Rodney Howe

  • Playing Career

Playing Career

Vital Statistics

Born
Wednesday, 31st January, 1973
Current Age
51 years and 47 days
Place Of Birth
Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia

Biography

Newcastle junior had a season with Widnes (1993-94) before being signed by the Western Reds for the club’s debut season in 1995. The hard-working forward represented Super League Australia in the ANZac Test but suffered a knee injury after playing in one match for NSW in the Tri-Series competition. With the imminent demise of the Perth team, Howe was targeted by the newly-formed Melbourne Storm while recovering from his injury. In 1998 he represented Australia in the 22-16 loss to NZ in the ANZac Test but after a phenomenal performance for NSW in the second State of Origin match, it was revealed that he had taken a prohibited steroid to treat his leg injury. Melbourne resisted calls to sack him from the club, arguing that Howe had taken the drug before coming to the club and that they would continue to educate their players rather than turn their backs on them. With the NRL ruling that he could neither sit on the sidelines nor have any official dealings with the club during his 22-week suspension, Howe made his return early in the 1999 season and was promptly suspended for a high tackle that left Auckland’s Jason Death with a broken jaw. Rushed back into the NSW Origin team, Howe finished the season as the forward leader in Melbourne’s thrilling, 20-18 grand final win. Test matches against NZ and Great Britain followed in the Tri-series competition at the end of the year but injury ruled him out of the final against the Kiwis. Howe was one of Melbourne’s most consistent players in 2000 and was named the Storms’ Player of the Year after representing Australia in the ANZac Test and NSW in the opening two matches of the State of Origin series. Howe missed the 2000 World Cup when he elected to have surgery on a troublesome shoulder injury before achieving the unwanted record of being the first player suspended in the 2000 season (six weeks for a reckless head-high tackle). Used from the interchange bench in the opening State of Origin match, he was dropped for the remainder of the series after the Blues’ poor showing and despite captaining the club in 2003 he did not play in another representative match before announcing his retirement in 2004.
- 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 156 7 -   - 28 79 73 4 50.64% List
English Championship 7 1 -   - 4 5 2 0 71.43% List
Tour Matches Widnes Vikings 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List
Regal Trophy 2 - -   - - 1 1 0 50.00% List
Anzac Tests 3 - -   - - 2 1 0 66.67% List
State of Origin 8 - -   - - 4 3 1 50.00% List
NRL Finals 7 - -   - - 4 3 0 57.14% List
Tri-Nations 2 - -   - - 1 1 0 50.00% List
Tour Matches Australia 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 (SL) 1997 1 - -   - - 1 0 0 100.00% List
Australia 1998-00 4 - -   - - 2 2 0 50.00% List
Overall1997-2000 5 0 0   0 - 3 2 0 60.00% List


Representative

Australia - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
NSW (SL) 1997 1 - -   - - 1 0 0 100.00% List
NSW 1998-01 8 - -   - - 4 3 1 50.00% List
Overall1997-2001 9 0 0   0 - 5 3 1 55.56% List


Club Career

NRL/NSWRL - By Year

Team Season App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Newcastle NSWRL 1992 3 - -   - - 2 1 0 66.67% List
Newcastle NSWRL 1993 7 1 -   - 4 4 3 0 57.14% List
Western Reds ARL 1995 14 1 -   - 4 8 6 0 57.14% List
Western Reds ARL 1996 18 1 -   - 4 4 14 0 22.22% List
Western Reds Super League 1997 8 - -   - - 4 4 0 50.00% List
Melbourne NRL 1998 12 1 -   - 4 9 2 1 75.00% List
Melbourne NRL 1999 17 1 -   - 4 13 4 0 76.47% List
Melbourne NRL 2000 21 1 -   - 4 12 8 1 57.14% List
Melbourne NRL 2001 17 1 -   - 4 7 9 1 41.18% List
Melbourne NRL 2002 14 - -   - - 3 10 1 21.43% List
Melbourne NRL 2003 2 - -   - - 2 0 0 100.00% List
Melbourne NRL 2004 23 - -   - - 11 12 0 47.83% List

NRL/NSWRL - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Newcastle 1992-93 10 1 -   - 4 6 4 0 60.00% List
Western Reds 1995-97 40 2 -   - 8 16 24 0 40.00% List
Melbourne 1998-04 106 4 -   - 16 57 45 4 53.77% List
Overall1992-2004 156 7 0   0 28 79 73 4 50.64% List

English Career - By Year

Team Season App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Widnes 1993/94 9 1 -   - 4 6 3 0 66.67% List

English Career - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Widnes 1993 9 1 -   - 4 6 3 0 66.67% List

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Contributions: Rugby League Tables, Andrew Ferguson, Shawn Dollin, AJ Lucantonio, Alan Katzmann, Paul Carter, Bill Bates

Sources: ARL Rugby League Yearbook 1997, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 1998, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 2001, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 2000, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 2002, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 2003, ARL Rugby League Yearbook 1996, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 1999, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 2004, NRL 2004 Official Rugby League Annual, NSWRL Rugby League Yearbook 1992-93, NSWRL Rugby League Yearbook 1994, Irvin Saxton's Record Keepers' Club, Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1994-95