Cameron McInnes

Cameron McInnes (born 1 February 1994) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a lock or hooker for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the NRL.

Cameron McInnes
Personal information
Born (1994-02-01) 1 February 1994
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Height177 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight91 kg (14 st 5 lb)
Playing information
PositionLock, Hooker
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2014–16 South Sydney 39 6 0 0 24
2017–20 St. George Illawarra 91 11 0 0 44
2022– Cronulla Sharks 48 5 0 0 20
Total 178 22 0 0 88
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2017 NSW City 1 0 0 0 0
2023 Prime Minister's XIII 1 1 0 0 4
Source: [1]
As of 23 September 2023

He previously played for the South Sydney Rabbitohs and St George Illawarra Dragons in the National Rugby League and at representative level for NSW City in 2017.

Background

McInnes was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

He attended Marist College Pagewood and he topped the school in the 2011 HSC for Biology, Business Studies and English.[2] He played his junior football for the Botany Rams before being signed by the South Sydney Rabbitohs.

Career

Early career

He played for South Sydney's NYC team from 2012 to 2014 before moving on to the South Sydney New South Wales Cup team, North Sydney three rounds into 2014. He captained the NYC team in 2013 and 2014.[3] In October 2013, McInnes re-signed with the Rabbitohs on a 2-year contract.[4] At the end of 2013, McInnes won South Sydney's NYC Best and Fairest award, Player's Player award and was named on the interchange bench in the 2013 NYC Team of the Year.

2014

In Round 5 of the 2014 NRL season, McInnes made his NRL debut for South Sydney against the St. George Illawarra Dragons.[5] In Round 11, McInnes scored his first ever NRL try (against the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks), slicing through defenders 10m out to plant the ball the down.

2015

McInnes was selected twelve times in 2015, playing off the bench, at Hooker and even at times in the back-row. In Round 11, McInnes scored the winning try against the Parramatta Eels, latching onto a pass from fellow hooker, Issac Luke, before diving over the try-line. On 13 May 2015, McInnes re-signed with South Sydney on a two-year contract.[6]

2016

The departure of Isaac Luke to the New-Zealand Warriors gave McInnes the starting role for the South Sydney club. In Round One he opened the scoring, diving under the posts five minutes into South Sydney's 42–10 win over the Sydney Roosters. In Round 5, McInnes was credited with a 'stellar' performance, creating all three tries for the South Sydney club. After scoring two solo tries from dummy half, he then put five-eighth, Cody Walker through a hole to score in Souths 12–16 win over the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles.

As the season went on McInnes would switch between starting and interchange hooker, as him and South Sydney's alternate hooking option, Damien Cook fought for a starting position. By the end of the 2016 season, McInnes had played 19 games, scoring 4 tries with 1 try assist and an impressive 726 tackles. In September 2016, McInnes signed a two-year contract with the St. George Illawarra Dragons starting in 2017, after being released from the final year of his South Sydney contract following their signing of New South Wales State of Origin representative hooker Robbie Farah.[7]

2017

In December 2017, McInnes signed a four-year deal to remain at St George Illawarra until the end of the 2021 season.[8]

2018

In 2018, McInnes was part of the St. George Illawarra side which qualified for the finals and defeated Brisbane 48–18 in week one before being eliminated the following week by South Sydney 13–12.[9]

2019

McInnes made a total of 23 appearances for St. George Illawarra in the 2019 NRL season as the club endured one of their worst seasons finishing in 15th place on the table just above the last placed Gold Coast. Before the season had started, St George Illawarra were expected to reach the finals and challenge for the premiership but only managed to win 7 games all year.[10]

2020

On 19 February, it was announced that McInnes would miss the first 12 weeks of the 2020 NRL season after suffering an MCL injury at the pre-season NRL Nines tournament.[11] Due to the rescheduling of the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he managed to return in round 3.[12]

He made a total of 18 appearances for the club in the 2020 NRL season as the side finished a disappointing 13th on the table.[13]

2021

On 2 February, McInnes signed with Cronulla-Sutherland for four years starting in 2022.[14] On 12 February, McInnes suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, ruling him out for the rest of the season and prematurely ending his career with the club.[15]

