Jamie Ainscough

Jamie Ainscough
	Ainscough in 2008
Personal information
Born	20 July 1972 (age 52); Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
Height	186 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	93 kg (14 st 9 lb; 205 lb)
Position	Wing, Centre
Club
Representative
	Source:

Jamie Ainscough (born 20 July 1972) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. An Australia international and New South Wales State of Origin representative three-quarter back, he played his club football for Western Suburbs, the Newcastle Knights, the St. George Illawarra Dragons and the Wigan Warriors (with whom he won the 2002 Challenge Cup).^[3]

Background

Born in Sydney, Ainscough played for the Macquarie Cobras J.R.L.F.C in Cartwright, New South Wales. While attending Elderslie High School, Ainscough played for the Australian Schoolboys team in 1989.^[4]

The following year he was playing first grade in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership for Western Suburbs. Ainscough also played 87 games with the Newcastle Knights from 1992 to 1996. He made one international appearance for Australia against New Zealand in the 3rd Test of 1995 Brisbane. In that game Ainscough came on as a replacement and scored a try. Ainscough represented the New South Wales Rugby League team in the State of Origin series in 12 games between 1996 and 2001 (three as a replacement). Ainscough joined St George in 1997 and played on the wing in the 1999 NRL Grand Final loss against the Melbourne Storm. St. George led 14-nil at half time but were run down by Melbourne. The illegal tackle he made on Craig Smith resulted in a penalty try contributing to St. George losing the premiership.^[5]^[6]

On 24 October 2000, Ainscough was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for his achievements.^[7] He played 106 games with St George or the merged St George Illawarra Dragons up until 2001 at centre or wing. Ainscough concluded his career in the Super League with English side the Wigan Warriors in 2002 when they won the Challenge Cup. He played in a Wigan Warriors team studded with Australians in Brett Dallas, Julian O'Neill, Adrian Lam, Craig Smith, David Furner and coached by Stuart Raper. Following that season he went close to needing to have his arm amputated following an infection that was found to have been caused after one of St. Helens centre Martin Gleeson's teeth was left embedded in Ainscough's arm.^[8]^[9]

^ "Jamie Ainscough – Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project.
^ "Player Summary: Jamie Ainscough". Rugby League Records. Rugby League Record Keepers Club. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
^ Whiticker, Alan (1995). The encyclopedia of rugby league players : every premiership player. Smithfield, N.S.W.: G. Allen. ISBN 1-875169-57-1. OCLC 35304987.
^ "Australian Schoolboys". LeagueNet. SportingPulse. 10 October 2007. Archived from the original on 21 August 2008. Retrieved 10 October 2008.
^ McMurray, Adrian (15 September 2011). "Six most pivotal storm finals moments". National Rugby League. Archived from the original on 15 September 2016. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
^ "First Grade Players". Western Suburbs Magpies. Archived from the original on 8 September 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
^ "Australian Sports Medal entry for Mr Jamie AINSCOUGH". Australian Honours Database. Canberra, Australia: Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 24 October 2000. Retrieved 2 April 2021. Current Australian Kangaroo player
^ Richards, Martin (28 April 2004). "A tooth stuck in head – but hooker plays on". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2 January 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
^ Gleeson, Martin (22 August 2009). "26 August 2002: Wigan player has tooth removed – from arm". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 1 October 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2015.

Andrews, Malcolm (2006) The ABC of Rugby League Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney
Whiticker, Alan & Hudson, Glen (2006) The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players, Gavin Allen Publishing, Sydney
State of Origin Official website Rugby League Player Stats