Stirling Austin Mortlock AM[1] (born 20 May 1977) is an Australian former professional rugby union player. He has scored more than 1,000 points in Super Rugby, and nearly 500 test points for the Wallabies.[2] Mortlock is a former Wallaby, Melbourne Rebels and Brumbies captain.
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| Birth name | Stirling Austin Mortlock | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 20 May 1977 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Sydney, Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 191 cm (6 ft 3 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 103 kg (16 st 3 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | The King's School, Parramatta | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Early life
editBorn in Sydney, Mortlock began playing rugby with Lindfield Juniors.[3] Mortlock was educated at The King's School in Parramatta Sydney. He represented Gordon Juniors at Colt level and still represents Gordon at club level today.[4] He represented Australia at Under 19 and Under 21 level before pursuing a professional career with the Brumbies.[5]
Professional career
edit
Brumbies career
editIn 1998, Mortlock joined the ACT Brumbies. He was part of the Brumbies Super Rugby championships team in 2001.[6] In 2004 he succeeded George Gregan as ACT Brumbies Captain and played every game that season except the final due to injury and thus was unable to lead the team to claim the Super 12 title that year.[4][7]
Wallabies career
editThen Wallaby coach Rod Macqueen plucked Mortlock out of club rugby at the young age of 20 to tour Argentina with the Wallabies in 1997.[4]
In 2000, he made his Test debut against Argentina.[4]
2000 was a landmark year for Mortlock – he became the fastest Australian to reach 50 and 100 Test points, he scored the most points and highest number of penalties [16] by any Australian in his first five Tests and created history by becoming the first Australian to score 20 points or more in four consecutive Tests. With the Wallaby team, Mortlock was instrumental in the famous Bledisloe and Tri-Nation Series' Victories of 2000. He scored a sideline penalty goal in 2000 against South Africa in Durban to win Australia's first Tri Nations crown.[8]
Mortlock won man-of-the-match and had an 80-metre intercept try at then-Telstra Stadium to help knock the All Blacks out of the 2003 Rugby World Cup in the semi-final.[5]
In 2006, Mortlock became the 73rd player to captain the Wallabies.[2][4] In 2007, Mortlock was made co-captain with Phil Waugh.[9]
In February 2008, Mortlock announced that he hoped to continue playing with the Wallabies until at least the end of 2010. Australian Rugby Union CEO John O'Neill endorsed this decision saying that Mortlock is a "real captain courageous" and an "inspirational leader".[10]
He missed Wallabies' selection in October 2010. A press release from the Rebels said Mortlock was recuperating after surgery, and hoped to be "training in full by December."[2]
Melbourne Rebels
editThe Melbourne Rebels signed Mortlock in March 2010, to a three-year deal for an undisclosed amount.[2][11][12] Mortlock was declared the Rebels inaugural Captain on 2 February 2011,[13][14][15][16][17] with former Wales international Gareth Delve as Vice-Captain.
In June 2012, Mortlock announced he would retire as a player at the end of the 2012 Super Rugby season,[6] However, in 2013 he continued with the Rebels in a supporting role.[18]
Records and awards
editMortlock was named Super Rugby player of the year in 2002.[19] In 2008, Mortlock's ability to score tries and kick goals positioned him third on the all-time list of Australian Test point scorers (with 473 points).[5] In May 2009, in the Super 14 match between the Auckland Blues and the ACT Brumbies Mortlock became the highest points scorer in Super Rugby history, surpassing New Zealand's Andrew Mehrtens. He finished with on 1019 Super Rugby points for the Brumbies. He is the sixth player for the Brumbies to achieve 100 caps.[7]
Mortlock was made a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2012 Australia Day Honours List.[20]
References
edit- ^ "Ricky ponting, Stirling Mortlock, George Smithes, Jessica Watson, Steve Glasson honoured in Australia Day Awards". Foxsports Website. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
- ^ a b c d Rebels Media Unit (13 October 2010). "Mortlock sees Rebels as World Cup springboard" (Press release). Melbourne Rebels. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
- ^ "LRC History". Lindfield Rugby Club. 2010. Archived from the original on 26 April 2010. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
- ^ a b c d e "Mortlock, Stirling". Brumbies Rugby. Archived from the original on 14 February 2009.
- ^ a b c "Stirling Mortlock profile". rugby.com.au. Archived from the original on 13 May 2009. Retrieved 13 November 2008.
- ^ a b "Mortlock to call it quits". Super Rugby. Sport24. 17 June 2012. Retrieved 17 June 2012.
- ^ a b Deane, Steve (4 April 2008). "Mortlock the heartbreak king". NZ Herald. APN Holdings. Retrieved 13 November 2008.
- ^ "Stirling kick seals Tri-Nations". BBC News. 26 August 2000. Retrieved 13 November 2008.
- ^ "Gregan's captaincy axing confirmed". ABC News. Australia: ABC. 20 May 2007. Retrieved 13 November 2008.
- ^ Warren, Adrian (28 February 2008). "Mortlock re-signs with ARU". Fox Sports. Retrieved 13 November 2008.[permanent dead link]
- ^ AAP (31 March 2010). "Mortlock links up again with Macqueen". Stirling Mortlock website. Front Page Management. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
- ^ Gould, Russell (31 March 2010). "Mortlock to join Melbourne Rebels". Herald Sun. News Limited. Retrieved 16 May 2010.
- ^ Paxinos, Stathi (2 February 2011). "Mortlock the man to lead the Rebels". Age. Fairfax. Retrieved 4 February 2011.
- ^ Rebels Media Unit (2 February 2011). "Stirling Mortlock and Gareth Delve to lead Rebels" (Press release). Melbourne Rebels. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
- ^ Schlink, Leo (2 February 2011). "Stirling Mortlock named as first Melbourne Rebels skipper". Herald Sun. News Limited. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
- ^ Paxinos, Stathi (2 February 2011). "Mortlock promises Rebels will 'do Melbourne proud'". Age. Fairfax. Retrieved 4 February 2011.
- ^ AAP (3 February 2011). "Rebels are determined to hit the ground running: Mortlock". Age. Fairfax. Retrieved 4 February 2011.
- ^ Schlink, Leo (13 April 2013). "Stirling Mortlock praises resiliance [sic] shown in testing times by Melbourne Rebels". Herald Sun. News. Archived from the original on 23 April 2013. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
- ^ AAP (30 May 2002). "Mortlock Named Super 12 Player of the Year". ARU. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
- ^ "26 January 2012". AustralianBroadcasting Corporation. 26 January 2012. Archived from the original on 26 January 2012.
External links
edit- Stirling Mortlock Official website
- Stirling Mortlock Melbourne Rebels profile
- Stirling Mortlock and Rod Macqueen photo from Getty Images
- Stirling Mortlock Brumbies profile from archive.org