Gorden Tallis

Gorden Tallis

Tallis in 2003
Personal information
Full name	Gorden James Tallis
Born	(1973-07-27)27 July 1973 Townsville,Queensland,Australia
Playing information
Height	189 cm (6 ft2+1⁄2in)
Weight	107 kg (16 st 12 lb; 236 lb)
Position	Second-row
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1992–95 St. George Dragons 54 17 1 0 70 1997–04 Brisbane Broncos 160 49 0 0 196 Total 214 66 1 0 266 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 1994–03 Queensland 20 4 0 0 16 1998–03 Australia 18 9 0 0 36 1997 Queensland (SL) 3 0 0 0 0 1997 Australia (SL) 3 0 0 0 0
Source:

Gorden James Tallis(born 27 July 1973), also known by thenicknameof"Raging Bull"for his on-field aggression,is an Australian former professionalrugby leaguefootballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He is currently a commentator and pundit for theFox Sportsnetwork.

AQueenslandState of OriginandAustralian internationalrepresentativesecond-row forward,he captained both these teams as well as theBrisbane Broncoswith whom he won the1997,1998and2000 Grand Finals,after starting his career with theSt. George Dragonsin Sydney. At the peak of his career Tallis was considered as the bestsecond-rowforward in the worldand in 2008 was named in anIndigenous Australianrugby league team of the century.

Background

Tallis was born in Townsville,North Queenslandon 27 July 1973. There he played for the Centrals Tigers club. Tallis' father Wally played rugby league briefly forLeighin the 1960s,and was the captain of an Indigneous rugby league team that toured New Zealand in 1972.

According toThe Courier-Mailin 2021, Tallis identifies as anIndigenous Australianthrough his paternal ancestry. Tallis' mother is white.

Tallis addressed speculation about his ethnic background in his 2003 autobiographyRaging Bull:

People ask me about my ethnic background. Newspapers pick me in their "fantasy" Indigenous and Aboriginal sides. To tell the honest truth, I haven't worried too much about it. An auntie of mine did some research and she found that my great-grandfather came from North WesternAmbryminVanuatuand my great-grandmother was fromLoh Islandin theTorres Strait[sic]. All we were ever told in my family was that we were Australians. My dad was born in Townsville and his dad was born in Bowen, so that makes us Australian and we’re proud of it. I have played in one Indigenous side though, theRedfern All Blacks,who won the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tournament in 1992. That was some side. We hadChoc Mundinewho was about 17,Tricky Trindallwho was 25, andWes Pattenwho was 19. People might have read a bit into me playing in that tournament but to me it was just a chance to play some footy with my mates.

Aboriginal activistStephen Haganinterpreted this as meaning that Tallis does not claim to be an Indigenous Australian.Confusion may have come from the fact that Loh Island is located within theTorres Islandsof Vanuatu, not Australia'sTorres Strait Islands.

Tallis is also understood to have Tongan ancestry.

Professional playing career

St George Dragons

Tallis moved toSydneyto make his first grade debut in theWinfield Cuppremiership forSt. Georgeon 29 August,1992,aged 19. In 1992 Tallis played forNSW City under 19sandNSW Under 19s.He was a reserve in St George's1993 grand finalloss to Brisbane. Tallis was used to bad effect off the interchange bench during the1994 seasonand also made his representative debut for theQueensland sidein the final twoState of Origin seriesgames that year. In 1995 he was included in theTongan squadfor the1995 World Cupbut had to withdraw due to injury.

When the proposedSuper Leaguecompetition was put on hold in1995,Tallis offered to buy out the final year of his contract with St George in order to join theBroncos.The Dragons declined the offer however, and subsequent court action held him to his original contract. Having already signed a Super League contract to play with Brisbane, the fiery North Queenslander caused controversy when he was the only player who chose to sit out the1996 seasonrather than play a final year with St George.After having made 54 appearances for the Dragons, he left Sydney.

Brisbane Broncos

Gorden Tallis about to receive the ball during a Brisbane Broncos match in 2004.

