Tony Melrose Explained

Tony Melrose
Birth Date:7 September 1959
Birth Place:Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Height:179cm (70inches)
Weight:81kg (179lb)
Retired:yes
Club1:Parramatta Eels
Year1start:1980
Year1end:81
Appearances1:20
Tries1:4
Goals1:18
Fieldgoals1:4
Points1:52
Club2:South Sydney
Year2start:1982
Year2end:83
Appearances2:50
Tries2:10
Goals2:148
Fieldgoals2:12
Points2:340
Club3:Manly Sea Eagles
Year3start:1984
Year3end:85
Appearances3:39
Tries3:7
Goals3:61
Fieldgoals3:1
Points3:151
Club4:Eastern Suburbs
Year4start:1986
Year4end:89
Appearances4:73
Tries4:11
Goals4:71
Fieldgoals4:13
Points4:199
Teama:New South Wales
Yearastart:1982
Appearancesa:1
Triesa:0
Goalsa:2
Fieldgoalsa:0
Pointsa:4
Source:[1] [2]

Tony Melrose (born 7 September 1959) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. He played in the NSWRL Premiership for Parramatta, South Sydney, Manly-Warringah and Eastern Suburbs in the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) competition. He primarily played in the centres or at .

Melrose began his footballing career playing rugby union. He was captain of the Australian Schoolboys rugby union team and was a member of the team's undefeated tour of Great Britain in 1977. In that Schoolboys squad were the likes of the Ella Brothers Mark, Glen and Gary, as well as future dual international Michael O'Connor and future Australian Kangaroos captain Wally Lewis. He played for the Parramatta Two Blues, New South Wales Waratahs and six tests for Australia as a five-eighth before switching to rugby league in 1980 at the age of twenty.

Melrose was selected to represent New South Wales as a winger for game II of the 1982 State of Origin series, scoring two goals from three attempts.[3]

After two seasons with Parramatta, Tony Melrose moved to Souths where he was the Rabbitohs leading point scorer in 1982 with 186 points (8 tries, 79 goals), and again in 1983 with 154 points (2 tries, 69 goals). He then spent two seasons at Manly under the coaching of Bob Fulton before moving to Easts from 1986 to 1989.

Melrose retired from playing league after the 1989 NSWRL season, having played 182 first grade games (20 with the Eels, 50 with Souths, 39 with Manly and 73 with Easts). He scored a total of 32 tries (4, 10, 7 and 11 with each respective club) and kicked 298 goals (18, 148, 61 and 71).

After retiring from league, Melrose eventually returned to union in 1992, playing with Gordon RFC.

Footnotes

Notes and References

  1. http://203.166.101.37/NRL08/playercareer.asp?lplayer=5706 NRL Stats
  2. http://rugbyleagueproject.com/players/Tony_Melrose.html RLP
  3. Web site: Rugby League Tables. State Of Origin – Game 2, 1982. 2007-12-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20080422231312/http://stats.rleague.com/rl/soo/game4.html. 22 April 2008. dead.