Jamal Idris

Summary

Jamal Dasuki Idrispronunciation (born 6 July 1990[1]) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer. Idris played in representative teams such as: Country, Indigenous All Stars, New South Wales and Australia . A centre, he previously played for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, Gold Coast Titans and Penrith Panthers in the National Rugby League.

Jamal Idris
Personal information
Full nameJamal Dasuki Idris
Born (1990-07-06) 6 July 1990 (age 33)
Auburn, New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
Height195 cm (6 ft 5 in)
Weight120 kg (18 st 13 lb)
PositionCentre, Second-row
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2008–11 Canterbury Bulldogs 68 24 0 0 96
2012–13 Gold Coast Titans 35 9 0 0 36
2014–15 Penrith Panthers 28 8 0 0 32
2017 Wests Tigers 5 0 0 0 0
Total 136 41 0 0 164
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2011-12 Indigenous All Stars 2 0 0 0 0
2010–14 Country NSW 3 2 0 0 8
2010 New South Wales 1 1 0 0 4
2011 Australia 1 1 0 0 4
Source: [1]

Early life edit

Idris is the son of an Aboriginal Dharug mother, Alana, and Nigerian Hausa father, Jerry.[2][3] Idris spent much of his childhood growing up in an Aboriginal reserve (Cabarita "mission"[4] now under an Aboriginal Land Council[5]) in Forster on the New South Wales Mid North Coast.[6][2][7]

The family moved to Sydney because of Jamal's interest in athletics, especially javelin throwing. Following several representative seasons in athletics, Idris took up rugby league in high school. His junior clubs were Chester Hill Hornets, Merrylands Rams, Fairfield Patrician Brothers, Bankstown Sports, Guildford Raiders, Berala Bears and Forster Tuncurry Hawkes.[8] Idris attended Great Lakes College, Westfields Sports High School and LaSalle Catholic College, Bankstown.[9][10]

Playing career edit

 
Idris training with the Indigenous Australian side in 2008

2008 edit

Idris played for the Canterbury-Bankstown NYC team in 2008. He made his first grade debut for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in Round 24 against arch-rivals the Parramatta Eels at ANZ Stadium at centre in the Bulldogs 26–12 loss.[11] In his third NRL match in Round 26 against the Canberra Raiders, Idris scored his first NRL career try in the 52–34 loss at Canberra Stadium.[12] Idris finished his debut year in the NRL with 3 matches and one try. He played at centre in the 2008 World Cup curtain opener match for the Indigenous Dreamtime team against the New Zealand Māori rugby league team in the Dreamtime side's 34–26 win.[13]

2009 edit

In March, Idris was involved in a fight with Canterbury teammate Ben Barba. Idris allegedly left Barba with a bleeding nose after he held Canterbury teammate Lee Te Maari against a wall at the Wentworthville Hotel carpark, resulting in Idris being suspended for one week.[14] Idris performances early in the 2009 season prompted dual international Wendell Sailor to say: "What Jamal's doing at the moment, I think it's a lot better than what Izzy (Israel Folau) was doing at the same age."[15] On 8 September, he was named Dally M Rookie of the Year[16][17] Idris played in 20 matches and scored 7 tries for Canterbury-Bankstown for the year.

2010 edit

Idris scored two tries in Canterbury's 60–14 win over the Sydney Roosters in round 3,[18] and a month later had a man of the match performance in Round 7 against the Brisbane Broncos.[19] Idris was rewarded with a centre spot in the NSW Country Origin team. After a strong performance for Country, including a try in the 36–18 win over City Origin,[20] he was named on the interchange bench for the New South Wales State of Origin team for Game I of the 2010 series scoring a try in the 28–24 loss.[21] Idris was dropped for the second match but was named the 18th man. In September, he was named in the train-on squad for Australia in the 2010 Four Nations tournament, but didn't make the final 24-man squad.[22] Idris finished the season with 22 matches and 10 tries.

