{{Short description|Australian rugby league footballer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2023}} {{Use Australian English|date=July 2013}} {{Infobox rugby league biography |name = Owen Cunningham |fullname = Owen Cunningham |image = |imagesize = |caption = |birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1967|01|23}} |birth_place = Mackay, Queensland, Australia |height = {{convert|178|cm|ftin|abbr=on}} |weight = {{convert|96|kg|stlb|abbr=on}} |position = {{rlp|LK|SR|PR}} |club1 = Manly Sea Eagles |year1start = 1985 |year1end = 96 |appearances1 = 184 |tries1 = 20 |goals1 = 0 |fieldgoals1 = 0 |points1 = 80 |club2 = North Qld Cowboys |year2start = 1997 |year2end = 98 |appearances2 = 41 |tries2 = 1 |goals2 = 0 |fieldgoals2 = 0 |points2 = 4 |club3 = Manly Sea Eagles |year3start = 1999 |year3end = |appearances3 = 24 |tries3 = 1 |goals3 = 0 |fieldgoals3 = 0 |points3 = 4 |club4 = Northern Eagles |year4start = 2000 |year4end = |appearances4 = 26 |tries4 = 2 |goals4 = 0 |fieldgoals4 = 0 |points4 = 8 |teamA = Queensland |yearAstart = 1996 |yearAend = |appearancesA = 1 |triesA = 0 |goalsA = 0 |fieldgoalsA = 0 |pointsA = 0 |teamB = Queensland (SL) |yearBstart = 1997 |yearBend = |appearancesB = 3 |triesB = 0 |goalsB = 0 |fieldgoalsB = 0 |pointsB = 0 |source = <ref>[http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/players/Owen_Cunningham/summary.html Rugby League Project]</ref><ref>[http://www.yesterdayshero.com.au/PlayerProfile_Owen-Cunningham_11300.aspx Yesterday's Hero]</ref> }}

'''Owen Cunningham''' (born 23 January 1967), nicknamed '''OJ''', is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. A Queensland State of Origin representative forward, he played his club football for the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles (with whom he won the 1996 premiership), North Queensland Cowboys and the Northern Eagles.

==Background== Born in Mackay, Queensland, Cunningham played his junior rugby league for Wests Mackay and attended Mirani State High School before being signed by the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.weststigersmackay.com.au/index.php/about|title=About Wests Tigers|website=Wests Tigers Mackay}}</ref>

==Playing career== ===Manly Warringah Sea Eagles=== In Round 18 of the 1985 NSWRL season, Cunningham made his first grade debut for Manly as an 18-year old against Eastern Suburbs. In 1987, he played in Manly's major semi-final victory over Easts but was not selected in the Grand Final, in which Manly defeated Canberra.

In October 1987, following Manly's Grand Final victory, Cunningham started at {{rlp|sr}} in the club's World Club Challenge loss to English champions, Wigan. In 1989, Cunningham became a regular in the Sea Eagles side, starting the majority of his games at {{rlp|lk}}. In Round 9 of the 1993 NSWRL season, he played his 100th game in a 12–21 loss to the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.

In 1995, Cunningham signed with Super League while in career-best form, which meant he was not eligible for selection in the 1995 State of Origin series. On 24 September 1995, he played in Manly's shock Grand Final loss to the Bulldogs. Manly had finished the season as minor premiers and had only lost two games all year, where as Canterbury had finished in 6th and needed to win three sudden death matches just to reach the decider.

In 1996, Cunningham made his State of Origin debut for Queensland, coming off the bench in their Game III loss to New South Wales. Later that year, he started at {{rlp|lk}} in Manly's 20–8 Grand Final win over the St George Dragons<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stateoforigin.com.au/soogame/PlayerDetails.aspx?Pid=306|access-date=2009-04-25|title=State of Origin Owen Cunningham}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref>

===North Queensland Cowboys=== In 1997, Cunningham returned to Queensland, joining the North Queensland Cowboys, winning the club's Player of the Year award. That season, he also represented Queensland in the Super League Tri-series.<ref>[http://www.cowboys.com.au/default.aspx?s=honours Honours] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111012233017/http://www.cowboys.com.au/default.aspx?s=honours |date=12 October 2011 }} at ''cowboys.com.au''</ref> In Round 16 of the 1997 season he played his 200th game in a 14–22 loss to the Canberra Raiders.

In 1998, he played 23 games for the club, captaining the side in their 16–50 loss to the Sydney City Roosters.

===Manly Warringah Sea Eagle (second stint)=== In 1999, Cunningham re-joined Manly for their then final season as a stand-alone club, playing all 24 of their games. In Round 26 of the 1999 NRL season, he played in what was the club's last game, a 18–20 loss to the St George-Illawarra Dragons at WIN Stadium.

