Adrian Vowles

Adrian Vowles (born 30 May 1971) is a former professional Scotland international rugby league footballer who played as a loose forward or centre in the 1990s and 2000s. He played in Australia for several years, gaining State of Origin selection in 1994, but spent the majority of his career in the Super League.

Adrian Vowles
Personal information
Born (1971-05-30) 30 May 1971
Charleville, Queensland, Australia
Height178 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight83 kg (13 st 1 lb)
Playing information
PositionLock, Centre
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1993–94 Gold Coast Seagulls 38 6 7 0 38
1995–96 North Qld Cowboys 41 5 5 0 30
1997–01 Castleford Tigers 142 33 1 1 135
2002 Leeds Rhinos 17 2 0 0 8
2002–03 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 27 6 1 0 26
2003–05 Castleford Tigers 6 0 0 0 0
Total 271 52 14 1 237
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1994 Queensland 1 0 0 0 0
2000 Scotland 4 1 0 0 4
As of 10 December 2019
Source: [1]

Background

Born in Charleville, Queensland, Vowles played his junior rugby league for the Cunnamulla Rams and attended Charleville State High School.

Playing career

In Charleville, Vowles won a premiership with the All Whites club, before changing clubs and winning a premiership with Charleville Railways in 1988. In 1990, he moved to the Gold Coast, playing for the Tweed Heads Seagulls. In 1991, while playing for a Gold Coast under-21 representative side, he earned a reserve grade trial with the Gold Coast Seagulls, later signing with the club.[2]

Gold Coast Seagulls

In Round 1 of the 1993 NSWRL season, Vowles made his first grade debut in the Seagulls' 10–14 loss to the Western Suburbs Magpies. After starting the first four games of the season off the bench, Vowles became one of the club's starting centres, playing 21 games. At the end of the season, he was named the club's Player of the Year.[2]

In 1994, Vowles continued his good form and was selected for Queensland in Game II of that year's series. He came off the bench in Queensland's 0–14 loss to New South Wales at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

North Queensland Cowboys

In 1995, Vowles joined the newly established North Queensland Cowboys, starting at centre in the club's inaugural game against the Sydney Bulldogs. In the same game, he became the first Cowboy to be sent off after a high shot on Bulldogs' centre Matthew Ryan just five minutes into the match. Vowles played 20 games for the Cowboys in 1995, captaining the side three times. In 1996, he became the club's full-time captain, playing 21 games at centre and lock.

At the end of the 1996 season, Vowles was let go by new coach Tim Sheens. In 2019, Vowles spoke about being released saying, "I didn't miss one game, played half the year with a torn groin and a hernia and it was late when I got told that I wasn't wanted. It was mid-November. We'd already come back and they named a 25-man Super League squad and I wasn't named. Tim Sheens sat in his chair and his exact words were, "You're not big enough, you're not fast enough, you're not strong enough and you've got limited ability". I don't mind that he didn't want me, but don't belittle me. There was a way to do it. I haven't seen him since that day but things happen for a reason".[2]

After leaving the Cowboys, Vowles was offered to Super League clubs Adelaide, Canterbury and the Warriors but all three moves fell through.[3]

Castleford Tigers

In 1997, Vowles moved to England to play with Castleford. In his first season with the club, he played 30 games, scoring eight tries. In 1998, he played 23 games, scoring six tries. Vowles enjoyed a breakout season in 1999, being named at lock in the Super League Dream Team and winning the Man of Steel award, becoming the first Castleford player and first Queenslander to do so.[4] In 2000, Vowles represented Scotland at the 2000 Rugby League World Cup, starting at lock in all three of their pool games, scoring one try.[5] In 2001, he once again represented Scotland in a 42–20 win over France.[6]

In 2003, Vowles returned to the club to play the last three games of the 2003 season after being granted a release by Wakefield. He returned to the Tigers again in 2005 for a brief spell in their promotion winning season in the Championship.

