Dane Nielsen

Dane Nielsen

Personal information
Nickname	Danger[1]
Born	(1985-06-10) 10 June 1985 Mackay, Queensland, Australia
Height	188 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	96 kg (15 st 2 lb)
Playing information
Position	Centre, Wing
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 2007 Cronulla Sharks 1 0 0 0 0 2008–12 Melbourne Storm 78 24 0 0 96 2013–14 New Zealand Warriors 30 2 0 0 8 2015 St. George Illawarra Dragons 2 1 0 0 4 2015 Bradford Bulls 5 0 0 0 0 2016–2017 South Sydney Rabbitohs 7 3 0 0 12 Total 123 30 0 0 120 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 2011–12 Queensland 3 0 0 0 0 2013 Indigenous All Stars 1 0 0 0 0
As of 11 June 2016 Source: [2][3]

Dane Nielsen (born 10 June 1985) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who currently plays for the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the National Rugby League. A Queensland State of Origin representative, he plays at centre and wing. He previously played for NRL clubs Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, Melbourne Storm, with whom he won the 2009 and 2012 NRL Premierships, the New Zealand Warriors, St. George Illawarra Dragons, and the Bradford Bulls in the Kingstone Press Championship.

Early years

Hailing from the North Queensland town of Mackay, Nielsen is of Indigenous Australian^[4] and Solomon Island^[5] descent and was a Norths Devils junior.^[6]

Professional playing career

Nielsen started his NRL career with the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, making his début on 20 July 2007 against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles.^[7]

Melbourne Storm

In 2008 Nielsen joined the Melbourne Storm, becoming a regular at centre. In 2009 Nielsen was sent-off for a high tackle in the Storm's Round 15 clash with the Wests Tigers. He played for Melbourne on the wing in their 2009 NRL Grand Final win against the Parramatta Eels (which was stripped from the club after their salary cap scandal). Nielsen then went on to play in Melbourne's 2010 World Club Challenge victory against English champions, the Leeds Rhinos.

Nielsen was named as injured Greg Inglis' replacement at centre in the Queensland side for Game I and II of the 2011 State of Origin series.

In May 2012, he signed a 3-year deal with the New Zealand Warriors starting in 2013.^[8][9] Later that year he played in the third and deciding game of the 2012 State of Origin series which Queensland won. At the end of the season Nielsen played for the Melbourne Storm in their 2012 NRL Grand final victory over the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.

Nielsen playing for the Warriors in 2013

New Zealand Warriors

Nielsen moved to Auckland for the 2013 New Zealand Warriors season, also the first for the club's new Australian coach Matthew Elliott.

St George Illawarra Dragons

On 19 November 2014, Nielsen signed a two-year deal with the St George Illawarra Dragons, starting from the 2015 season.^[10][11]

On 5 May 2015, Nielsen had his contract with the Dragons terminated due to disciplinary reasons.^[12]

Bradford Bulls

After several games in the Mackay & District Rugby League, Nielsen signed a year and a half contract with the Bradford Bulls on 28 July 2015.^[13][14]

2015 - 2015

Nielsen featured in Qualifier 3 (Salford Red Devils) to Qualifier 6 (Leigh Centurions). Dane played in the £1 Million Game aghaintWakefield Trinity Wildcats.

Statistics do not include pre-season friendlies.

South Sydney Rabbitohs

On 25 January 2016, Nielsen returned to Australia, signing a 2-year contract with the South Sydney Rabbitohs starting effective immediately.^[15] He has played in the NSW Cup for the Rabbitohs feeder club, the North Sydney Bears. Nielsen made his debut for the club in Round 8, playing in the centres in the 30-8 against the Brisbane Broncos.

Nielsen retired from proffesional football during the 2017 NRL season. In January 2017, he was sent home from Rabbitohs training after turning up “looking worse for wear”, after an alledged drunken night out. ^[16] He played most of the first half of the season for the North Sydney Bears with the likes of Alex Johnson, Bryson Goodwin, Aaron Gray, Hymle Hunt, Robert Jennings, Siosifa Talakai, Cody Walker and even backrower Tyrell Fuimaono obtaining positions in the centres and on the wings.

It was revealed on Wednesday 12th June on Fox Sports Australia market watch that the former origin and premiership winner had retired to return to Mackay.

On 21 July 2017, it was revealed that English side Featherstone Rovers had offered Nielsen a contract which he agreed to in principle but the deal fell through due to visa issues. ^[17]

References

External links

• South Sydney Rabbitohs profile
• NRL profile