Dean Schifilliti is an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n former rugby league

Rugby league

Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

 footballer of the 1980s and 90s.

Illawarra Steelers

Originally from Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

, Schifilitti joined Illawarra

Illawarra

Illawarra is a region in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is a coastal region situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the Shoalhaven or South Coast region. It encompasses the cities of Wollongong, Shellharbour, Shoalhaven and the town of Kiama. The central region contains Lake...

 in 1989 and took over the captaincy at the end of 1991. He was the Illawarra Steelers

Illawarra Steelers

The Illawarra Steelers are an Australian rugby league football club based in the city of Wollongong, New South Wales. The club competed in Australia's top-level Rugby League competition from 1982, when they, along with the Canberra Raiders, were admitted into the then New South Wales Rugby Football...

' hooker and captain and came of age in the 1992 semi-finals series as an aggressive, seasoned on-field leader. Schifilliti signed with the North Queensland Cowboys

North Queensland Cowboys

The North Queensland Cowboys are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, Queensland. They compete in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby League premiership...

 in anticipation of the club's debut in 1995 and was one of the northerners most promising signings of all.

South Sydney Rabbitohs

But Schifilliti joined South Sydney Rabbitohs

South Sydney Rabbitohs

The South Sydney Rabbitohs are an Australian professional rugby league football team based in Redfern, a suburb of South-central Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League premiership and are one of nine existing teams from the state capital...

 in the interim and played stoutly for the Rabbitohs' including the win over Brisbane Broncos

Brisbane Broncos

The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the city of Brisbane, the capital of the state of Queensland. Founded in 1988, the Broncos play in Australasia's elite competition, the National Rugby League premiership. They have won six premierships and two...

 in the final of the Tooheys Challenge in 1994. But sadly before heading to North Queensland he added what appeared to be another case of bad luck for the Cowboys, suffering a knee injury.

North Queensland Cowboys

After his unfortunate knee injury in 1994 Dean looked to be recovering managing to take the field for the Cowboys inaugural game. But unfortunately while playing did further damage to his knee never fully recovering and missing the rest of season 1995.

Adelaide Rams

Dean never managed to get it together in season 1996 and was released from North Queensland for the new Super League

Super League (Australia)

Super League was an Australian rugby league football administrative body that conducted professional competition in Australasia for one season in 1997. Along with Super League of Europe, it was created by News Corporation during the Super League war which arose following an unsuccessful attempt to...

 Adelaide Rams

Adelaide Rams

The Adelaide Rams were an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Adelaide, South Australia. The team was formed in 1995 for the planned rebel Super League competition, which eventually ran parallel to the rival Australian Rugby League competition in 1997...

. He recovered from his woes of injuries and played two solid years at the new Adelaide

Adelaide

Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...

franchise getting some fine form together becoming a key signing.

Parramatta Eels

Schifilliti hit such great form that he was picked up by strong premiership contenders Parramatta after Adelaide folded. He had some success there after a very long career until finally retiring in 2000.