Andrew Ettingshausen (born 29 October 1965) is an Australian former rugby league footballer of the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s. He played his first grade Australian club football for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, retiring with the record of most games at a single club, with 328.[1] Known for not only his deceptive pace, good hands and ability to score tries but also his solid defense, "ET" as he was known, represented both New South Wales and the Australian Kangaroos. After his retirement from league in 2000, Ettingshausen went on to host and produce his own fishing television show titled Escape with ET.
Ettingshausen was originally signed to the Cronulla side as a teenager before making his debut at eighteen while still at school. He quickly cemented a place in the Sharks first grade side and ultimately played 328 first grade games with the club over eighteen seasons. From a time in the early 1990s he was seen as the face of rugby league in Australia. His rugged good looks equipped him well to be pushed to the front by the marketers of the game at that time and Ettingshausen did not disappoint with his athletic skills attracting the interest of traditional fans while his looks appealed to a growing base of female fans. ET was successfully used in marketing not only for the game but for sponsors products as well, usually in photo shoots of him posing topless leading him to be seen as the 'Male Model of Rugby League'. Despite league being seen by not only the players but the public as a rough and tumble sport, it was a tag he never had to play down as his outstanding play and standing in the game made people look past what was not normally known for rugby league players.
Ettingshausen was born in Sutherland, New South Wales and began his rugby league career playing for his local club side at the age of six, though he first began to make inroads while playing for his school side De La Salle where he was subsequently scouted and signed as a junior to the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks.
While attending Cronulla De La Salle, Ettingshausen played for the Australian Schoolboys team in 1982 and 1983.[2]
Cronulla coach Terry Fearnley gave Andrew Ettingshausen his first grade debut for the Sharks in round 5 of the 1983 season against the Newtown Jets at fullback, his debut was somewhat of an uneventful affair although he did cross for a try in the second half; his second match was no improvement as he had a poor game and was substituted at half time to then be dropped the following week to reserve grade.
For the next few years his career continued to be somewhat of a series of ups and downs scoring a total of six tries over his first two seasons before being sidelined for a considerable amount of time in 1984 following a foot injury meaning he would spend yet again further time in reserve grade.
The 1985 season marked the first season where Ettingshausen started to stamp his mark on the NSWRL and rugby league in general; he scored a total of ten tries playing mostly from fullback or in the centres in his third season and cemented his spot in the Sharks squad.
At the conclusion of the 1986 off-season, Ettingshausen signed a one year deal with English rugby league club Leeds. Originally to gain further first grade experience and confidence he impressed his adopted English club so much they expressed an interest in him to re-join them again when he could.
The following season, Ettingshausen decided to act on the previous season's interest from Leeds and yet again moved overseas in the Australian off-season. During the beginning stages of the season ET voiced his desire to move from off the wing and into the centres, a move that would pay dividends on returning home to Cronulla. Ettingshausen played in the centre position for almost the rest of his career.
For the next half a decade Ettingshausen's reputation continued to grow in rugby circles amongst fans and coaches alike, scoring 69 tries in the next six seasons as well as being selected for both New South Wales and Australia.
Ettingshausen also made an appearance the Australian television movie The First Kangaroos, which depicted the 1908-09 Kangaroo tour.[3]
1987 saw Ettingshausen make his first start for New South Wales on the win in Game 1 of the 1987 State of Origin series. After missing Game 2 he regained his spot for Game 3 and would become a fixture of NSW sides for the next 10 years.
The 1988 season was his high point in the early years when he was moved off the wing and into the centres where he would remain for almost all of the rest of his career. After being one of the better players for NSW in the 1988 Origin series which Queensland won 3-0, ET was selected for his first test match for Australia. He played all three matches against Great Britain on the wing, scoring a try in the second test in Brisbane. Unfortunately injury prevented his selection for the World Cup Final which Australia won 25-12 against New Zealand. For Cronulla he went on to score seventeen tries in 1988 and played every game for The Sharks in the centres. Cronulla won their first minor premiership in 1988 but were bundled out of the Finals after successive losses to eventual Grand Finalists Canterbury-Bankstown and the Balmain Tigers.
