Ryan Cross
| Full name | Ryan Cross | ||||||||||||
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| Height | 191 cm (6 ft 3 in) | ||||||||||||
| Weight | 98 kg (15 st 6 lb) | ||||||||||||
| School | Waverley College | ||||||||||||
| Notable relative(s) | Clay Cross (brother) | ||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||
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Ryan 'Noughts' Cross (born 6 October 1979) is a former rugby league footballer who played for the Sydney Roosters in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition before switching codes to join the rugby union Super 14 side the Western Force in 2007.
Early career
Cross, a product of Waverley College, was a member of the Australian Rugby Union Schoolboys side in both 1996 and 1997, some of his team-mates being future Wallabies Matt Dunning, Adam Freier, David Lyons, George Smith, Phil Waugh, and rugby league stars Sam Harris and Craig Wing. At 17 years he joined the Sydney Roosters rugby league club.
Rugby league career
Cross made a spectacular first-grade debut on the 17 April 1998, scoring two tries against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles. After a promising start to his league career, including a Grand Final appearance in 2000, the Roosters first in 20 years, he was plagued by serious leg injuries. A broken leg saw him miss much of the 2001 season at a time when he was touted as being in line to make his state debut. Just a few matches into the 2002 season he suffered a major knee injury that kept him out for the remainder of that year. That season, Sydney Roosters won the premiership, their first in 27 years. Cross returned in 2003, finishing as the clubs leading try-scorer. In 2004 and 2005 he was chosen to represent City Origin.
Cross is the fifth-highest try scorer in the Sydney's history with 85 tries from his 143 matches. The centre played in 3 Grand finals for the club, finishing runner-up on each occasion. His greatest attributes were his acceleration, his ability to 'explode' from a near standing start, as well as possessing good upper-body strength.
Ryan's father, Paul Cross, was an Eastern suburbs junior who played on the wing for the club in the 1964 and 1965 seasons. His brother Clay is a notable shot put athlete.
Rugby union career
In June 2006, after a period of speculation and rumour, Cross signed with the Perth rugby union Super 14 side, the Western Force. He made his debut with the club on 2 February 2007, against the Highlanders.
He scored his first Wallaby try against France at the Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane in his second test on 5th July 2008, having come on as a Second-Half replacement. He followed this with another try later on in the game, both came from Matt Giteau passes.
Ryan Cross got his full test debut against New Zealand on 26 July in place of injured Stirling Mortlock. He scored the first try which contributed to the 34-19 victory over the All Blacks.