Chris Houston (rugby league)

Chris Houston (born 15 February 1985) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Widnes Vikings in the Super League. He played as a second-row, lock and prop and previously played for the St. George Illawarra Dragons and Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League.

Chris Houston
Houston playing for the Knights in 2009.
Personal information
Full nameChristopher Houston
Born (1985-02-15) 15 February 1985
Narooma, New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
Height191 cm (6 ft 3 in)
Weight102 kg (16 st 1 lb)
PositionSecond-row, Lock, Prop
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2007 St. George Illawarra 16 0 0 0 0
2008–15 Newcastle Knights 160 27 0 0 108
2016–18 Widnes 68 6 0 0 24
Total 244 33 0 0 132
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2011 NSW Country 1 0 0 0 0
Source: [1][2]

Background

Born in Narooma, New South Wales, Houston played his junior football for the Narooma Devils before being signed by the St. George Illawarra Dragons. Houston played for the Dragons' Premier League reserve-grade team in 2006.[3]

Playing career

In round 3 of the 2007 NRL season, Houston made his NRL debut for St. George Illawarra against the North Queensland Cowboys.

In late 2007, Houston signed a contract with the Newcastle Knights starting in 2008. In round 13 of the 2008 NRL season, Houston made his first appearance as a captain due to the Newcastle Knights regular captain Kurt Gidley and vice-captain Steve Simpson being unavailable for the match. In March 2010, Houston was served with a notice to attend court on charges of supplying ecstasy and cocaine.[4] He voluntarily terminated his contract with the Newcastle club.[5]

On 17 December 2010, Houston was cleared of all charges[6] On 23 December 2010, due to being cleared of all charges, Houston signed a new two-year contract with the Newcastle Knights starting in 2011.[7]

On 31 July 2012, Houston re-signed with Newcastle on a two-year contract.[8]

Houston made 992 tackles in the 2012 season, averaging over 41 tackles a game, the most of any player in the National Rugby League.[9]

On 31 October 2014, Houston re-signed with Newcastle on a two-year contract.[10] On 2 December 2015, Houston signed a two-year contract with Super League side Widnes Vikings starting in 2016, after being told he was free to look elsewhere by incoming Knights coach Nathan Brown.[11]

On 11 July 2017, it was announced that Houston had signed an extension of his contract with Widnes, keeping him at the club until the end of 2018.[12]

Representative career

In 2009, Houston was named 18th man for New South Wales in Game 3 of the 2009 State of Origin series, however he didn't play.

In 2011, Houston played for Country against City in the annual City vs Country Origin match.

gollark: Hmm, this is good.
gollark: Yep.
gollark: ++remind 1d apio form
gollark: Oh no.
gollark: Or theory.

References
  1. loverugbyleague
  2. Rugby League Project
  3. "rleague.com - Houston, Chris". Archived from the original on 18 June 2012. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  4. Proudman, Dan (1 March 2010). "Knights' Chris Houston to face drug supply charges". smh.com.au. Retrieved 1 March 2010.
  5. "Latest rugby league news and rumours". Zero Tackle. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  6. "Chris Houston cleared of drug charges | Newcastle Herald". Theherald.com.au. 17 December 2010. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  8. "Houston announces re-signing". Archived from the original on 2 August 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
  9. Brett Keeble (14 May 2013). "Bennett wields the axe as star duo dropped". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  10. "Knights sign trio - Knights". Newcastleknights.com.au. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  11. "Houston joins Widnes Vikings from Newcastle Knights | NRL". Zero Tackle. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  12. "Chris Houston: Widnes Vikings second row signs new deal with club". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
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