Ettingshausen had formed the leagues most dangerous center partnership with fellow Cronulla representative player Mark McGaw, although Cronulla failed to re-capture their 1988 form and only just scraped into the Finals in 1989 after winning a playoff for 5th place against the Brisbane Broncos at Parramatta Stadium in Sydney. Cronulla were ousted in the first week of the Finals by eventual premiers Canberra who put in a powerful display to run out 38-14 winners. During the season ET was selected on the bench for Game 1 of the 1989 Origin series and scored The Blues' only try in a 6-36 loss. He was then moved to the centres for Game 2 but injury prevented him playing Game 3 which saw Queensland win the series 3-0. With Qld dominating the Origin series their players dominated selection for Australia's three test tour of New Zealand with Ettingshausen not selected for the team.
After a personally successful 1990 NSWRL season in which he played fullback in all three Origin games for NSW which saw The Blues win the series for the first time since 1986 and after scoring 13 tries in 20 games for Cronulla, he was selected for the 17th Kangaroo Tour of Great Britain and France where he played in all five tests on tour against Great Britain and France. ET came of age on tour and played in 12 games on tour and finished as the highest try scorer for the 28 man touring squad with 15.
Ettingshausen's form continued for Cronulla into the 1991 NSWRL season and he was selected in the centres for NSW in game one of the 1991 State of Origin series. He was moved to fullback for Game 2 but missed Game 3 through injury. He retained his wing spot in the Australian team for the first test against New Zealand in Melbourne. After a shock 8-24 loss to The Kiwi's, ET was moved to fullback for the remaining two tests and he was among Australia's best for the series after they won Game 2 44-0 in Sydney and 40-14 in Brisbane. Injuries slowed the rest of his season for Cronulla although he ended up with 10 tries from 15 games. At seasons end he was selected in the centres for a two test tour to Papua New Guinea against The Kumuls, scoring 3 tries in the two games.
The 1992 and 1993 seasons were somewhat quiet ones for Ettingshausen whom continued to battle injury through large periods. Despite a slow start to the 1992 NSWRL season playing fullback for the Sharks, ET was picked at fullback for NSW for all three games of the 1992 Origin series which saw NSW win 2-1. He was then picked at fullback for all three tests against Great Britain in the The Ashes. His defensive skills and speed were in evidence in Game 1 in Sydney when he prevented flying Lions winger Martin Offiah from scoring two runaway tries. ET later stated that despite being regarded as one of the fastest players in the NSWRL, if not for having less ground to cover he would not have got near Offiah for pace. The Lions won Game 2 in Melbourne but the Aussie's won Game 3 and the series in Brisbane. This would be the only full international series he played in that ET would not score a try. Ettingshausen would play as many representative games during 1992 as he did for Cronulla, his club season halted by injury after Round 12. The injury caused him to miss selection for Australia's successful tour to England for the World Cup Final against Great Britain.
Ettingshausen missed the early part of the 1993 season after contracting malaria on a fishing trip to Papua New Guinea. When fit, ET's form was good enough to be selected on the wing for NSW for games 1 and 2 of the 1993 Origin series and at centre for Game 3. He missed selection for Australia for Game 1 of their two test tour of New Zealand but was called into sit on the reserves bench for Games 2 and Game 3 (played in Brisbane). Cronulla coach Arthur Beetson moved ET to five-eighth in Round 6 of the season and he played there for the rest of the season, gaining praise for his play in an unfamiliar position.
