006 9 2 -   - 8 1 8 0 11.11% List
Newcastle NRL 2007 18 9 -   - 36 7 11 0 38.89% List
Newcastle NRL 2008 15 7 -   - 28 10 5 0 66.67% List
Newcastle NRL 2009 16 5 -   - 20 9 7 0 56.25% List
Newcastle NRL 2010 14 5 -   - 20 6 8 0 42.86% List
Newcastle NRL 2011 9 4 1 / 1 100.00% - 18 3 6 0 33.33% List

NRL/NSWRL - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Sydney 1995 6 - -   - - 4 2 0 66.67% List
Newcastle 1997-03, 2007-11 158 87 1 / 1 100.00% - 350 93 64 1 58.86% List
Souths 2004-06 31 5 -   - 20 9 21 1 29.03% List
Overall1995-2011 195 92 1 / 1 100.00% 0 370 106 87 2 54.36% List

Your Say

  • Anonymous
    30/08/2013

    Not only a dynamic, hard charging runner of the ball throughout his whole NRL career, but also an intelligent and insightful television commentator today. Adam also has a good business mind, and completes his MBA studies at the University of Newcastle this year.

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Contributions: Rugby League Tables, Andrew Ferguson, Shawn Dollin, AJ Lucantonio, Max Turner, Greg Fiveash, Alan Katzmann, Jason Ganter, Cymru RL, Bill Bates

Sources: ARL Rugby League Yearbook 1996, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 2001, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 2002, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 2004, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 1999, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 1998, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 2000, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 2003, NRL 2004 Official Rugby League Annual, 2006 Official Rugby League Annual