Billy Moore (rugby league footballer)
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Billy Moore (born Tenterfield, New South Wales) is an Australian former rugby league player. He represented Queensland and Australia in the sport and in the year 2000 received the Australian Sports Medal.
Australia 1995-97: 3 Tests (0pts)
Queensland 1992-97: 17 games – 1t (4pts)
North Sydney 1989-99: 212 games - 33t (132pts)
Moore represented New South Wales under-17s while in high school at Tenterfield. He moved to the North Sydney Bears in 1989 and was first selected in Queensland's State of Origin side in 1992. Moore was the sole try-scorer in the Maroons' 5-4 win in the second match of the series at Lang Park.
Moore was a regular selection for the maroon jersey for three seasons and became part of State of Origin folklore by calling out ‘Queenslander! Queenslander!’ to motivate an underdog Maroons team in 1995. Against all odds, the young Queenslanders won the series without its star Super League players. While Moore was initially overlooked for Test duty against New Zealand, he won a place in Australia’s World Cup squad at the end of the year. He made one Test appearance in the competition, against South Africa, before playing Tests against Fiji (1996) and Rest of the World (1997) in consecutive years.
Moore's value for Norths can be measured by the fact that the club failed to fire in the 1994 final against the Canberra Raiders after he was forced to leave the field with concussion. He continued to play tirelessly for his club in subsequent semi-final campaigns but his representative career ended when he was left out of the Queensland team for the 1998 series. At the end of 1999, Moore failed to secure a contract with the merged Northern Eagles club and reluctantly retired.