Tallis returned to the game with the Broncos for the1997 Super League seasonand was the most dominant forward in the competition, which culminated in Brisbane's crushing 26–8 win over theCronulla-Sutherland Sharksin theTelstra Cup grand final.In addition to representingQueenslandin theSuper League Tri-seriescompetition, he made his international debut in the 1997 post season'sSuper League Test seriesagainstGreat Britain,playing at second-row forward in all three matches.

In1998Tallis returned to St. George for the first time since his acrimonious split with the Saints and was pelted with garbage and insults and was loudly booed every time he touched the ball before his try secured a 30–18 victory.Brisbane went on to capture another premiership with Tallis scoring a try and winning the prestigiousClive Churchill Medalas the best and fairest player on-field in the club's 38–121998 NRL grand finalwin over theCanterbury Bulldogs.Tallis made hisAustralian KangaroosTest debut in the second match of the Trans-Tasman series.

He continued his great personal form when chosen for theANZAC Testin1999and spearheaded Queensland's State of Origin campaign in a historic tied series. However, the season ended with Brisbane's failure to defend its premiership and Tallis was ruled out of October'sTri-Nations competitionbecause of injury.

2000 saw him score a try in Australia's 52–0 thrashing ofNew Zealandin the ANZAC Test, but after being sent off in the opening State of Origin match for verbally abusing refereeBill Harrigan,Tallis suffered the ignominy of a whitewash defeat (his public admission that the 'dead' third match of the series should be cancelled was a momentary lapse in judgment that may have indirectly contributed to the Blues' 56–16 win). If Tallis' stature as the most dominant forward in the game wasn't secure following Brisbane's 14–6 win over the Roosters in the2000 NRL grand final,his four tries in Australia's 82–0 humiliation ofPapua New Guineabefore the2000 World Cup,and his selection as Australian captain for the match againstRussia(which resulted in a record 110–4 victory) did. In 2000, Tallis also received theAustralian Sports Medal.Following Australia's World Cup victory, Tallis and teammateShane Webckewrote an open letter to players appealing for an end to scandalous behaviour amongst footballers which had been tarnishing the sport.

Captaincy

Having won the2000 NRL Premiership,the Broncos traveled to England to play against 2000'sSuper League VChampions,St Helens R.F.C.for the2001 World Club Challenge,with newly appointed captain Tallis playing at second-row forward in Brisbane's loss. Tallis captained a rookie Queensland team in the 34–16 win over New South Wales in the opening match of the2001 State of Origin seriesand was named man-of-the-match. Soon after, he suffered a career-threatening neck injury in a club match against theManly-Warringah Sea Eagleswhich revealed a spinal condition that required corrective surgery. While Tallis' season was over (despite the smokescreen of his naming on the Broncos' interchange bench for the club's preliminary final) he made a strong return to football in 2002. It was in the deciding match of the2002 State of Origin seriesthat Gorden Tallis performed a famous tackle on Blues fullback,Brett Hodgson,dragging him several metres and eventually tossing him out of the field of play like a rag-doll. Tallis' reaction later of giving theone-finger saluteto a section of the crowd, right behind the northern try-line whereDane Carlaw's series-tying try was scored, became a major after-match talking point. Tallis gained some sympathy when it was revealed that he was objecting to an offensive sign about his mother. But many again raised questions about his capacity to captain Australia with debate raging over the choice between Tallis orAndrew Johnsto succeedBrad Fittler.Days later Johns was chosen to lead theKangaroosin the July Test against Great Britain. Tallis scored a try in Australia's 64–10 win in that match and was later named Test leader (in Johns' absence) for the one-off Test against New Zealand in October, which Australia also won 32–24.

At the end of 2003, Tallis, who was expected to lead Australia on the2003 Kangaroo tourannounced his retirement from representative football, but continued playing with the Broncos. In 2004 he started to feel more affected by his neck injury and took heed of the warning signs his body was emitting. He played his last official match in the 2004 semi-final for the Brisbane Broncos, fittingly in his hometown of Townsville, against theCowboys,which the Broncos lost. At the time of his retirement, he held the Broncos' club record of most career tries for aforward.

During the 2007 season at the Broncos' 20-year anniversary celebration, the club announced a list of the 20 best players to play for them to date which included Tallis.

In 2010 Tallis was inducted into the Broncos official Hall of Fame.

