Ross Conlon

Powerhouse goal-kicker, originally from Murwillumbah, was spotted playing for Mount St Marys in the University Cup competition (alongside Des Hasler) by Wests coach Roy Masters in 1980. Conlon's two years with the Magpies saw him gain a reputation as a strong, robust centre but more notably for his around-the-corner kicking style which gave him great accuracy and distance. Signing with Canterbury in 1983, his season ended when he dislocated his hip in the semi-final against P’matta. The following year, he was selected for NSW and then chosen on the wing for the First Test against Great Britain. Conlon kicked four goals in his only Test appearance but was keeping an injured Eric Grothe's Test spot warm and was dropped for the remainder of the series. The season finished unhappily when he failed to make Warren Ryan's grand final line-up and he left for Balmain at the end of the year. One of the most consistent point-scorers in the competition during the mid-1980s, Conlon played for St Helens in the 1985-86 off-season. In 1987 he was the season's leading point-scorer with 184pts (5t, 82g) but when Warren Ryan came to coach Balmain in 1988, Conlon's days were numbered after a poor defensive game in the 1988 grand final loss to his former club, Canterbury. Conlon left the club at year’s end to take up a captain-coach role on the NSW North Coast.