1994 saw ET back at his best, seeing him score a total of 18 tries from just 18 games and leading the Sharks by example after also being awarded the captaincy of the Sharks. Five of his 18 tries came in one match against South Sydney at The Sharks home ground, Endeavour Field in Round 22. With his 3rd try against Manly-Warringah in Round 5 (his 6th of the season), ET brought up his 100th try for the Cronulla club. He would finish the season with 112 tries for Cronulla. At the end of the 1994 season, he was selected for his second Kangaroo tour. In almost a carbon copy of his 1990 Tour, Ettingshausen was the team's top try scorer with 15 from 11 games played which included all three tests playing on the wing against Great Britain and the single test against France.
Ettingshausen continued to be the marquee player both for the Cronulla club, topping the Sharks scoring lists from the 1994 to 1996 seasons, as well as becoming the face of the competition, often heading marketing campaigns. The Sharked joined Australia's Super League in 1997 and competed in the new competition that year. Ettinghausen captained Cronulla-Sutherland to the grand final but they lost to the Brisbane Broncos. He toured with the Australian SL team to Great Britain and France at the end of 1997, playing all four tests (three against Great Britain and one against France) in the centres. Other than the 1992 Ashes series, this was the only time ET failed to score a try for Australia in a full test series.
ET further succumbed to injury midway into the 1998 season, hampering his chances at playing for the Sharks and threatening to prematurely end his rugby career. Andrew battled back from injury to play for another two seasons of first grade before his back problem was diagnosed as being chronic in the 2000 season and he played his final game for the Sharks against the Auckland Warriors that year.
He ended up playing a total of 328 NRL games, all for Cronulla which became the record for the most games for a single club, and 6th highest overall, behind Terry Lamb (349), Steve Menzies (349), Brad Fittler (336), Cliff Lyons (332)& Darren Lockyer (350*).
During the 1991 NSWRL season Ettingshausen filed a defamation lawsuit against the Australian HQ magazine and photographer Brett Cochrane.[4] Cochrane had taken a photo of Ettingshausen while he was in the shower undressed on the 1990 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain. The magazine ran the shot in 1991 without his permission. ET successfully sued the magazine for originally $350,000 which was later reduced to $100,000 after appeal.[5]
In early 2012 Ettingshausen was accused by former Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks teammate Paul Mellor of having an extramarital affair with his wife. The scandal has been compared to that of former Australian rules footballer Wayne Carey.[6]
Ettingshausen made his New South Wales State of Origin debut in the 1987 season and over the next nine years went on to bring his tally of State of Origin games to twenty-seven. This stands in 2nd place for most appearances for NSW (behind Brad Fittler) and in 5th place overall for the most appearances. He made his debut on the wing but went on to cover both the position of fullback and centre scoring a total of nine tries.
In 2005 he was named one of the 25 greatest ever NSW players.
He made his debut for Australia in the Ashes series against Great Britain in 1988 on the wing and continued to be a regular member of the Australian side for nearly on a decade. Ettingshausen was selected for the 1990 Kangaroo Tour, and against Papua New Guinea in 1991 along with playing in a three test series against New Zealand playing wing for the 1st game and at fullback in games 2 and 3.
He played at fullback for all three Tests of the 1992 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia, helping Australia retain The Ashes. Injury unfortunately prevented him from selection in for Australia's one off test against Papua New Guinea in Townsville a few weeks after the Great Britain series and also Australia's winning World Cup squad at the end of the 1992 season.
After playing from the bench in the 3 tests against New Zealand in 1993 he played on the wing in a further Test match against France in 1994 before embarking on his second Kangaroo Tour, playing in all four Tests, and earning the distinction of becoming the first player since Bob Fulton to be the top try-scorer on consecutive Kangaroo tours.
ET played his final international in 1997 for the Australian Super League team, before retiring from representative fixtures in 1999.
Ettingshausen's 165 tries is the third highest tally in Australian first grade rugby league, behind Ken Irvine (212), and Steven Menzies (172).
| Games |
Tries |
Goals |
F/G |
Points |
| 328 |
165 |
1 |
– |
662 |
| Team |
Matches |
Years |
| Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
328 |
1983–2000 |
| Leeds Rhinos |
– |
1986–1987 |
| New South Wales |
27 |
1987–1998 |
| Australia |
29 |
1988–1997 |
During the 1992 rugby league season, a game was developed and released by Audiogenic worldwide and Ozi Soft in Australia titled 'ET's Rugby League.