===Northern Eagles=== Following the conclusion of the 1999 season, Manly were forced to merge with arch-rivals North Sydney, forming the Northern Eagles. Cunningham was one of the players selected to be a part of the new side, playing 26 games in the 2000 NRL season. In Round 1 of the 2000 season, he played his 250th game in the Eagles' 24–14 win over the Newcastle Knights. He retired at the end of the season, with his final game a 22–32 loss to the Auckland Warriors at Mt Smart Stadium.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.news.com.au/sport/nrl/can-the-sharks-join-the-historic-list-of-unlikely-champions/news-story/d4feac98b715995a7350a77696052b6f/|title=Can the Sharks join the historic list of unlikely champions?|publisher=News.com.au}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/northern-beaches/sport/former-sea-eagles-hardman-owen-cunningham-backs-2014-side/news-story/dbaad745a9a779b119726a595cc9bde8/|title=Former Sea Eagles hardman Owen Cunningham backs 2014 side|website=The Daily Telegraph|location=Sydney}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dailymercury.com.au/news/owen-cunningham-new-mackay-coach/463943/|title=Cunningham is Mackay's new coach|website=Daily Mercury}}</ref>

==Achievements and accolades== ===Individual=== *'''North Queensland Cowboys Player of the Year''': 1997

==Statistics== ===NSWRL/ARL/Super League/NRL===

{| class="wikitable" |- | style="background:#afe6ba; width:3em;"|† |Denotes seasons in which Cunningham won a Premiership |} {| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:90%; text-align:center; width:85%;" |- !width=2%|Season !width=8%|Team !width=2%|Matches !width=2%|T !width=2%|G !width=2%|GK % !width=2%|F/G !width=2%|Pts |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal"| 1985 |style="text-align:center;"|{{leagueicon|Manly|16}} Manly Warringah | 1|| 0|| 0|| —|| 0|| 0 |- style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal"| 1986 |style="text-align:center;"|{{leagueicon|Manly|16}} Manly Warringah | 8|| 0|| 0|| —|| 0|| 0 |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal"| 1987 |style="text-align:center;"|{{leagueicon|Manly|16}} Manly Warringah | 6|| 0|| 0|| —|| 0|| 0 |- style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal"| 1988 |style="text-align:center;"|{{leagueicon|Manly|16}} Manly Warringah | 12|| 0|| 0|| —|| 0|| 0 |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal"| 1989 |style="text-align:center;"|{{leagueicon|Manly|16}} Manly Warringah | 20|| 1|| 0|| —|| 0|| 4 |- style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal"| 1990 |style="text-align:center;"|{{leagueicon|Manly|16}} Manly Warringah | 15|| 1|| 0|| —|| 0|| 4 |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal"| 1991 |style="text-align:center;"|{{leagueicon|Manly|16}} Manly Warringah | 20|| 3|| 0|| —|| 0|| 12 |- style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal"| 1992 |style="text-align:center;"|{{leagueicon|Manly|16}} Manly Warringah | 9|| 2|| 0|| —|| 0|| 8 |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal"| 1993 |style="text-align:center;"|{{leagueicon|Manly|16}} Manly Warringah | 23|| 3|| 0|| —|| 0|| 12 |- style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal"| 1994 |style="text-align:center;"|{{leagueicon|Manly|16}} Manly Warringah | 23|| 6|| 0|| —|| 0|| 24 |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal"| 1995 |style="text-align:center;"|{{leagueicon|Manly|16}} Manly Warringah | 23|| 2|| 0|| —|| 0|| 8 |- style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal; background:#afe6ba;"| 1996† |style="text-align:center;"|{{leagueicon|Manly|16}} Manly Warringah | 24|| 2|| 0|| —|| 0|| 8 |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal"| 1997 |style="text-align:center;"|{{leagueicon|North Queensland|16}} North Queensland | 18|| 0|| 0|| —|| 0|| 0 |- style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal"| 1998 |style="text-align:center;"|{{leagueicon|North Queensland|16}} North Queensland | 23|| 1|| 0|| —|| 0|| 4 |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal"| 1999 |style="text-align:center;"|{{leagueicon|Manly|16}} Manly Warringah | 24|| 1|| 0|| —|| 0|| 2 |- style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal"| 2000 |style="text-align:center;"|{{leagueicon|Northern Eagles|16}} Northern Eagles | 26|| 2|| 0|| —|| 0|| 8 |- class="sortbottom" ! colspan=2| Career totals ! 275 ! 24 ! 0 ! — ! 0 ! 96 |}

===State of Origin=== {| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:90%; text-align:center; width:85%;" |- !width=2%|Season !width=8%|Team !width=2%|Matches !width=2%|T !width=2%|G !width=2%|GK % !width=2%|F/G !width=2%|Pts |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal"| 1996 |style="text-align:center;"|{{leagueicon|Queensland|16}} Queensland | 1|| 0|| 0|| —|| 0|| 0 |- class="sortbottom" ! colspan=2| Career totals ! 1 ! 0 ! 0 ! — ! 0 ! 0 |}

==Post-playing career== Upon retirement, Cunningham returned to Mackay and coached the Mackay Sea Eagles Foley Shield team from 2010 to 2012, winning the competition in 2011.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dailymercury.com.au/news/owen-cunningham-new-mackay-coach/463943/|title=Cunningham is Mackay's new coach|date=9 February 2010|website=The Daily Mercury}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.news-mail.com.au/news/foley-shield-returns-to-eagles/856466/|title=Foley Shield returns to Eagles|date=23 May 2011|website=News-Mail}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dailymercury.com.au/news/sea-eagles-are-hungry-a-win-rugby-league/1332802/|title=Sea Eagles hungry for a win|date=7 April 2012|website=The Daily Mercury}}</ref>

On 13 May 2022, Cunningham was involved in a fight at Suncorp Stadium, during NRL Magic Round. He claimed he was defending his son, who was coward punched by another fan.

==References== {{reflist}}

{{Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles squad 1996 ARL premiership}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham, Owen}} Category:1967 births Category:Living people Category:Australian rugby league players Category:Queensland Rugby League State of Origin players Category:Manly Warringah Sea Eagles players Category:Manly Warringah Sea Eagles captains Category:North Queensland Cowboys players Category:Northern Eagles players Category:Rugby league players from Mackay, Queensland Category:Rugby league props Category:20th-century Australian sportsmen