Luke Ricketson

Luke Ricketson
Personal information
Nickname Ricko
Born (1973-02-05) 5 February 1973
Forster, New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
Height 190 cm (6 ft 3 in)
Weight 102 kg (16 st 1 lb)
Position Lock, Second-row, Centre
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1991–05 Sydney Roosters 301 40 1 0 162
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1996–03 City NSW 3 0 0 0 0
1999–03 New South Wales 10 2 0 0 8
2000 Ireland 4 0 0 0 0
2003 Australia 6 2 0 0 8
Source: Rugby League Project

Luke Ricketson (born 5 February 1973, in Forster, New South Wales [1]) is an Australian retired professional rugby league footballer of the 1990s and 2000s. An Australian and Ireland international, and New South Wales State of Origin representative back-row forward, he played his entire club football career for the Sydney Roosters of the NRL.[2]


Early life

Son of former Easts player, Doug Ricketson, his family moved to Bondi from Forster when he was one year old. He started playing junior rugby league at seven for Bondi United. He was then graded with Eastern Suburbs as a local junior, debuting in first grade in 1991.

Playing career

Ricketson started out his First Grade career as a winger or centre , and gradually moved closer to the action in the middle of the field as his career went on, generally playing in the centres until he was moved into the second row in 1996.

Ricketson played at lock forward for the Sydney Roosters in their 2000 NRL Grand Final loss to the Brisbane Broncos. After that he made his international debut when he played four games for Ireland at the 2000 Rugby League World Cup.

In 2002, Ricketson broke the record held by Roosters club legend Kevin Hastings (217) for the most appearances in the famous red, white & blue. As of 2014, Ricketson's eventual 301 caps, achieved upon his retirement in 2005, still stands as the club record.

Luke Ricketson with Kate Waterhouse on a red carpet

Ricketson played for the Roosters at lock forward in their 2002 NRL Grand Final victory against the New Zealand Warriors. Having won the 2002 NRL Premiership, the Roosters travelled to England to play the 2003 World Club Challenge against Super League champions, St Helens RLFC. Ricketson played at lock forward in Sydney's victory.

In the 2003 NRL grand final he played at lock forward for the Roosters in their loss to the Panthers.

Ricketson retired from rugby league after the 2005 NRL season having played 301 games for the Roosters, the last season as captain.

Representative career

In 1996, Ricketson was first picked for City Origin. He played again for City in 1997 but had to wait until 1999 to make his State of Origin debut for NSW, coming off the bench in all three games in the first drawn series in Origin history which allowed Queensland to retain the State of Origin Shield.

Ricketson made his debut for Australia in 2003 playing in two tests at lock against New Zealand. After that he was selected to go on the 2003 Kangaroo tour, on which he played all three tests against Great Britain as Australia retained The Ashes winning all three games. Ricketson scored two tries in the last test at the McAlpine Stadium in Huddersfield.

Post playing

He appeared on the fourth series on the Australian version of Dancing with the Stars.

Personal life

Ricketson is married to journalist Kate Waterhouse who is the daughter of horse trainer Gai Waterhouse. They have 2 children. [3]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/07/22/1058853076248.html
  2. ↑ http://www.stats.rleague.com/rl/scorers/players/Luke_Ricketson.html
  3. ↑ http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entertainment/sydney-confidential/adorable-arrival-kate-waterhouse-and-luke-ricketson-welcome-gorgeous-new-bub/news-story/07ca8086a935f3737df57e403d41a28d
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