Paul Osborne

Bulky St George prop received huge wraps when the Dragons won the mid-week Panasonic Cup competition in 1988 but the ensuing years were relatively disappointing until the final match of his career. Moving to Canberra in 1992 Osborne played consistently at club level before choosing to see out his career in England at the end of 1994. The suspension of prop John Lomax on the eve of the grand final against C’bury, however, saw coach Tim Sheens call upon Osborne’s experience - despite the fact that he was coming back from injury and had not played for a month. The talented ball-playing prop did not let his side down, setting up the opening two tries of the match that built a 12-0 platform for victory. Although replaced after 28 minutes (he returned to the field for the final 15), Osborne’s contribution was integral to the club’s premiership success. When Osborne’s English deal fell through he contemplated a season with Sheffield but decided to stay in Australia. With Canberra’s playing roster finalised and with no other offers for 1995, he was forced into ‘retirement’ at age 28 (he played another three seasons with West Belconnen in the local Canberra competition and acted as the Raiders’ Chairman of Selectors). Osborne was elected as the first Independent Member of the ACT Legislative Assembly, but joined ABC Radio’s Grandstand team after losing his seat in 2001.