Luke Ricketson

Luke "Ricko" Ricketson

Personal information
Full name	Luke Douglas Ricketson
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
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 2005 Prime Minister's XIII 1 0 1 0 2
Source:

Luke Ricketson(born 5 February 1973)is an Australian former professionalrugby leaguefootballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. AnAustralianandIrelandinternational, andNew South WalesState of Originrepresentative back-row forward, he played his entire club football career for theSydney Roostersof theNational Rugby League(NRL).

Early life

Ricketson was born inForster, New South Wales,Australia.

Son of former Easts player,Doug Ricketson.He started playing junior rugby league at the age of seven forBondi Unitedin 1980. He was then graded withEastern Suburbsas a local junior, debuting in first grade in round 22 of 1991 season.

Playing career

Ricketson started out his First Grade career as acentre,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 thesecond rowin1996.

Ricketson played atlockfor the Sydney Roosters in their2000 NRL Grand Finalloss to theBrisbane Broncos.

Luke Ricketson with Kate Waterhouse on ared carpet

In 2002, Ricketson broke the record held by Roosters club legendKevin Hastings(217) for the most club appearances. In 2014, Ricketson's eventual 301 caps, achieved upon his retirement in 2005 was overtaken byAnthony Minichiello(302). This record was subsequently surpassed byMitchell Aubusson(306) in 2020.

Ricketson played for the Roosters at lock forward in their2002 NRL Grand Finalvictory against theNew Zealand Warriors.Having won the2002 NRL Premiership,the Roosters traveled to England to play the2003 World Club ChallengeagainstSuper Leaguechampions,St Helens R.F.C.Ricketson played at lock forward in Sydney's victory.

In the2003 NRL grand final,he played at lock forward for the Roosters in their loss to the Panthers.

Ricketson retired from rugby league after the2005 NRL seasonhaving played 301 games for the Roosters, the last season as captain. He played his 300th (and penultimate) game in round 25, 2005, against theBrisbane BroncosatSuncorp Stadium;the Roosters marked the milestone by winning the match 17–10.

Representative career

In 1996, Ricketson was first picked forCity Origin.He played again for City in 1997 but had to wait until 1999 to make hisState of Origindébut forNSW,coming off the bench in all three games.

He made his international début when he played four games forIrelandat the2000 Rugby League World Cup.

Ricketson made his début forAustraliain 2003 playing in two tests atlockagainst New Zealand. After that he was selected to go on the2003 Kangaroo tour,on which he played all three tests againstGreat Britainas Australia retainedThe Asheswinning all three games. Ricketson scored two tries in the last test at theMcAlpine StadiuminHuddersfield.

Post playing

He appeared on the fourth series on the Australian version ofDancing with the Stars.

Personal life

Ricketson is married to journalist Kate Waterhouse who is the daughter of horse trainerGai Waterhouse.They have 2 children.

External links

• NRL profile
• (archived by web.archive.org)State of Origin Official website Rugby League Player Stats
• Ricketson – helped Ireland reach last eight in 2000
• Luke Ricketson Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org
• Luke Ricketson profile