2022

In round 2 of the 2022 NRL season, McInnes made his club debut for Cronulla in their 18-16 victory over Parramatta.[16] McInnes played 25 games for Cronulla throughout the year as the club surprised many by finishing second on the table. McInnes played in both finals matches as Cronulla were eliminated in straight sets.[17]

2023

In Cronulla's 0-28 loss to the Penrith Panthers in round 22 of the 2023 NRL season, McInnes - playing at lock forward - made 78 tackles, breaking the NRL-era record for most tackles made by a player in a single match previously held by Canberra's Shaun Fensom, who made 74 tackles against Canterbury-Bankstown in 2011.[18] McInnes played a total of 23 games for Cronulla in the 2023 NRL season as Cronulla finished sixth on the table. McInnes played in the clubs 13-12 upset loss against the Sydney Roosters which ended their season.[19]

Statistics

NRL
Statistics are correct as of the end of the 2022 season[1]
Season Team Matches T G GK % F/G Pts
2014 South Sydney 710—04
2015 1310—04
2016 1940—016
2017 St. George Illawarra 2440—016
2018 2630—012
2019 2330—012
2020 1810—04
2022 Cronulla-Sutherland 2520—08
2023 10
Career totals 165 19 0 — 0 76

City vs Country
Season Team Matches T G GK % F/G Pts
2017 NSW City 100—00
Career totals 1 0 0 — 0 0

References
  1. "Cameron McInnes - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  2. Walter, Brad (12 April 2016). "Russell Crowe criticised Cameron McInnes, now he's being touted as future South Sydney Rabbitohs captain". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  3. "Cameron McInnes". South Sydney Rabbitohs. National Rugby League. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  4. "Rabbitohs sign Chris Grevsmuhl on two-year deal". Zero Tackle. 10 October 2013. Archived from the original on 2 March 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  5. "Late Mail & Team Changes - Rd 5, 2014". South Sydney Rabbitohs. National Rugby League. 5 April 2014. Archived from the original on 24 July 2018. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  6. "Rabbitohs Extend Contracts of Alex Johnston and Cameron McInnes Until End of 2017". South Sydney Rabbitohs. National Rugby League. 13 May 2015. Archived from the original on 24 July 2018. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  7. "Dragons sign Cameron McInnes". Zero Tackle. 12 June 2015. Archived from the original on 17 September 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  8. Brundson, Simon (7 December 2017). "St George Illawarra lock down hooker Cameron McInnes with new deal". Fox Sports. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  9. Whaley, Pamela (15 September 2018). "NRL finals 2018: Rabbitohs defeat Dragons with Adam Reynolds kicking three field goals". Fox Sports Australia. Archived from the original on 16 September 2018.
  10. Chisholm, Ed (2 September 2019). "Paul McGregor facing the axe as St. George Illawarra Dragons coach following horror season". Sporting News. Archived from the original on 5 September 2019.
  11. "Dragons handed cruel blow with skipper McInnes set to miss up to 12 weeks". Fox Sports Australia. 19 February 2020. Archived from the original on 18 February 2020.
  12. Cameron McInnes fired up ahead of Round 3 return. St George Illawarra Dragons. 27 May 2020. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  13. O'Loughlin, Liam (26 October 2020). "NRL 2020 Season Review: How will your side fare next year?". Sporting News. Archived from the original on 26 October 2020.
  14. Walsh, Dan (2 February 2021). "Sharks lock in McInnes from next year for four seasons". National Rugby League. Archived from the original on 2 February 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  15. "Dragons injury update: Cameron McInnes". St George Illawarra Dragons. 12 February 2021. Archived from the original on 13 February 2021. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  16. "Nicho Hynes tribute to mate after Cronulla beat Parramatta". www.foxsports.com au.
  17. "Young gun who can solve Sharks' big problem; masterstroke that can't be overlooked: Brutal Review". www.foxsports.com.au.
  18. "'A hell of a knock': McInnes' mammoth 78-tackle effort to top NRL's hardiest forwards". www.foxsports.com.au.
  19. "Sydney Roosters score 'wild' 13-12 NRL elimination final win over Cronulla Sharks, Penrith Panthers beat Warriors". www.abc.net.au.
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