Rodney Howe

Newcastle junior had a season with Widnes (1993-94) before being signed by the Western Reds for the club’s debut season in 1995. The hard-working forward represented Super League Australia in the ANZac Test but suffered a knee injury after playing in one match for NSW in the Tri-Series competition. With the imminent demise of the Perth team, Howe was targeted by the newly-formed Melbourne Storm while recovering from his injury. In 1998 he represented Australia in the 22-16 loss to NZ in the ANZac Test but after a phenomenal performance for NSW in the second State of Origin match, it was revealed that he had taken a prohibited steroid to treat his leg injury. Melbourne resisted calls to sack him from the club, arguing that Howe had taken the drug before coming to the club and that they would continue to educate their players rather than turn their backs on them. With the NRL ruling that he could neither sit on the sidelines nor have any official dealings with the club during his 22-week suspension, Howe made his return early in the 1999 season and was promptly suspended for a high tackle that left Auckland’s Jason Death with a broken jaw. Rushed back into the NSW Origin team, Howe finished the season as the forward leader in Melbourne’s thrilling, 20-18 grand final win. Test matches against NZ and Great Britain followed in the Tri-series competition at the end of the year but injury ruled him out of the final against the Kiwis. Howe was one of Melbourne’s most consistent players in 2000 and was named the Storms’ Player of the Year after representing Australia in the ANZac Test and NSW in the opening two matches of the State of Origin series. Howe missed the 2000 World Cup when he elected to have surgery on a troublesome shoulder injury before achieving the unwanted record of being the first player suspended in the 2000 season (six weeks for a reckless head-high tackle). Used from the interchange bench in the opening State of Origin match, he was dropped for the remainder of the series after the Blues’ poor showing and despite captaining the club in 2003 he did not play in another representative match before announcing his retirement in 2004.