Shaun Timmins

Infobox rugby league biography
playername = Shaun Timmins
fullname = Shaun Timmins
nickname = Timmo


caption =
country =
position = Centre / Lock
currentclub = Retired
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1976|08|06|df=yes
placeofbirth = flagicon|AUSKiama, NSW
countryofbirth = Australia
height = convert|184|cm|ftin|abbr=on
weight = convert|97|kg|stlb|abbr=on
club1 = leagueicon|Illawarra Steelers|size=16 Illawarra Steelers
year1start = 1994
year1end = 1998
appearances1 = 86
tries1 = 28
goals1 = 11
fieldgoals1 = 1
points1 = 135
club2 = leagueicon|St. George Illawarra|size=16 St. George Illawarra
year2start = 1999
year2end = 2006
appearances2 = 124
tries2 = 27
goals2 = 0
fieldgoals2 = 0
points2 = 108
teamA =
yearAstart = 1999
yearAend = 2004
appearancesA = 9
triesA = 2
goalsA = 0
fieldgoalsA = 0
pointsA = 8
teamB =
yearBstart = 2000
yearBend = 2004
appearancesB = 9
triesB = 3
goalsB = 0
fieldgoalsB = 1
pointsB = 13
teamC = leagueicon|Country|16 Country
yearCstart = 2003
yearCend =
appearancesC = 1
triesC = 0
goalsC = 0
fieldgoalsC = 0
pointsC = 0
updated = 05:15, 20 July 2008 (UTC)
source =

Shaun Timmins (born 6 August 1976 in Kiama, New South Wales) is a former Australian and State representative rugby league player who played for the Illawarra Steelers and the St George Illawarra Dragons in the National Rugby League competition from 1994 to 2006.

Club career

Timmins played junior football in Kiama and debuted as a seventeen-year old for the Steelers in round 18 of 1994 against the Cronulla Sharks. Timmins was a versatile player, performing at five-eighth, centre, lock, and second-row at representative and club levels.

Timmins played 86 games for the Illawarra Steelers and was a foundation player in the joint venture St George Illawarra Dragons in 1999, playing in that year's Grand Final loss to the Melbourne Storm. He played 124 games for the St George Illawarra Dragons before retiring from the NRL at the end of 2006. Timmins played a total of 210 first grade games, scoring 55 tries, kicking 11 goals and 1 field goal for a total of 243 points.

Representative career

Timmins first represented Australia in 1999 and New South Wales in 2000. He played nine State of Origin games for the New South Wales Blues from 2000 to 2004 and eight Tests for Australia from 1999 to 2004.

In 2000, Timmins suffered an injury which revealed a chronic knee condition. His representative ascendancy came to a halt when he was sidelined for 18 months including the whole 2001 season.

He returned to the field in 2002 and showed tremendous ability to again represent NSW and Australia in a Test match against Great Britain. He was named the Dragon's best player in 2002.

In 2003 after just one club game in the five eighth role, Timmins was selected for Country and then for NSW at five eighth. A 2003 recurrence (in the other knee) of his condition prevented his national selection for the Kangaroo Tour that year and threatened the end of his career.

Following five knee operations in total, Timmins made a remarkable recovery in the 2003–2004 off-season. His return to form led to selection for Australia in the 2004 ANZAC Test against New Zealand. He also played for New South Wales that year and entered State of Origin folklore in game I by kicking the winning field goal in extra time. It was only the second field-goal of his career. [cite news|author=Joel Zander|publisher="ABC News"|title=Timmins field goal gets NSW home |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2004/05/26/1116751.htm |accessdate=2008-07-20|date=2004-05-27]

Timmins was a powerful runner in his early career and ruthless defender throughout. He often played himself to a stand-still demonstrating leadership by physical example. He proudly played a number of games as stand-in captain for the Dragons.

End of career

Following the 2004 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain, France and the USA, Timmins announced his retirement from representative football, expressing a focused intention to win a premiership with the Dragons. However, Timmins' last game with the Dragons was the loss in the 2006 Grand Final qualifier against Melbourne.

Timmins' contract discussions with the Castleford Tigers for the 2007 season in the UK ended following that club's relegation to second division and after speculative talks with the Gold Coast Titans he was forced into retirement due to the condition of his knees. [cite web|publisher="Sporting Life UK"|title=Former Tigers target retires |url=http://www.sportinglife.com/rugbyleague/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=rleague/06/10/04/RUGBYL_Timmins.html |accessdate=2008-07-20]

In March, 2007, Timmins once again felt he was ready to compete in the NRL and offered his services to the Dragons following a pectoral muscle injury to Mark Gasnier. The offer was not accepted. [cite news|publisher="The Age"|title=Coach Nathan Brown rejects Timmins SOS |url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/Sport/Coach-Nathan-Brown-rejects-Timmins-SOS/2007/03/05/1172943351820.html |accessdate=2008-07-20|date=2007-03-05]

References

Footnotes

ources

* cite book | author=Alan Whiticker & Glen Hudson |title=The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players |year=2007
publisher="Gary Allen Pty Ltd" |location=Wetherill Park, New South Wales |isbn=9781877082931 |pages=page 550–551

External links

* [http://rugbyleagueproject.com/players/Shaun_Timmins.html Shaun Timmins at the "Rugby League Project"]
* [http://www.nrlstats.com/archive/players.cfm?PlayerID=432 Shaun Timmins at "NRL Stats"]