Gunnedah-born rugby league player Oliver Pascoe had a memorable National Rugby League (NRL) debut last Sunday, as he landed a last-gasp penalty goal for the Gold Coast Titans in their 22-14 victory against the St George Illawarra Dragons.
Oliver came off the bench in the 56th minute at Cbus Super Stadium, with the Dragons leading 14-12 before a penalty goal to Jayden Campbell tied the scores with 10 minutes left.
A converted try gave the Titans a six-point lead, before a last-minute penalty resulted in the debutant kicking a goal to seal Gold Coast’s first win of the season following three defeats.
Oliver began his rugby league career in the town of his birth, and played in the juniors before moving elsewhere with his family.
Gunnedah’s current senior rugby league president David McCann recalled this week that Oliver was a standout player all the way through his junior football.
After going to boarding school in Tamworth, Oliver moved to Port Macquarie and played some football there before having a year in Wauchope.
Oliver progressed to the Queensland-based Hostplus Cup, and played for a few different clubs.
Last year he worked as a tiler in addition to playing rugby league for the Ipswich Jets, and won the Petero Civoniceva Medal for best-and-fairest in the Hostplus Cup.
Oliver also came off the bench for the Indigenous All Stars in the annual clash with the Maori All Stars, with the teams having a 16-all draw at FMG Stadium (Waikato) on February 15.
Oliver was representing his Ngemba heritage on his mum’s side of the family.
