Alan Tongue

Alan Tongue (born 13 October 1980) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. A Country New South Wales representative forward, he captained the Canberra Raiders for several seasons in the NRL.

Alan Tongue
Personal information
Born (1980-10-13) 13 October 1980
Tamworth, New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
Height180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight87 kg (13 st 10 lb)
PositionLock, Hooker, Second-row
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2000–11 Canberra Raiders 220 31 0 1 125
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2008 Prime Minister's XIII 3 0 0 0 0
2009 Country Origin 1 1 0 0 4
Source: [1]

Background

Tongue was born in Tamworth, New South Wales, Australia.

Early years

While attending Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School in 1998, Tongue was selected to play for his country in the Australian Schoolboys team.[2]

Playing career

Tongue is a 10-year veteran at Canberra, making his debut in 2000 and winning the Raiders' Rookie of the Year award after joining the club in 1998. He spent the majority of his early years moving between the backrow and the interchange bench. He established his position within the side in 2005, and in 2006 Tongue broke the record for most tackles in the regular season with 1,087.[3] The next highest ranking player was Nathan Hindmarsh with 911. Tongue was also voted the Raider's Player of the Year in 2006.[4]

At the end of the 2008 NRL regular season, Tongue was awarded Dally M recognition for Lock of the Year and Captain of the Year after leading the Raiders to 6th on the competition ladder. Tongue was also named in the Prime Minister's XIII at the end of 2008.[5]

Tongue was selected in the City vs Country match on 8 May 2009.[6] In this game he scored a rare try in a 40-18 defeat.

In his 200th game for Canberra, on 28 August 2010, a Tongue supporter commented on the opposition (North Queensland Cowboys, through its player Willie Mason) in a sexually suggestive crowd poster shown prominently at the stadium and in TV coverage: "Who needs a Big Willie when you have a great Tongue?". In this game, Tongue returned to the side, and suffered another injury, in a 48-4 high scoring win over the Cowboys at Canberra Stadium[7] that had the Raiders join the top 8 teams in the competition and join the finals rounds for the 2010 competition.

Tongue announced his retirement on 17 August 2011.

Post-playing career

Tongue is an Australian Apprenticeships Ambassador for the Australian Government and an Apprentice Mentor in the NRL's Trading Up program.[8] As an NRL Ambassador, since 2017 he has conducted workshops as part of the NRL's Voice Against Violence program.[9]

Tongue was named ACT Australian of the Year in 2017.[10]

References
  1. Ferguson, Shawn Dollin and Andrew. "Alan Tongue - Career Stats & Summary - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org.
  2. "Australian Secondary Schools Rugby League". Sporting Pulse. Retrieved 10 October 2008.
  3. Tongue ties up top spot
  4. "Tongue tied with the Raiders until 2010". Archived from the original on 18 March 2008. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
  5. "Tongue named in PM'S XIII". Archived from the original on 26 October 2008. Retrieved 29 September 2008.
  6. Balym, Todd (3 May 2009). "Blues halfback duel in two as Mitchell Pearce misses selection". Fox Sports. Retrieved 3 May 2009.
  7. Raiders in the eight in Tongue’s 200, Canberra Raiders, 28 August 2010, accessed 29 August 2010
  8. "Australian School-Based Apprentice of the Year Says Genuine Is Best". Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries. 29 January 2016. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
  9. Riccio, Dave (30 April 2017). "Domestic violence: Alan Tongue spokesman for NRL prevention campaign". The Sunday Telegraph. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
  10. "Former Canberra Raiders captain Alan Tongue named ACT Australian of the Year". ABC News. 31 October 2016. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Clinton Schifcofske		 Canberra Raiders captain
2007–2011		 Succeeded by
Terry Campese
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