Leeds Rhinos

In 2002, Vowles moved to the Leeds Rhinos but played just 17 Super League games before making a mid-season switch to the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, where he accepted a player-coach role.

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats

Alongside co-coach Shane McNally, Vowles helped save Wakefield from relegation in the 2002 season. Vowles remained with Wakefield until the final three matches of the 2003 season, when he was granted a release by the club to finish the season with Castleford.

Later career

In 2004, Vowles returned to Queensland to play in the Queensland Cup for the Brisbane Broncos feeder club, the Toowoomba Clydesdales, captaining the side. At the end of the season he won the club's Player of the Year award.[7] In 2005, he returned to the Gold Coast, joining the Burleigh Bears. That season, he start at lock in the Bears' Grand Final loss to the North Queensland Young Guns.

Achievements and accolades

Individual

Statistics

NSWRL/ARL
Season Team Matches T G GK % F/G Pts
1993 Gold Coast 215444.4028
1994 Gold Coast 171337.5010
1995 North Queensland 203222.2016
1996 North Queensland 2123100.0014
Career totals 79 11 12 41.38 0 68

Super League
Season Team Matches T G GK % F/G Pts
1997 Castleford 2581—034
1998 Castleford 2360—024
1999 Castleford 28100—040
2000 Castleford 2940—016
2001 Castleford 2140—016
2002 Leeds 1720—08
2002 Wakefield Trinity 731—014
2003 Wakefield Trinity 2030—012
2003 Castleford 300—00
Career totals 173 40 2 — 0 164

State of Origin
Season Team Matches T G GK % F/G Pts
1994 Queensland 100—00
Career totals 1 0 0 — 0 0

International
Season Team Matches T G GK % F/G Pts
2000 Scotland 310—04
2001 Scotland 100—00
Career totals 4 1 0 — 0 4

Post-playing career

In 2006, Vowles became an assistant coach for Burleigh, before relinquishing the role to become the CEO of the club, a position he held until 2010.[8] In the same year, he was inducted into the Castleford Tigers Hall of Fame.[9] In 2009, an Arriva Yorkshire bus was named after him as part of the Arriva Yorkshire Rugby League Dream Team.[10]

In 2015, he was appointed assistant coach of the Australian Jillaroos and Queensland women's teams.[11] In 2017, he took over as head coach of the Queensland women's side, holding the position for one year.[12]

From 2012 to 2018, Vowles worked for Channel 9 as a commentator for the Queensland Cup. Since 2014, the Adrian Vowles Cup has been held annually in Charleville, featuring under-14 and under-16 boys and girls sides from throughout regional Queensland.[13]

References
  1. "Adrian Vowles - Career Stats & Summary - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  2. "Legend Q&A: Adrian Vowles". NRL.com.
  3. Cadigan, Neil. 25 Years in the Saddle. Playright Publishing. p. 127. ISBN 9780994237316.
  4. "World Cup Star - Adrian Vowles". sportinglife.com. 2000. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
  5. "Statistics at thecastlefordtigers.co.uk". thecastlefordtigers. 31 December 2013. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
  6. "France vs. Scotland". Rugby League Project.
  7. "Vowles caps stellar year". The Chronicle. 8 October 2004.
  8. "2006 vital to league future". Tweed Daily News. 1 March 2006.
  9. "Hall of Fame at castigers.com". castigers. 31 December 2008. Archived from the original on 6 May 2006. Retrieved 1 January 2009.
  10. "Arriva Yorkshire Rugby League Dream Team". Arriva Yorkshire. 20 August 2009. Archived from the original on 29 August 2009. Retrieved 20 August 2009.
  11. "Jillaroos prepare for 2016 after a stellar 2015". NRL. 29 November 2015.
  12. "Vowles appointed Queensland women's coach". NRL. 19 January 2017.
  13. "Adrian Vowles Cup to be the biggest yet". QRL. 27 February 2020.
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