Travis Norton Biography
Travis Norton (born 12 April 1976 in Redcliffe, Queensland) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. A Queensland State of Origin representative lock forward, he played his club football with the South Queensland Crushers, Canterbury-Bankstown and the North Queensland Cowboys, whom he captained to the 2005 NRL Grand Final.
Background
Norton played his junior rugby league for the Moranbah Miners.
Playing career
Norton made his first grade debut for South Queensland against the Canberra Raiders in round 1 of the 1995 ARL season at Lang Park. Norton departed South Queensland at the end of 1996 after the club finished with the Wooden Spoon.
In 1997, Norton joined Canterbury who had aligned themselves with the rival Super League compe*ion. In the 1998 NRL season, Norton played 29 games as Canterbury finished 9th on the table and qualified for the finals. Canterbury proceeded to make the 1998 NRL Grand Final after winning 4 sudden death elimination matches in a row including the club's famous preliminary final victory over rivals Parramatta which is considered to be one of the greatest comebacks of all time. After being 18-2 down with less than 10 minutes remaining, Canterbury scored 3 tries to take the game into extra-time before winning the match 32–20.
The following week, he played at lock forward for Canterbury in their loss at the 1998 NRL grand final to the Brisbane Broncos. Norton played with Canterbury until the end of 2003, when salary cap issues saw him leave the club to join the North Queensland Cowboys.
Norton captained the Cowboys from 2004–06, leading them to the 2005 NRL Grand Final which they lost to the Wests Tigers, with Norton scoring a try. That year, he was joined at the Cowboys by fellow ex-Bulldogs teammate Johnathan Thurston.
Norton retired at the end of the 2006 NRL season.
References
External links
- Travis Norton at the Former Origin Greats website.
