Gorden Tallis

Gorden James Tallis (born 27 July 1973), also known by the nickname of "Raging Bull" for his on-field aggression,[3] is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s.

A Queensland State of Origin and Australian international representative second-row forward, he captained both these teams as well as the Brisbane Broncos with whom he won the 1997, 1998 and 2000 Grand Finals, after starting his career with the St. George Dragons in Sydney.

An auntie of mine did some research and she found that my great-grandfather came from North Western Ambrym in Vanuatu and my great-grandmother was from Loh Island in the Torres Strait [sic].

Tallis was used to bad effect off the interchange bench during the 1994 season and also made his representative debut for the Queensland side in the final two State of Origin series games that year.

[10] When the proposed Super League competition was put on hold in 1995, Tallis offered to buy out the final year of his contract with St. George in order to join Brisbane.

Tallis returned to the game with the Broncos for the 1997 Super League season and was the most dominant forward in the competition, which culminated in Brisbane's crushing 26–8 win over the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the Telstra Cup grand final.

He continued his great personal form when chosen for the ANZAC Test in 1999 and spearheaded Queensland's State of Origin campaign in a historic tied series.

If Tallis' stature as the most dominant forward in the game wasn't secure following Brisbane's 14–6 win over the Roosters in the 2000 NRL grand final, his four tries in Australia's 82–0 humiliation of Papua New Guinea before the 2000 World Cup, and his selection as Australian captain for the match against Russia (which resulted in a record 110–4 victory) did.

Following Australia's World Cup victory, Tallis and teammate Shane Webcke wrote an open letter to players appealing for an end to scandalous behaviour amongst footballers which had been tarnishing the sport.

Tallis captained a rookie Queensland team in the 34–16 win over New South Wales in the opening match of the 2001 State of Origin series and was named man-of-the-match.

Soon after, he suffered a career-threatening neck injury in a club match against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles which revealed a spinal condition that required corrective surgery.

While Tallis' season was over (despite the smokescreen of his naming on the Broncos' interchange bench for the club's preliminary final) he made a strong return to football in 2002.

It was in the deciding match of the 2002 State of Origin series that Gorden Tallis performed a famous tackle on Blues fullback, Brett Hodgson, dragging him several metres and eventually tossing him out of the field of play like a rag-doll.

Tallis' reaction later of giving the one-finger salute to a section of the crowd, right behind the northern try-line where Dane Carlaw's series-tying try was scored, became a major after-match talking point.

[27] Tallis co-hosts Triple M Radio Brisbane's sports segment where he regularly amuses listeners with nonsensical opinions on the game and being the chief instigator of personal beef among the crew.

Gorden Tallis about to receive the ball during a Brisbane Broncos match in 2004.