On 29 September, Idris was the victim of an attack by his cousin while in Forster for a family reunion. His 20-year-old cousin, Beau Currie, later pleaded guilty to striking Idris' neck with a samurai sword and was sentenced to 18 months in jail with a non-parole period of 14 months.[23] Idris was not seriously injured and made a return to the Bulldogs for the start of the 2011 NRL season.

2011 edit

Early into the 2011 NRL season, Idris was rumoured to have received contract offers from the Newcastle Knights and Gold Coast Titans. On 12 April, Idris signed a five-year deal with the Gold Coast Titans, starting from 2012.[24][25] Weeks later, Idris was selected for Australia, debuting against New Zealand in the 2011 ANZAC Test playing off the interchange bench and scoring a try in the Kangaroos 20–10 win at Cbus Super Stadium.[26] Idris played in 23 matches and scored 6 tries his last year with Canterbury-Bankstown

2012 edit

In round 1 against the North Queensland Cowboys, Idris made his club debut for the Gold Coast, scoring the opening try for the Titans season. Idris scored two tries in the Titans 18–0 win at 1300SMILES Stadium.[27] Due to form and injury, Idris saw one of his less effective seasons to date. After consecutive years of making representative football, Idris didn't see a representative jumper in 2012. He finished the year with 5 tries from 20 matches.

2013 edit

Idris played at NSW Country Origin side in their 18–12 win over NSW City.[28] He suffered a season-ending hamstring injury in Round 16 against the Newcastle Knights.[29] Idris played in 15 matches and scored 4 tries for the Gold Coast. At the end of the season Idris was involved in talks with the Penrith Panthers as he sought a return to Sydney on compassionate grounds to be closer to his family.

2014 edit

On 7 January, the Penrith Panthers signed Idris on a three-year deal. In a return deal, the Penrith club released Brad Tighe from the final two years of his contract to join the Gold Coast.[30][31] After missing round 1 with a hamstring strain,[32] Idris made his club debut for the Panthers in the round 18–17 loss against the Melbourne Storm at AAMI Park.[33] Idris was again selected for NSW Country Origin side, scoring a try and was awarded Man of the Match in the 26–26 all draw.[34] On 29 May, Idris was stood down by the Penrith club to seek help with personal issues, including depression and alcohol abuse, after he failed to report back to training following a four-day road trip to the Gold Coast.[35] On 23 June, he returned to the Panthers NSW Cup team, putting in a solid performance in the 32–28 win.[36] Idris returned to the Panthers first grade squad in Round 16.[37] In Round 17 against the Wests Tigers at Leichhardt Oval, Idris scored his first try in Penrith colours on his 24th birthday in the club's 26–10 win.[38][39] Idris finished his first year with Penrith scoring 4 tries from 22 matches.

2015–16 edit

At the end of 2015, Idris took a break from his sporting career. In 2016, he temporarily left rugby league and took a trip around the world, in which he visited Europe and India,[40] opened an orphanage in Ghana[41] and joined Group 3 Rugby League club Wingham Tigers.[42]

2017 edit

On 27 October 2016, Idris signed a one-year deal with the Wests Tigers after one-year break from the NRL. Lacking recent experience, he played the opening games of the season from the bench, playing at centre when he took the field. In round 5, he made his debut in the starting side. On 9 May 2017, it was revealed that Idris would be ruled out for the season with a ruptured ACL Injury which he suffered at training. On 19 October 2017, Idris announced on social media that he would be retiring due to injury, after 136 games across 4 different clubs.[43]

