Andrew Ettingshausen

Cronulla junior made his first grade debut while still at De La Salle High School in 1983. A strong, elusive centre, Ettingshausen's good looks and marketability never clouded the fact that he is also an extraordinary talent. ‘ET’ spent the 1986 off-season gaining experience with English club Leeds and was chosen to make his debut for NSW in 1987 alongside club centre partner Mark McGaw. A regular visitor to the State of Origin arena at fullback, wing or centre, his ability to burst out of tackles and his combination of strength and speed were seen to good effect, especially during the 1988 season when the Sharks were minor premiers. After playing for Leeds again in 1987-88 he made his debut for Australia on the wing in the Ashes series against Great Britain in 1988, and tours of France (1990), Great Britain (1990) and Papua New Guinea (1991) followed. Ettingshausen played in three series against NZ (1989, 1991 & 1993) and was fullback in the final two Tests against Great Britain in 1992. Injury saw him miss out on a place in Australia's victorious World Cup squad that year but he was again in the news when he was awarded $350,000 (reduced to $100,000 on appeal) after an indiscreet photo was published of him showering on the 1990 Kangaroo tour. Absent from the early rounds of the 1993 season after contracting malaria on a fishing trip to Papua New Guinea while filming a segment for a television program, he returned in superlative form to lead the way in Cronulla's spirited 1994 season - scoring a club record 18 tries and becoming the first clubman to top the century mark of tries. (He twice scored a club record five tries in a match and eventually finished his career second on the list of greatest try-scorers in the game). Ettingshausen had a busy rep season in 1994, playing for NSW and the one-off Test against France, before making his second Kangaroo tour. He played in all four Tests on tour and after capturing a hat-trick of tries in Australia's record 74-0 thrashing of France, became the first player since Bob Fulton in the 1970s to finish as top try-scorer on consecutive Kangaroo Tours. Ettingshausen forwent his rep career to play in the Super League competition (appearing in the only ‘grand final’ of his playing career when Cronulla lost to Brisbane in the Telstra Cup competition) but was back in favour with NSW selectors in the reunified 1998 season. Midway through the year, however, a serious back injury threatened to end his career. Announcing his retirement from rep duty in 1999 Ettingshausen became the first player to surpass 300 first grade games with the one club. (The Sharks subsequently named its grandstand in his honour). The end to his career came towards the end of the 2000 season when his back injury finally caught up with him and he missed the Sharks’ belated run into the semi-finals. ‘ET’ finished his career as the most durable player in the Cronulla club’s history – his eighteen seasons in first grade established a host of club records (most games, most tries, most State of Origin matches for NSW and most Test matches) and his 165 club tries places him second (behind Ken Irvine) on the list of the greatest try-scorers in the game’s history. He has since pursued a successful career in the media with FoxSports.