Rod Silva

Dashing fullback, a Penrith junior, made a great impression in his debut season with Easts in 1988. Selected for City in 1989, Silva's great pace and swerve were seen to advantage when running the ball back or backing up to score a try. In 1992 he suffered a shattered jaw in a match against Cronulla and though the season was lost, he quickly regained his confidence to reproduce his best form in 1993-94. After signing a Super League contract in 1995, he was dumped to reserve grade by Easts’ pro-ARL coach Phil Gould and successfully sought a release from the club to play for C’bury. In an amazing end to a troubled season, Silva’s showed his class and experience at fullback in the Bulldogs’ ‘against all odds’ grand final win over Manly. A try-scorer in the match, he again found himself on the outer with his coach, this time Chris Anderson, during the 1996 season. A NSW policeman, Silva’s dedication to his profession brought him into conflict with the Super League club’s move to full-time professionalism. In characteristic fashion, Silva then overcame a series of personal tragedies to claw his way back from the Metropolitan Cup competition and regain his place as fullback in C’bury’s grand final loss to Brisbane in 1998. Silva savoured another premiership title, with the Bulldogs’ First Division team in 2000, before retiring at the end of 2001.