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Jamal Idris – Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  2. ^ a b "New Blue Idris no stranger to lending a helping hand". The Sydney Morning Herald. 18 May 2010. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  3. ^ Phelps, James (17 March 2009). "Bulldog Jamal Idris an NRL sensation". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 14 June 2011. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
  4. ^ "Don't mess with missionary man". The Sydney Morning Herald. 21 May 2010. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  5. ^ "Roads to Home". New South Wales Government. 15 July 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  6. ^ "Jamal Idris: From Pup to Bulldog - Alpha Magazine". The Kennel Forum. 7 April 2011. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  7. ^ "'Dark times' Idris will never forget". National Rugby League. 11 December 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  8. ^ Walshaw, Nick (1 June 2009). "Jamal Idris left reeling by outrageous fortunes". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 26 January 2020. Retrieved 20 June 2009.
  9. ^ Marchant, Sharyn (9 December 2007). "LaSalle boys to represent State at All-Schools comp". The Catholic Weekly. Archived from the original on 31 March 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  10. ^ "Westfields Sports High School, Australia's First Sports High School". Westfieldsports.nsw.edu.au. 16 July 2002. Archived from the original on 25 January 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  11. ^ "Some Joy in Bulldogs Pain". The Australian. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  12. ^ "Raiders Secure Double Chance". Couriermail.com.au. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  13. ^ Williams, Steven (26 October 2008). "Aboriginal side too good for Maori". League Unlimited. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  14. ^ "Bulldogs Scuffle". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  15. ^ "Wendell Sailor rates Jamal Idris better than Israel Folau". Foxsports.com.au. Fox Sports News (Australia). 17 May 2009. Retrieved 20 June 2009.
  16. ^ "Video Ref Won't Admit He was Wrong". Foxsports.com.au. Retrieved 20 June 2009.
  17. ^ "Jamal Idris is Rookie of the Year". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  18. ^ "Bulldogs Score 12 Tries in 60–14 Victory over Roosters". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  19. ^ "Idris lifts improving Bulldogs to big win over Broncos". The Sydney Morning Herald. 23 April 2010. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  20. ^ Greg Prichard (29 October 2015). "Dugan shows his Origin potential". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  21. ^ "No CookiesHerald Sun". Herald Sun. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  22. ^ "Kangaroos Train-on Squad Named". NRL.com. 6 September 2010. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  23. ^ "Jamal Idris Attacked With Samurai Sword : Cousin Sentenced to 18 Months Jail". The Australian. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  24. ^ "Jamal Idris Has Signed With Titans". Foxsports.com.au. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  25. ^ "No CookiesHerald Sun". Herald Sun. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  26. ^ "Australias Play New Zealand in Mid-year RL Test". Foxsports.com.au. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  27. ^ "Jamal Idris Scores Two Tries as Titans Coast Past Cowboys". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  28. ^ "Country Overcome City in Close Clash". Foxsports.com.au. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  29. ^ "Jamal Idris Suffers a Sickening Ankle Injury in Loss to Newcastle Knights". Foxsports.com.au. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  30. ^ Michael Chammas (7 January 2014). "NRL: Jamal Idris leaves Gold Coast Titans to take up three-year deal with Penrith Panthers". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  31. ^ Michael Chammas (29 October 2015). "NRL: How Phil Gould made Jamal Idris a Penrith Panther". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  32. ^ "Team Changes and Gossip for Round One of the 2014 NRL Season". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  33. ^ Roy Ward (15 March 2014). "Cooper Cronk gives Storm an 18–17 win over Penrith". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  34. ^ "Jamal Idris Stars in Thrilling City/Country Draw in Dubbo". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  35. ^ "Panthers Drop Jamal Idris After Alcohol Related Incident". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  36. ^ "Jamal Idris Makes Return from Club Suspension for Penrith Panthers in NSW Cup". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  37. ^ [1] Archived 21 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  38. ^ Chris Barrett (6 July 2014). "Penrith Panthers put in clinical performance to tear Wests Tigers apart". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  39. ^ Chris Barrett (29 October 2015). "Penrith Panthers centre Jamal Idris gets ideal birthday gift with win over Wests Tigers". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  40. ^ Kit Isaiah Bernal (22 February 2016). "Ex-Penrith Panthers player Jamal Idris escapes kidnap attempt in Vietnam". IBT. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  41. ^ NATHAN RYAN. "Jamal Idris to open African orphanage before making NRL return". Fox Sports. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  42. ^ Mick McDonald (21 June 2016). "Jamal a hit – even if he didn't play". Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  43. ^ "Wests Tigers recruit Jamal Idris season ending ACL rupture". Fox Sports. 9 May 2017.

External links edit

  • Wests Tigers profile
  • Penrith Panthers profile
  • Bulldogs profile