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Ross Birrell

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Ross Birrell
Personal information
Full nameRoss Lindsay Birrell
Born(1948-12-17)17 December 1948
Died16 March 2015(2015-03-16) (aged 66)
Playing information
PositionCentre, Fullback, Wing
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1972–75 South Sydney 56 10 38 1 107
1973 Hull KR 18 2 14 0 34
Total 74 12 52 1 141
Source: [1]

Ross Lindsay Birrell (17 December 1948 - 16 March 2015) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played for the South Sydney Rabbitohs.

Biography

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Born in 1948, Birrell started out as rugby union player and toured overseas with the Emerging Wallabies team, before making the switch to rugby league.[2]

Birrell was a member of South Sydney's first-grade team from 1972 to 1975, playing as a centre, fullback and winger. Occasionally he served as the team's goalkicker and amassed 17-points in a win over Balmain in 1972.[3] During his time at South Sydney he also had a stint in England with Hull Kingston Rovers.[4]

In 1976 he left South Sydney to coach the Wagga Magpies.[5]

Birrell died from cancer in 2015, at the age of 66. A real estate agent, he was the founder of Thornton Realty in Maitland, which he had established in 1996.[6]

References

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  1. ^ Collis, Ian (2018). The A to Z of Rugby League Players. New Holland Publishers. ISBN 9781921024986.
  2. ^ "Ross L. Birrell". ESPNscrum.
  3. ^ "South Sydney into finals". The Canberra Times. 14 August 1972. p. 15. Retrieved 2 June 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ "Birrell joins Rovers RL club". Sydney Morning Herald. 30 August 1973.
  5. ^ "Brentnall in Wagga line-up at Seiffert". The Canberra Times. 12 February 1976. p. 22. Retrieved 2 June 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ^ Norris, Sam (30 March 2015). "Obituary: Real estate industry bids farewell to Rossco". The Maitland Mercury.
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