Career Stats

NSWRL/ARL/Super League/NRL

Season	Team	Appearances	Tries	Goals	Goal-kicking Percentage	Field Goals	Points
1992 NSWRL Season	St. George Dragons	1	-	-		-	-
1993 NSWRL Season	St. George Dragons	15	1	-		-	4
1994 NSWRL Season	St. George Dragons	17	4	1/1	100%	-	18
1995 ARL Season	St. George Dragons	21	12	0/2	0%	-	48
1997 Super League Season	Brisbane Broncos	19	3	-	-	-	12
1998 NRL Season	Brisbane Broncos	25	8	-	-	-	32
1999 NRL Season	Brisbane Broncos	20	7	-	-	-	28
2000 NRL Season	Brisbane Broncos	23	9	-	-	-	36
2001 NRL Season	Brisbane Broncos	10	3	-	-	-	12
2002 NRL Season	Brisbane Broncos	24	10	-	-	-	40
2003 NRL Season	Brisbane Broncos	18	4	-	-	-	16
2004 NRL Season	Brisbane Broncos	21	5	-	-	-	20

Representative

Years	Team	Appearances	Tries	Goals	Goal-kicking Percentage	Field Goals	Points
1994, 1998-2003	Queensland	17	4	-	-	-	16
1997	Queensland (SL)	3	-	-	-	-	-
1997	Australia (SL)	3	-	-	-	-	-
1998-2000, 2002-2003	Australia	13	9	-	-	-	36

Accolades

Clive Churchill Medal:1998

Dally M Second Rower Of The Year: 1999

Indigenous Team of the Century: 2008

NRL Team of the 1990s: 2003

Post-football career

In 2005 Tallis was appointed as one ofNews Ltd's members on the NRL board, replacingJohn Brassbut stood down from the role in 2008, amid speculation that he will join the coaching staff ofCatalans Dragons.He was a director on the board of theNorth Queensland Cowboys,a role he had to relinquish when he joined theSouth Sydney Rabbitohsas a forwards coach.He was brought in byRussell Croweto add his knowledge and aggression to the team.Tallis commentates games forFox Sports,as well as providing written columns for newspapers. Tallis has made his views on fighting clear on the Fox Sports broadcasts of Rugby League, stating that if a fight erupts, "he would run in, you would run in, we would all run in, because it's your mate getting bashed".

During the 2010 NRL season after it was announced thatSouth Sydney Rabbitohshead coachJohn Langwould be retiring, incoming replacement coachMichael Maguirefrom theWigan Warriorsannounced that Tallis' services as forwards coach were no longer required.

In 2016, Tallis was immortalised with a Gord-e-mojiemoji keyboard, in the same vein as his contemporary Kim Kardashian's "Kimoji".The app was developed for iOS by Devotion Digital in Sydney, with plans to roll out an Android version later in 2016.

In 2018, Tallis was inducted into theAustralian Rugby League Hall of Fame.

In August 2019, Tallis called for theNRLto relocate Sydney teams and called crowds at Sydney games as "Embarrassing". Tallis went on to say “Could the NRL put in some key performance indicators to move one of the Sydney teams?, It’s got to go on fans,” he said. “It’s got to go on filling a stadium. It’s got to go on people wanting to watch you, coming through the gate to pay to watch your brand, your style of football, Roosters are on top of the table and count their fans with a fork to get their numbers up, There’s nothing worse when you watch a game of footy and there’s no one there, you get embarrassed".

Gorden Tallis co-hosts Triple M Radio Brisbane's sports segment where he regularly amuses listeners with nonsensical opinions on the game and being the chief instigator of personal beef among the crew.

External links

• Gorden TallisatIMDb
• Gorden Tallis at Global Speakers & Entertainers
• Gorden Tallis FootySocial Profile
• Gorden Tallis at stateoforigin.com.au
• Tallis calls it quits – ABC Sport
• Pressure Mounts on Tallis– article at smh.com.au
• Gorden Tallis at nqsports.com.au
• Gorden Tallis Hosting 2011 State of Origin Corporate Packages with EP Marketing
• Gorden Tallis as Ambassador of Jobs in Central Queensland