The game was a rugby league game with 2d graphics and was made available for Amiga, Commodore C64 and IBM PC on 8 September 1992. The game is also available as Wembley Rugby League in England, the only difference between the two versions being the inclusion of English competition sides rather than the Australian ones and the game runs at around twice the speed of ET's Rugby League.
After the 2005 Cronulla riots Ettingshausen was selected along with fellow sports stars Susie Maroney, Nick Davis, Mark Ella and former Sharks team mate Jason Stevens to head the $250,000 NSW government campaign to promote Sydney's beach suburbs as safe for everyone.[1]
During the 2005 rugby league season ET was appointed as a consultant with the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks first grade side.
In February 2008, Ettingshausen was named in the list of Australia's 100 Greatest Players (1908–2007) which was commissioned by the NRL and ARL to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia.[7]
In 1992, the Cronulla club extended their ground at Endeavour Field, adding a new stand to the ground at a cost of 2.5 million dollars. The club originally calling the stand the 'Western Endeavour' grandstand but with the retirement of Andrew Ettingshausen in 2000 the club decided to name it the 'Andrew Ettingshausen' stand in his honour.
2003 saw the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks name the top ten Sharks legends of all-time as nominated by fans and picked by a panel of experts. Ettingshausen was named amongst the ten and was then further honoured by being picked as one of the three first immortals of the club along with Gavin Miller and Steve Rogers
[edit] Escape with ET
With his retirement from rugby league Ettingshausen launched his media career with his own television show on the Nine Network in 1997 titled, Escape with ET. The show is essentially a fishing show hosted by Ettingshausen though it also focuses on many water sports (such as white water rafting and wakeboarding), off-road 4WD driving and other outdoors activities.
The show has been currently running for eight years to date and in 2005 moved to rival network Network Ten. It will also usually have a celebrity appearing on each episode including former rugby league players such as David Peachey and Ryan Girdler along with others including Paul Kelly, John Barnes, Layne Beachley amongst others.
"He had a shocker against Canberra in the heavy rain at Endeavour, was replaced at half time and dropped to reserve grade." (Rugby League Week magazine on Andrew Ettingshausen's second first grade game, 1983)
"I just went out to back up any breaks the forwards made and it worked." (Ettingshausen, after scoring 5 tries vs Illawarra, 1989)
"We used to sing the song about the wise man.. built his house upon the rock and I think those three guys were the rock." (Sharks coach John Lang on ET, Danny Lee and Les Davidson)
"He looked very white." (Coach Jack Gibson, asked how Ettingshausen looked after his return from an off-season for Leeds, 1987)
"It was classic ET... in his case, age seems to help, not hinder." (RLW magazine report on the first game of 1997)
"When he is in full flight it is like a goalie trying to stop a penalty" (John Lang on ET, after his five-star performance against Easts, 1994)
"Stars of the match were the rival fullbacks – Penrith's school teacher Mark Levy and Cronulla's schoolboy Andrew Ettingshausen." (RLW magazine on the Round 24 clash, 1983)
"He showed maturity way beyond his years and is ice-cool under pressure." (Coach Gibson after the 1983 KB Cup Final)
"ET's so quick he can turn the light off and be in bed before it gets dark." (Supercoach Gibson again, while providing commentary for the 1987 State of Origin series)
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Current players are listed in italics.
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Rugby league footballers with 150 NRL tries
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Current players are listed in italics.
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| Persondata |
| Name |
Ettingshausen, Andrew |
| Alternative names |
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| Short description |
Australian rugby league player |
| Date of birth |
29 October 1965 |
| Place of birth |
Sutherland, New South Wales |
| Date of death |
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| Place of death |
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Navotas 
