Born: 9 October, 1973 Test record: 3 Tests (1999-2000) – 6 tries (24 points) Tours: 2000 World Cup
After several seasons starring on the New Zealand domestic scene, prolific tryscorer Brian Jellick linked with North Queensland Cowboys in 1999 and earned a Kiwi Test call-up.
The Glenora Bears flyer rose to prominence piling on tries for Waitakere City Raiders in the 1995-96 Lion Red competitions and was snapped up by English second division club Widnes for the 1997 season, along with Raiders teammates Ben Lythe and Boycie Nelson.
After spending 1998 in Auckland – helping Glenora to a Fox Memorial grand final victory and touring Cook Island with New Zealand Māori – the 25-year-old secured a contract with struggling North Queensland.
Jellick made his NRL debut in Round 7 of 1999 against Auckland at Ericsson Stadium. The winger crossed for a try in the Cowboys’ crushing 24-0 win and played all but one of the club’s remaining matches to finish the season with a team-high nine tries from 18 appearances.
He was subsequently selected in the Kiwis’ squad for the inaugural Tri-Nations at the end of the year and scored four tries on international debut – a 74-0 non-tournament defeat of Tonga in the last Test match played at Carlaw Park. His haul was second only to Hugh McGahan’s world record six tries against Papua New Guinea at the same venue in 1983, but he was unable to unseat Nigel Vagana or Lesley Vainikolo for a wing spot for the later Tri-Nations encounters.
Jellick’s sophomore season in the NRL was less fruitful – garnering just 13 first grade appearances and one try for the wooden spooners – but he was nevertheless selected in New Zealand’s World Cup squad. He scored a try in both of his outings at the England-hosted tournament, a pool thrashing of Lebanon and a heavy quarter-final win over France. Vainikolo was preferred on the flank as the Kiwis progressed to the final.
An injury-hit Jellick fought his way back into the Cowboys’ first-choice line-up a third of the way into their 2001 campaign, running in five tries in 17 games. But he was not offered a new contract for 2002, eventually spending the 2002-03 northern hemisphere winter with French club Limoux.
Jellick returned to Australia in 2003 to play for Queensland Cup heavyweights Redcliffe, scoring 51 tries in just 59 games for the club – including a four-pointer in the Dolphins’ ’03 Grand Final triumph. The 32-year-old flankman retired at the end of 2006 after a stint at Wynnum Manly, before returning to New Zealand and getting into junior coaching with Ponsonby Ponies.
