Nathan Ross (rugby league)

Nathan Ross
Personal information
Born (1988-11-04) 4 November 1988 (age 36)
Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia[1]
Playing information
Height181 cm (5 ft 11 in)[2]
Weight92 kg (14 st 7 lb)[3]
PositionWing, Fullback, Centre
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2011–12 Toulouse Olympique 16 16 0 0 64
2015–18 Newcastle Knights 60 23 0 0 92
Total 76 39 0 0 156
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2015 NSW Residents 1 0 0 0 0
2017 NSW City 1 0 0 0 0
Source: [4][5]

Nathan Ross (born 4 November 1988), nicknamed "White Lightning"[6][7] or "Ross Dog",[8] is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a wing, fullback and centre.

He played Toulouse Olympique in the Elite One Championship and the Newcastle Knights in the NRL. He also played for New South Wales City.

Background

Born on the Gold Coast, Queensland,[1] Ross played his junior rugby league for the Burleigh Bears and Coogee Randwick Wombats.

Ross is the son of former Penrith Panthers, South Sydney Rabbitohs and Gold Coast Seagulls player Mark Ross.[9]

Playing career

Early career

In 2009, Ross played for the Tweed Heads Seagulls in the Queensland Cup,[10][11] before returning to the Burleigh Bears in 2010.[12] In 2011, he moved to Newcastle, New South Wales for work,[13] while playing for Lakes United in the Newcastle Rugby League.[14] In 2012, he moved to France[15] to play for Toulouse Olympique,[16] before returning to Lakes United later that year.[17] His form that year, scoring 11 tries in 8 games for Lakes United,[18] was rewarded by getting games with the Newcastle Knights' New South Wales Cup side.[19]

Ross playing for the Newcastle Knights

In 2013, he signed with the Western Suburbs Rosellas, before leaving without playing a match to do a pre-season with the Knights' first-grade squad.[18][20] He was unsuccessful with getting a contract so signed with the Kurri Kurri Bulldogs for the 2013 season.[18] As Kurri Kurri made their way to the 2013 Newcastle Rugby League Grand Final, he was considered "arguably the most lethal player in the competition".[7]

In 2014, he joined the Knights' New South Wales Cup side again on a 1-year contract, as their full-time fullback.[7][21] On 21 September 2014, he was named at fullback in the 2014 New South Wales Cup Team of the Year,[22] after scoring 17 tries in 16 games that season.[23] On 14 October 2014, he re-signed with the Knights on a 2-year contract,[24] almost signing with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs before the Knights decided to offer him a contract.[23]

2015

On 31 January and 1 February, Ross played for the Knights in the 2015 NRL Auckland Nines.[3][25] On 27 April 2015, he was named as 19th man for the New South Wales Residents to play the Queensland Residents.[26] In Round 21 of the 2015 NRL season, he made his NRL debut for the Knights against the St. George Illawarra Dragons,[27][28] scoring a try on debut.[29] He went on to play in the next remaining 5 games of the season for the Knights.[30] Late in the year, he had his contract with the Knights upgraded for 2016, with an option for 2017.[31][32]

2016

On 6 August, after playing in the majority of the Knights' games that season, Ross cancelled his optional contract for 2017 by re-signing with the Knights on a new 2-year contract until the end of 2018.[33][34]

2017

In July, he had his Knights contract extended until the end of 2020.[35]

In August he fractured his back playing against the New Zealand Warriors.[36]

2018

In the 2018 season, Ross made 15 appearances and scored 2 tries as Newcastle avoided the wooden spoon for the first time in his career, but failed to reach the finals.[37][38]

2019

Ross retired from rugby league in April 2019 after suffering irreparable damage to his pelvis.[39] He had also suffered from a persistent groin injury and a compound dislocation to his finger during pre-season, threatening to derail his season before it had started.[40]

