Adam Elliott (born 16 October 1994) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a lock and second-row forward for the Newcastle Knights in the NRL.

Adam Elliott
Personal information
Born (1994-10-16) 16 October 1994 (age 30)
Bega, New South Wales, Australia
Height185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight103 kg (16 st 3 lb)
Playing information
PositionLock, Second-row
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2016–21 Canterbury Bulldogs 101 11 2 0 48
2022 Canberra Raiders 24 2 0 0 8
2023– Newcastle Knights 41 4 0 0 16
Total 166 17 2 0 72
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2015 NSW Residents 1 0 0 0 0
2017 Country NSW 1 1 0 0 4
2019–24 Indigenous All Stars 2 0 0 0 0
Source: [1]
As of 14 September 2024

He previously played for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and Canberra Raiders in the National Rugby League.

He has played for Country NSW and the Indigenous All Stars sides.

Background

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Elliott was born in Bega, New South Wales, Australia and is of Indigenous Australian and Latvian descent.[2][3]

He played his junior rugby league for the Tathra Sea Eagles and attended St Gregory's College, Campbelltown, playing in the college's GIO Schoolboys Cup side,[4] before being signed by the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.

Playing career

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Early career

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In 2013 and 2014, Elliott played for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs' NYC team,[5] before graduating to their New South Wales Cup team in 2015.[6]

 
Elliott playing for the Bulldogs in 2015

On 3 May 2015, he played for the New South Wales Residents against the Queensland Residents.[7] On 27 September 2015, he was named at second-row in the 2015 New South Wales Cup Team of the Year.[8] On 3 November 2015, he re-signed with Canterbury on a two-year contract.[9]

2016

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In round 1 of the 2016 NRL season, Elliott made his NRL debut for Canterbury-Bankstown against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles.[10][11]

2018

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Elliott made 24 appearances for Canterbury in the 2018 season scoring 4 tries.

2019

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Elliott made 20 appearances for Canterbury-Bankstown in the 2019 NRL season as the club struggled towards the bottom of the table. At one point the club was sitting last on the table and was in danger of getting the wooden spoon. For the third straight season however Canterbury achieved four upset victories in a row over Penrith, the Wests Tigers, South Sydney and Parramatta who were all competing for a place in the finals series and were higher on the table. Canterbury ended the season finishing 12th on the table.[12][13]

2020

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In round 8 of the 2020 NRL season, Elliott was taken from the field during Canterbury's 26–10 loss against Souths at Bankwest Stadium. It was later revealed that Elliott had dislocated his shoulder and would be ruled out for the season.[14]

2021

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On 15 February 2021, Elliott was involved in an incident with former NRL player Michael Lichaa and Lichaa's fiancée. The matter was referred on to the NRL integrity unit where Elliott avoided suspension and a fine. Elliott pledged to Canterbury that he would seek professional help in regards to his problems with alcohol.[15][16]

On 10 September, Elliott and Canterbury came to a mutual agreement to end his playing contract with the club.[17]

In late October 2021, Canberra Raiders signed Elliott to a 12-month contract, to resume his playing career in the 2022 NRL season.[18][19]

2022

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In June, Elliott signed a three-year contract with the Newcastle Knights starting in 2023.[20]

2023

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Elliott played a total of 18 matches for Newcastle in the 2023 NRL season as the club finished 5th on the table. Elliott played in both finals games as Newcastle were eliminated in the second week of the finals by the New Zealand Warriors.[21]

2024

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In round 2 of the 2024 NRL season, Elliott scored two tries for Newcastle in their 21-20 golden point extra-time loss to North Queensland.[22] Elliott played 23 matches for Newcastle in the 2024 NRL season as the club finished 8th and qualified for the finals. He played i their elimination final loss against North Queensland.[23]

Statistics

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Year Team Games Tries Goals Pts
2016   Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 7
2017 24 3 2 16
2018 24 4 16
2019 20 1 4
2020 8 1 4
2021 18 2 8
2022   Canberra Raiders 24 2 8
2023   Newcastle Knights 18
2024
Totals 143 13 2 56

Controversies

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Mad Monday

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In September 2018, Canterbury held Mad Monday celebrations at The Harbour View Hotel in Sydney's CBD. Later in the evening, photographs provided by the media showed Canterbury players being heavily intoxicated, stripping naked and vomiting in the street. Elliott was handed a $25,000 fine (including $10,000 suspended) by Canterbury after nude images of him appeared in the media. Elliott was also handed a notice to attend court for wilful and obscene exposure.[24][25][26]

On 17 December, at Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court, Elliott was handed a two-year good behaviour bond with no conviction recorded, for his role in the Mad Monday celebrations.[27]

Restaurant incident

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On 23 August, Elliott was stood down by Canterbury for the remaining two matches of the season after he was allegedly ejected from a Gold Coast restaurant for poor behaviour.[28] On 26 August, Elliott was fined $10,000 by the NRL for bringing the game into disrepute. There were further allegations involving Elliott, which included that he had taken women's rugby league player Millie Elliott (née Boyle) into the men's toilet at the Gold Coast restaurant, where they kissed and he removed his shirt. The restaurant workers then asked both Adam and Millie Elliott to leave the premises.[29]

Sex scandal

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Best friend and former teammate Michael Lichaa caught his fiancée performing oral sex on Elliott, the court heard in 2022.[30] Lichaa was taken to hospital with serious arm injuries from the altercation, after punching a window in an alcohol-fuelled rage.[31][32] The incident, which was initially reported simply as "making out", drew comparisons to Australian rules footballer Wayne Carey, who infamously had sex with the wife of then-teammate and best friend Anthony Stevens in 2002 and was ousted from North Melbourne Football Club in disgrace.

