Jamie Ainscough

Infobox rugby league biography
playername = Jamie Ainscough
fullname = James Ainscough


caption =
country =
position = Winger
currentclub =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1972|7|20|df=yes
placeofbirth = Sydney, New South Wales
countryofbirth = Australia
height =
weight =
club1 = leagueicon|Western Suburbs|size=16 Western Suburbs
year1start = 1990
year1end = 1991
appearances1 = 35
tries1 = 14
goals1 = 0
fieldgoals1 = 0
points1 = 56
club2 = leagueicon|Newcastle Knights|size=16 Newcastle Knights
year2start = 1992
year2end = 1996
appearances2 = 87
tries2 = 47
goals2 = 4
fieldgoals2 = 2
points2 = 198
club3 = leagueicon|St George|16 St George Dragons
year3start = 1997
year3end = 1998
appearances3 = 37
tries3 = 8
goals3 = 0
fieldgoals3 = 2
points3 = 34
club4 = leagueicon|St George|16 St. George Illawarra
year4start = 1999
year4end = 2001
appearances4 = 69
tries4 = 25
goals4 = 2
fieldgoals4 = 0
points4 = 104
club5 = leagueicon|Wigan|size=16 Wigan Warriors
year5start = 2002
year5end = 2003
appearances5 = 39
tries5 = 21
goals5 = 0
fieldgoals5 = 0
points5 = 84
teamA =
yearAstart = 1996
yearAend = 2001
appearancesA = 12
triesA = 2
goalsA = 0
fieldgoalsA = 0
pointsA = 8
teamB =
yearBstart = 1995
yearBend =
appearancesB = 1
triesB = 1
goalsB = 0
fieldgoalsB = 0
pointsB = 4
source = [http://203.166.101.37/NRL08/playercareer.asp?lplayer=11176 NRL Stats]

Jamie Ainscough (born 1972 in Sydney, New South Wales ), was an Australian former rugby league footballer. He played for the Western Suburbs Magpies, Newcastle Knights, St George Illawarra Dragons, New South Wales and for the Australian national rugby league team.

Club career

Ainscough attended Elderslie High School in New South Wales and from there represented Australia at schoolboy level in 1989. The following year he was playing first grade in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership for the Western Suburbs Magpies. He then played 87 games with the Newcastle Knights from 1992 to 1996.

He joined St George in 1997 and played 106 games with St George or the merged St George Illawarra Dragons up till 2001 at centre or wing. He played in the losing 1999 Grand Final against the Melbourne Storm. The Dragons led 14- nil at half time and were run down by the Storm. He is infamous for the illegal tackle he made on Craig Smith that cost the Dragons the game.

Ainscough concluded his career in England with Super League side Wigan Warriors in 2002 when they won the Challenge Cup. He played in a Wigan 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.

Representative career

While attending Elderslie High School, Ainscough played for the Australian Schoolboys team in 1989 [cite web |title=SportingPulse Homepage for Australian Secondary Schools Rugby League |url=http://www.sportingpulse.com/assoc_page.cgi?c=7-2130-0-0-0&sID=26424 |accessdate=2008-10-10 | publisher="SportingPulse"]

He represented the NSW Blues in nine State of Origin games between 1996 and 2001 (three as a replacement). 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. Josh Wiggins was his first ever coach and taught him how to play football. Jamie was originally going to join a soccer club.

ources

* Andrews, Malcom (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
* [http://www.stateoforigin.com.au/SOOgame/PlayerDetails.aspx?Pid=77 State of Origin Official website Rugby League Player Stats]