References

  1. ^ a b "Nathan Ross on Twitter: "@maroon_golf born on the gold cost at pindara hospital..! Play juniors in nsw and qld thou"". Twitter. 19 November 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  2. ^ "Nathan Ross | Newcastle Knights | NRL". Zero Tackle. 14 October 2014. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  3. ^ a b Leeson, Josh (19 January 2015). "Ross' big chance to shine at Nines | Newcastle Herald". Theherald.com.au. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  4. ^ "Nathan Ross - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  5. ^ "Rugby - Player statistics - club stats". www.itsrugby.co.uk. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  6. ^ Leeson, Josh (6 December 2013). "Nathan Ross in boxing ring Saturday night | Newcastle Herald". Theherald.com.au. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  7. ^ a b c Leeson, Josh (3 March 2014). "KURRI IN A HURRY: Nathan Ross set for Knights | Newcastle Herald". Theherald.com.au. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  8. ^ Keeble, Brett (25 September 2014). "Ross backs himself to leave mark on NSW Cup grand final | Newcastle Herald". Theherald.com.au. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  9. ^ Keeble, Brett. "Debutant brings enthusiasm to Knights cause | Newcastle Herald". Theherald.com.au. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  10. ^ "Rd 8 Preview Seagulls v Tweed Heads". Wynnumseagulls.com.au. 2 May 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  11. ^ "Rugby League, July 26". News.com.au. 26 July 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  12. ^ "Toowoomba V Burleigh Results/Paper Article – Toowoomba Rugby Football League Ltd". Fox Sports Pulse. 22 February 2010. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  13. ^ "Intrust Super Cup Player Loss and Gains". Wynnumseagulls.com.au. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  14. ^ Keeble, Brett (22 April 2011). "Shipway wants more as Lions roar into form | Newcastle Herald". Theherald.com.au. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  15. ^ Leeson, Josh (11 April 2012). "Real NRL season preview: former stars boost Cessnock | Newcastle Herald". Theherald.com.au. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  16. ^ "Nathan Ross Player Stats". Loverugbyleague.com. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  17. ^ Leeson, Josh (11 February 2013). "Afamasaga tipped for Wests release | Newcastle Herald". Theherald.com.au. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  18. ^ a b c Leeson, Josh (21 June 2013). "Ross returns to Real NRL after three months | Newcastle Herald". Theherald.com.au. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  19. ^ "2012 NSW Cup Preliminary Final – Balmain Ryde -Eastwood Tigers v Newcastle Knights | Jason McCawley | Photographer". Jasonmccawley.photoshelter.com. 23 September 2012. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  20. ^ "Action Photographics". Actionphoto.com.au. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  21. ^ Callinan, Josh (23 September 2014). "Knights NSW Cup side shows faith in Nathan Ross' electrifying form". The Maitland Mercury. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  22. ^ "2014 VB NSW Cup Team of the Year". NSWRL.com.au. Archived from the original on 8 July 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  23. ^ a b Keeble, Brett (13 October 2014). "Nathan Ross finds a place to call home at Knights | Newcastle Herald". Theherald.com.au. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  24. ^ "Nathan Ross finds a place at Knights | NRL". Zero Tackle. 15 October 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  25. ^ "2015 Auckland Nines squad lists". NRL.com. 29 January 2015. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  26. ^ "VB NSW Cup Representative Team". NSWRL. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  27. ^ "NRL 2015 - Round 21". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  28. ^ "LATE MAIL: Dragons v Knights – Knights". Newcastleknights.com.au. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  29. ^ "Dragons snap seven-game losing run". NRL.com. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  30. ^ "Custom Match List". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  31. ^ Dillon, Robert (8 January 2016). "Nathan vows to kick on in 2016 | Newcastle Herald". Theherald.com.au. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  32. ^ "Wayne Bennett Signs Dragons Backrower; Bulldogs Outside Back Re-Signs". Dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  33. ^ NRL Digital Media. "All smiles as Ross re-signs - Knights". Newcastleknights.com.au. Archived from the original on 20 August 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  34. ^ "Nathan Ross has inked a new two-year deal that will tie him to Newcastle until end of 2018". Dailytelegraph.com.au. 6 August 2016. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  35. ^ "Nathan Ross extends Newcastle contract". Zero Tackle. 14 May 2017. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  36. ^ "Knights down Warriors 26-10 to claim back-to-back wins". Daily Telegraph. 5 August 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  37. ^ "Custom Match List - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  38. ^ "Newcastle Knights 2018 season review". National Rugby League. 22 October 2018. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  39. ^ "Nathan Ross announces retirement". Newcastle Knights. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  40. ^ TOOHEY, BARRY (26 February 2019). "On-the-outer Knight Nathan Ross faces 6 week stint on sideline". Newcastle Herald. Retrieved 3 April 2019.