Julian O'Neill

  • Playing Career

Playing Career

Vital Statistics

Full Name
Brian Julian O'Neill
Born
Saturday, 14th October, 1972
Current Age
51 years and 157 days
Place Of Birth
Hornsby, New South Wales, Australia

Biography

Former Australian Schoolboy rep from Yeppoon settled into the fullback role with the Broncos after an injury to Paul Hauff in 1992. O’Neill quickly took his place in Brisbane’s successful grand final and World Club Championship teams, while his time with Widnes in the 1992-93 off-season sharpened his considerable skills. He made his State of Origin debut at five-eighth the following year and landed a goal in Brisbane’s 14-6 grand final victory over St George. O’Neill played in all three interstate matches in 1994, scoring a try in the first match and landing two goals in the third. However, his career nose-dived when the Broncos sacked him on disciplinary grounds. Joining the London Broncos, he was sent back to Australia after a drink-driving incident and joined the W’Reds. For a while his career regained momentum - playing for Australia in Super League’s ANZac Test before capturing the Queensland fullback spot in the opening match of the Tri-Series competition. A record-setter with the Reds (most tries and most points in an individual match, 26pts), he was again sacked by his club for disciplinary reasons. In 1998 O’Neill was given a lifeline by the struggling Souths club but did not see eye-to-eye with coach Steve Martin and spent some time in the Rabbitohs’ President’s Cup team. The club appeared to back O’Neill when they cancelled Martin’s contract midway through the season but their patience was tested following O’Neill’s involvement in the trashing of a Dubbo hotel during a pre-season Country Carnival competition. Although Souths stopped short of sacking him, the NRL at first refused to allow O’Neill to return to grade football until they were satisfied that he was seeking an appropriate course of professional counselling. A player of undeniable talent, he gave two years good service to the battling North Queensland North Queensland and was called into Queensland’s struggling State of Origin team in 2000. O’Neill’s family endured the personal tragedy of the death of his infant daughter just before joining English club Wigan in 2002. He was a Challenge Cup winner with the club that year but was transferred to Widnes by coach Stuart Raper in 2003 when the club struggled in the early part of the season.
- 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 228 68 455   13 1195 109 114 5 47.81% List
Tooheys Challenge Cup 1 4 17   - 50 1 0 0 100.00% List
NRL Finals 10 2 18   - 44 7 3 0 70.00% List
World Club Challenge 2 2 1   - 10 1 1 0 50.00% List
State of Origin 10 2 9   - 26 3 7 0 30.00% List
English Championship 3 - 13   1 27 2 1 0 66.67% List
Anzac Tests 1 - -   - - 1 0 0 100.00% List
Challenge Cup 13 3 18   - 48 9 4 0 69.23% List
Super League 102 28 234   7 587 49 51 2 48.04% List


International

Test Matches - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Australia (SL) 1997 1 - -   - - 1 0 0 100.00% List


Representative

Australia - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
QLD 1993-94, 1996-97, 2000 10 2 9   - 26 3 7 0 30.00% List
QLD (SL) 1997 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List
Overall1993-2000 11 2 9   0 26 3 8 0 27.27% List


Club Career

NRL/NSWRL - By Year

Team Season App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Brisbane NSWRL 1991 8 2 4 / 8 50.00% - 16 5 3 0 62.50% List
Brisbane NSWRL 1992 24 6 11 / 14 78.57% 1 47 20 4 0 83.33% List
Brisbane NSWRL 1993 26 9 28 / 41 68.29% 3 95 20 6 0 76.92% List
Brisbane NSWRL 1994 24 8 47 / 78 60.26% 3 129 14 9 1 58.33% List
Brisbane ARL 1995 23 8 79 / 106 74.53% 2 192 16 7 0 69.57% List
Western Reds ARL 1996 18 6 49 / 61 80.33% 3 125 6 11 1 33.33% List
Western Reds Super League 1997 8 6 14 / 24 58.33% 1 53 4 4 0 50.00% List
Souths ARL 1997 10 - 21 / 29 72.41% - 42 0 9 1 0.00% List
Souths NRL 1998 19 6 39 / 55 70.91% - 102 4 15 0 21.05% List
Souths NRL 1999 21 3 41 / 59 69.49% - 94 8 13 0 38.10% List
North QLD NRL 2000 24 3 66 / 83 79.52% - 144 7 17 0 29.17% List
North QLD NRL 2001 23 11 56 / 82 68.29% - 156 5 16 2 21.74% List

NRL/NSWRL - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Brisbane 1991-95 105 33 169 / 247 68.42% 9 479 75 29 1 71.43% List
Western Reds 1996-97 26 12 63 / 85 74.12% 4 178 10 15 1 38.46% List
Souths 1997-99 50 9 101 / 143 70.63% - 238 12 37 1 24.00% List
North QLD 2000-01 47 14 122 / 165 73.94% - 300 12 33 2 25.53% List
Overall1991-2001 228 68 455 / 640 71.09% 13 1,195 109 114 5 47.81% List

English Career - By Year

Team Season App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
London 1995/96 3 - 13   1 27 2 1 0 66.67% List
Wigan 2002 32 12 61   - 170 26 6 0 81.25% List
Widnes 2002 2 - -   - - 1 1 0 50.00% List
Wigan 2003 6 2 25   - 58 5 1 0 83.33% List
Widnes 2003 21 5 84   2 190 12 8 1 57.14% List
Widnes 2004 26 9 61   4 162 7 19 0 26.92% List
Wakefield Trinity 2005 13 2 4   - 16 4 9 0 30.77% List
Widnes 2005 14 1 15   1 35 3 10 1 21.43% List
Leigh 2006 1 - 2   - 4 0 1 0 0.00% List

English Career - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
London 1995 3 - 13   1 27 2 1 0 66.67% List
Wigan 2002-03 38 14 86   - 228 31 7 0 81.58% List
Widnes 2002-05 63 15 160   7 387 23 38 2 36.51% List
Wakefield Trinity 2005 13 2 4   - 16 4 9 0 30.77% List
Leigh 2006 1 - 2   - 4 0 1 0 0.00% List
Overall1995-2006 118 31 265   8 662 60 56 2 50.85% List

Your Say

  • Badapple
    29/06/2011

    The only player to play in both the ARL State Of Origin and Super League TRI-SERIES (NSW/QLD/NZ) in 1997.

  • Png
    08/02/2012

    Brilliant player, top guy and knows how to get the best out of a team when coaching. He really has done a lot for rugby league in png...

  • rogewr hall
    24/06/2012

    one of the best player s i ever had the pleasure of watching

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Contributions: Rugby League Tables, Andrew Ferguson, AJ Lucantonio, Shawn Dollin, Max Turner, Greg Fiveash, Alan Katzmann, Paul Carter, Steven Russo, Bill Bates

Sources: ARL Rugby League Yearbook 1997, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 1998, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 2001, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 2002, ARL Rugby League Yearbook 1996, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 1999, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 2000, Richard Bailey's Rugby League World, NSWRL Rugby League Yearbook 1991-92, NSWRL Rugby League Yearbook 1992-93, NSWRL Rugby League Yearbook 1994, ARL Rugby League Yearbook 1995, Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1996