Peter Jackson (rugby league)

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For other persons named Peter Jackson, see Peter Jackson (disambiguation).
Peter Jackson
Personal information
Full name Peter Jackson
Date of birth 1964
Date of death November 1997
Senior clubs*
Years Club Apps (points)
1987-1988
1989-1990
1991-1993		 Canberra Raiders
Brisbane Broncos
North Sydney Bears		 43 (72)
29 (20)
31 (14)
Representative teams
1986-1992
1988-1992		 Queensland Maroons
Australian Kangaroos		 17 (10)
9 (16)

* Professional club appearances and points
counted for domestic first grade only.

Peter Jackson (born 1964, died November, 1997) was an Australian professional rugby league player who represented both his state and his country in the sport. He died as the result of a drug overdose in 1997.

Contents

[edit] Teams

[edit] Career

In 1980 Peter Jackson played rugby union in the under-17s Australian schoolboys representative side before playing in the under-18s Australian schoolboys rugby league side the following year. He went on to prove himself as a dangerous attacking player at centre and five-eighth while playing for Souths Brisbane.

In 1986 Jackson made his State of Origin debut, and the following year he followed his coach at Souths, Wayne Bennett to Canberra to play for the Raiders in the NSWRL premiership. There Jackson played in the centres, appearing in Canberra's 1987 grand final loss to Manly, as well as achieving international selection. In the Centenary Ashes Test Jackson scored two tries, contributing to Australia's victory and going on to play in four domestic Tests that year.

Jackson then moved back to Brisbane to play with the Broncos and despite touring with the Australian side to New Zealand (1989), his two years with the club brought inconsistent results.

At Norths, however, he was the focal point of the Bears' attack during the club's successful 1991 season. Jackson earned his place at 5/8th in the Australian Test side against New Zealand but was sent from the field in the Second Test of the series. He toured Papua New Guinea on Australia's short tour in October but was dropped after one Test against Great Britain the following year.

[edit] Post-career

Jackson missed most of the 1993 season through illness and retired after Norths' reserve grade grand final win over Newcastle to concentrate on his career in the media. Linking with Canterbury as a skills coach, Jackson contemplated a return to the field with the Bulldogs but was secretly battling his own demons.

It would later be revealed that as a fifteen year old Jackson was abused sexually by his football coach. This secret caused him to suffer from depression and to use drugs and alcohol throughout his life to try to combat it. In November 1997 Jackson shocked the Australian rugby league community when he died of drug overdose. His death was later used as a powerful image in the year 2000 in a radio and television campaign to raise awareness against child abuse.

Since 2003 the Peter Jackson Memorial Trophy has been awarded to the the person, whether a player or member of the support staff, who makes the greatest contribution to the Queensland State of Origin squad each year.

[edit] Sources

[edit] External links