Adam MacDougall

Hard-running winger/centre, the son of 1960s Wests’ clubman Gil MacDougall and the brother of fellow first graders Ben and Luke MacDougall took his place in Newcastle’s grand final winning team in 1997 after starting his career with the Sydney Roosters. MacDougall had a great grand final match in the centres but following Newcastle’s emotional 22-16 win he was cited and suspended for accidentally stomping on Geoff Toovey’s face. The following year he was selected on the wing for NSW in three matches and impressed with his powerful running and dynamic defence. Then, in July 1998, he became the fourth player (and the third Newcastle player after Robbie O’Davis and Wayne Richards) to test positive for a banned substance. Facing an automatic 22 week suspension it was revealed during his appeal that MacDougall had suffered a severe head injury in 1993 that damaged his pituitary gland and it was essential that he take prescribed medication, called Sustanon 250, which included a banned steroid. This medication restored normal hormone levels in his body and without it, he would suffer potentially serious side effects and not be able to lead a normal life, let alone play football. While MacDougall’s appeal was subsequently dismissed it was unfortunate that he had to serve his suspension with the stigma of being labelled a ‘drug cheat’ along with players who were trying to gain a performance advantage through steroid use. MacDougall resumed his career midway through 1999 - but with stringent guidelines in place to allow his use of a banned drug - having lost a year’s income, an estimated $90,000 in legal bills and the momentum of a burgeoning Test career. He made up for lost time though, making regular appearances as a winger for NSW and Australia in the following years. In 2000 he made his Test debut in the 82-0 thrashing of Papua New Guinea, scored five tries in a World Cup trial against NZ Residents and played in all six matches in Australia’s successful World Cup campaign. After an injury to Penrith’s Ryan Girdler MacDougall played in the centres in Australia’s 40-12 win over NZ in the final and spent much of the 2001 season in that position. The man Knights fans called ‘Mad Dog’ appeared in the opening two matches of the State of Origin series in 2001 but was cited and suspended for raising his knee in a tackle and missed the deciding match of the series. Selected as an interchange player for the one-off Test against NZ in July, Newcastle’s victory in the 2001 grand final saw MacDougall back on the flank. It seems that MacDougall’s entire career has been under one fitness cloud or another and he was ruled out of the Papua New Guinea Test in October with a respiratory complaint before touring England on the shortened Kangaroo Tour. One of the most destructive attacking players in the game MacDougall’s two try-saving tackles in the deciding Third Test in Wigan was a significant contribution to Australia’s Ashes success. However, in early 2002, he spent six weeks recovering from a groin injury only to damage his knee in his comeback match. In 2003 MacDougall appeared in just 12 matches (although he scored 11 tries, including three on his return against the Dragons) but the Knights effectively severed ties with the veteran clubman and he signed with Souths in 2004. MacDougall was in good early season form with the Rabbitohs but snapped his Achilles tendon in the Round 6 loss to Melbourne and was ruled out for the season. The former Test winger was released by the club before the end of the 2006 season after he publicly criticised the form of his clubmates and returned to Newcastle in 2007.