Tony Melrose

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 Five-eighth.

Tony Melrose

Personal information
Born	(1959-09-07) 7 September 1959 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
Height	179 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	81 kg (12 st 11 lb)
Position	Five-eighth, Centre
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1980–81 Parramatta Eels 20 4 18 4 52 1982–83 South Sydney 50 10 148 12 340 1984–85 Manly Sea Eagles 39 7 61 1 151 1986–89 Eastern Suburbs 73 11 71 13 199 Total 182 32 298 30 742 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 1982 New South Wales 1 0 2 0 4
Source: [1][2]

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 The Wallabies 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 1986–1989.

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.

References

1. NRL Stats
2. RLP
3. "State Of Origin - Game 2, 1982". Rugby League Tables. Archived from the original on 22 April 2008. Retrieved 8 December 2007.

Footnotes

• Whiticker, Alan; Hudson, Glen (2007). The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players. Wetherill Park, New South Wales: Gary Allen Pty Ltd. p. 609. ISBN 978-1-877082-93-1.