"I couldn’t get the image of my fiancee performing oral sex on my best friend out of my mind," Lichaa told the court.[33] Lichaa lost 2.5 litres of blood after punching a window with his hand, with police describing the scene as a "bloodfest". Concerned neighbours, who reported hearing a man scream "I’m going to f***ing kill her", called triple zero.

References

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  1. ^ "Adam Elliott – Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. 16 October 1990. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  2. ^ NRL Digital Media (14 December 2016). "World And Indigenous All Stars Announced". NSWRL. Archived from the original on 18 January 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  3. ^ "Where we're from: Our cultural heritage" – via www.newcastleknights.com.au.
  4. ^ "St Greg's shows Farrer how it's done". The Northern Daily Leader. 21 June 2012. Archived from the original on 4 September 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  5. ^ "E". Nyc Database. 27 December 2012. Archived from the original on 13 February 2018. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  6. ^ Posted: 4 March 2015 by Triple M NRL (4 March 2015). "NSW Cup Round One Team Lists | Triple M NRL". Triplem.com.au. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ "Representative Round team lists". NRL.com. 28 April 2015. Archived from the original on 5 May 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  8. ^ "2015 VB NSW Cup Team of the Year". NSWRL. Archived from the original on 28 September 2015. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  9. ^ "Bulldogs confirm retention and recruitment". Zero Tackle. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  10. ^ "Updated: Round 1 NRL team lists". NRL.com. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  11. ^ NRL. "NRL LATE MAIL: Sea-Eagles v". Bulldogs. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  12. ^ "Spoons of wood, high hopes and chances lost... the final round storylines". Brisbane Times. 5 September 2019. Archived from the original on 5 September 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  13. ^ "The Dean Pay way: 'Unashamedly' old school". NRL. September 2019. Archived from the original on 5 September 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  14. ^ "Thompson off leash as Dogs fear for Elliotts shoulder". nrl.com. 6 July 2020. Archived from the original on 7 July 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  15. ^ Lyons, Erin (14 February 2021). "'Love triangle': Ex-NRL star Michael Lichaa charged over alleged domestic incident". News.com.au. Archived from the original on 22 February 2021. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  16. ^ "Elliott to undergo professional help over alcohol issues". nrl.com.au. 20 February 2021. Archived from the original on 20 February 2021. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  17. ^ "Adam Elliott's career in limbo after split with Bulldogs". foxsports.com.au. 10 September 2021.
  18. ^ "NRL bad boy Adam Elliott finds new home at Canberra Raiders after toilet tryst scandal". foxsports.com.au. News Corporation Australia. 27 October 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  19. ^ "Adam Elliott Signs with the Raiders". Canberra Raiders. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  20. ^ "Knights take two big forward steps". Newcastle Knights. 10 June 2022.
  21. ^ "NRL 2023: Newcastle Knights season review". www.sportingnews.com.
  22. ^ "'Need to get over last year': O'Brien's plea for Knights to forget 10-game fairytale". www.foxsports.com.au.
  23. ^ "Brutal reality Newcastle must accept before solving confidence-killing 'riddle'". www.nine.com.au.
  24. ^ "Bulldogs' Mad Monday mess results in major sponsor walking away". News.com.au. 7 September 2018. Archived from the original on 7 September 2018. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  25. ^ "NSW Police charge Dogs for 'obscene exposure'". wwos.nine.com.au. Archived from the original on 7 September 2018. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  26. ^ "Custom Match List – Rugby League Project". rugbyleagueproject.org.
  27. ^ "Bulldogs 'Mad Monday' saga draws to a close". National Rugby League. 17 December 2018. Archived from the original on 19 December 2018. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  28. ^ "Dogs star stood down as details emerge in Gold Coast restaurant incident". foxsports.com.au. 23 August 2021.
  29. ^ "'Absolutely fed up': Dogs reportedly turn on Elliott as toilet tryst fine revealed". foxsports.com.au. 26 August 2021.
  30. ^ "Rugby star punched window after he 'caught ex giving oral sex to teammate'". indy100. 7 August 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  31. ^ "'Love triangle': Ex-NRL star Michael Lichaa charged over alleged domestic incident". News.com.au.
  32. ^ "Wild scenes after fiancee caught being 'intimate' with NRL player". 7NEWS. 15 February 2021. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  33. ^ Sunderland, Tom (6 August 2022). "NRL ace 'almost died' after 'seeing ex performing oral sex on teammate'". mirror. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
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