Shannon Walker (rugby league)
Encyclopedia
Shannon Walker is an Indigenous Australian
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....

 professional rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

 footballer currently contracted with the Gold Coast Titans
Gold Coast Titans
Gold Coast Titans are an Australian professional rugby league football club, based in the Gold Coast, Queensland. The club competes in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby League premiership. It is the newest of the sixteen clubs in the league, having commenced its...

 of the National Rugby League
National Rugby League
The National Rugby League is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. The NRL's main competition, called the Telstra Premiership , is contested by sixteen teams, fifteen of which are based in Australia with one based in New Zealand...

. His position of choice is as at Fullback but he can play on the Wing
Wing
A wing is an appendage with a surface that produces lift for flight or propulsion through the atmosphere, or through another gaseous or liquid fluid...


Before the NRL & Queensland Cup success

Shannon Walker grew up in the rural country town of Kyogle in a large family as one of eight children. Walker spent most of his adolescence growing up in his home town, with a move to Bundaberg, Queensland
Bundaberg, Queensland
Bundaberg is a city in Queensland, Australia. It is part of the Local Government Area of the Bundaberg Region and is a major centre within Queensland's broader Wide Bay-Burnett geographical region...

 attending primary school at East Bundaberg SPS and representing the Bundaberg Primary Schoolboys Rep teams. Walker developed a passion for rugby league with the Kyogle Turkeys, playing for the club from the age of 5 and eventually playing first grade for the side at the age of 16. In 2006, a year after representing Kyogle in first grade, Walker moved north to the Gold Coast to further his professional league career. He enrolled with the renowned rugby league nursery Palm Beach Currumbin High School
Palm Beach Currumbin High School
Palm Beach Currumbin State High School is a co-educational public school , in the Gold Coast suburb of Currumbin, Queensland, Australia...

 and in his first year with the college was selected for the 2006 Queensland Schoolboys team and 2006 Australian Schoolboys Tour of Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, where in the Australians first match against Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 Walker was named man-of-the-match.

The following year in 2007 Walker began playing Colts rugby for the Gold Coast Titans
Gold Coast Titans
Gold Coast Titans are an Australian professional rugby league football club, based in the Gold Coast, Queensland. The club competes in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby League premiership. It is the newest of the sixteen clubs in the league, having commenced its...

 feeder club, the Tweed Heads Seagulls
Tweed Heads Seagulls
The Tweed Heads Seagulls, often referred to simply as Tweed or Seagulls, is a rugby league club based in Tweed Heads, New South Wales, and is the only non-Queensland team to play in the Queensland Cup.-History:...

, where he shone at junior level and quickly elevated into playing in the Queensland Cup
Queensland Cup
The Queensland Cup is the premier rugby league football competition in the State of Queensland, Australia.It is a statewide competition with the majority of teams based in South East Queensland but also including sides based in Cairns, Mackay and Rockhampton.The competition began in 1996 as a...

 senior side. The Seagulls and Walker had a brilliant season as the club reached the Queensland Cup Grand-Final, where they defeated 2006 Premiers Redcliffe Dolphins
Redcliffe Dolphins
The Redcliffe Dolphins are a rugby league team from the city of Redcliffe in Queensland, Australia. The Redcliffe Dolphins were founded in 1947, accepted into the Brisbane Rugby League premiership in 1960, and since 1996 have played in the Queensland Cup....

 28-18 giving Walker an early taste of Premiership success. His performance through the season was duly recognized as he was awarded the 'Courier Mail
The Courier-Mail
The Courier-Mail is a daily newspaper published in Brisbane, Australia. Owned by News Limited, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, in Brisbane's inner northern suburbs, and it is printed at Murarrie, in Brisbane's...

 Queensland Cup Player-of-the-Year Award' and Gold Coast Titans 'Young Player-of-the-Year'.

Gold Coast Titans

Many critics believe Walker's debut in the National Rugby League would most certainly be some time through-out the 2008 season. After his success in the Queensland Cup Walker heads the list of youngsters widely tipped to make an impact for the Titans and battle for an NRL debut. He further staked his claim for a Titans jersey when in the Gold Coasts first trial of 2008 against the Canberra Raiders
Canberra Raiders
The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby League premiership since 1982...

, Walker scored in the highlight of the match showcasing his pace and footwork to beat the Raiders fullback on his way to the tryline. He will now make his debut for the Gold Coast Titans against the Canterbury Bulldogs
Canterbury Bulldogs
The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the National Rugby League premiership, as well as New South Wales Rugby League junior competitions...

 on the 16th of May, 2008. He is also believed to be fastest player in the NRL.

Point Scoring Summary - Gold Coast Titans(NRL)

Season Appearance Interchange Tries Goals F/G Points
2008 - 3 - - - 0

Point Scoring Summary - Gold Coast Titans(Toyota Cup)

Season Appearance Interchange Tries Goals F/G Points
2008 17 2 10 - - 40

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK