Julian O'Neill

A naturally gifted sportsman, Julian O’Neill represented Australia at schoolboy level in rugby league and cricket, and Queensland in athletics and swimming.

He went from schoolboy prodigy to Broncos first grader almost overnight, making his first grade debut in 1991, aged 18.

Renowned Broncos' recruitment chief, Cyril Connell rated O'Neill one of the top 10 schoolboy or junior talents he had seen. O'Neill played fullback in the Broncos' 1992 and 1993 grand final wins over St George, succeeding international, Paul Hauff in the custodian role.

Equally at home at five eighth, O'Neill had played for Widnes in the 1993 Challenge Cup final at Wembley, the Broncos allowing him to travel to England in May that year, after he played the early part of the championship season with the Cheshire club.

The UK trip ruled him out of contention for Origin Game I that year, but he made his debut off the bench in Origin II.

"I was lucky to have the best coach, ever, I think, in Wayne Bennett. The biggest thing about Wayne is that he backs his players.

Julian O'Neill FOG #78

He made his starting debut, at five-eighth, in Origin III. O'Neill went on to play eight more games for Queensland, his last in 2000, when he was contracted to North Queensland Cowboys. Three times he started at fullback, twice at five-eighth and once at centre.

On the other two occasions he was on the bench. He played with the Western Reds in 1996, after a stint with London Broncos, but left the Perth club mid-season in 1997, linking with South Sydney, where he was captain for a brief period. During his stint with the Reds, he was chosen for the Super League Australian team, for a 'Test' against New Zealand.

He joined the Cowboys in 1999 and had two seasons there, before playing out his career in England, turning out for Wigan (2002-2003); Widnes (2003-2005) and then Wakefield Trinity.

There also was a brief stint in rugby union with French club, Pau. He was part of Wigan's winning Challenge Cup side in 2002.

After he retired from playing, he was involved in coaching and development work in Papua New Guinea.