Michael Dobson
Personal information
Nickname	Dobbo, Dobby, Mick
Born	29 May 1986 (1986-05-29) (age 23)
	Junee, New South Wales, Australia
Height	6ft 2 in (176 cm)
Weight	13 st 3 lbs (84 kg)
Playing information
Position	Halfback
Club
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
2006	Catalan Dragons	12	5	41	1	103
2006	Wigan Warriors	14	6	61	0	146
2007–08	Canberra Raiders	20	3	56	0	124
2008–	Hull KR	44	19	136	3	351
	Total	90	33	294	4	724
As of 26 August 2008
Source: Rugby League Project and Yesterday's Hero

Michael Dobson (born 29 May, 1986 in Junee, New South Wales) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer with the Hull Kingston Rovers of the Super League competition. He is the current holder of the prestigious Albert Goldthorpe Medal.

[edit] Career

While attending Erindale College, Dobson played for the Australian Schoolboys team in 2003 and 2004.^[1]

Dobson, originally a promising young halfback for the Canberra Raiders of Australia, kick-started his career when he was loaned to French Super League team Les Catalans Dragons as a replacement for the injured Stacey Jones. Jones was on of New Zealand's greatest halfbacks, but the then 19 year old Dobson impressed with his natural ability. While at Les Catalans, he attracted the attention of several other Super League clubs, subsequently being signed by the Wigan Warriors in May 2006.

There was some controversy over Dobson's signing for Wigan. Under English law, Dobson was not permitted to play in England because he did not have a work permit. However, Wigan managed to obtain a work permit for him, albeit in controversial circumstances. When Dobson signed for Wigan, they were at the bottom of the Super League table, 6 points behind the nearest team and heading towards relegation. Dobson's impact at Wigan helped the team survive relegation in the 2006 season. Michael is noted for his good organisational skills on the field.

Dobson is highly regarded as both a field and goal kicker. In 2006 he was statistically the best goal kicker in the world with a success rate of 84%, equal to or better than St Helens star Jamie Lyon (81%) and NRL players Hazem El Masri (84%) and Andrew Johns (80%).

Dobson re-signed with Canberra at the end of 2006, and was part of the Raiders' squad in 2007. He was the club's leading point scorer that season.

[edit] 2008

Hull Kingston Rovers have agreed a deal to sign the Canberra Raiders scrum-half after he secured a release from his contract with the NRL club.^[2] He signed two-and-a-half year deal at Hull KR after James Webster was released.^[3][4] Dobson had been linked with a mid-season transfer to Hull FC and Harlequins Rugby League.^[5][6][7] He has more recently been linked with a move to Hull KR, however they would need to release players before they could bring in Dobson.^[8]

[edit] 2009

Dobson enjoyed a magnificent 2009 season for Rovers, helping them into fourth place in only their third Super League season. His superb individual performances saw him become the second winner of the Albert Goldthorpe Medal which is presented by Rugby Leaguer & League Express.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Michael Dobson Wigan Career Page on the CherryandWhite.co.uk Wigan RL Fansite.
• Michael Dobson profile on www.wiganwarriors.com

• Canberra Raiders profile

• Dobson resigns for the Raiders