One hit NRL wonders: Denny Lambert, the Cowboys childhood prodigy whose NRL career ended after one game

On his debut, Denny Lambert made history as one half of the youngest ever halves pairing in the NRL. Incredibly, a combination of poor timing and ill-discipline would mean the childhood prodigy never stepped foot on a first-grade field again.

Denny Lambert, the childhood prodigy who only played one NRL game.

Spot the odd one out in this list: Brad Fittler, Jason Taumalolo, Wade Graham, Karmichael Hunt, Denny Lambert, Israel Folau and Mitchell Pearce.

They were all 17-year-old NRL debutants but, while the others went on to have long, premiership-winning careers, Lambert never played in the NRL again.

Lambert – like the rest of those players – was a childhood prodigy.

But his NRL career lasted just 80 minutes after getting a call-up from Tim Sheens to be part of a North Queensland side that was thumped 62-0 by North Sydney in 1998.

According to Lambert himself, Phil Gould summed it up best in commentary.

“He said that I’d have something for show and tell on Monday,” Lambert said. “What did you do on the weekend? I got flogged by North Sydney …”

Gould was right. A day later Lambert was back in the classroom at Townsville Grammar School and his NRL career was effectively over.

Unlike some teenage stars, there was no major injury that curtailed his development.

Cowboys teenager Denny Lambert played just one game in his NRL career. Picture: Supplied

Instead, it was a case of poor timing and ill-discipline that led to Lambert never stepping foot on to a first-grade field again.

Lambert had been spotted by former Cowboys recruitment officer Kelly Egan after dominating a schoolboy carnival.

Lambert was just excited to be given some free training gear by North Queensland.

THE CALL-UP

Article on Denny Lambert making his debut. Picture: Supplied

“Tim Sheens was the coach and I was due to play a game in Charters Towers with North Queensland’s under-19s Young Guns team,” Lambert said.

“Sheensy rang me and told me to bring my gear and to be at training in two hours. I was none the wiser but I ended up jumping on a plane and heading to Sydney.

“The day before the game we went to North Sydney Oval and I remember Sheensy telling me that Jason Taylor used to have a tackle bag placed in behind at each corner because the picket fence at the ground would make you lose the corner post.

“The whole game was just a blur.”

THE MATCH

Denny Lambert tackling Billy Moore. Picture: Supplied

Lambert partnered Scott Prince in what is still the youngest halves pairing in NRL history. Prince was just 18 and had played 15 games at that point.

Lambert wore No.18 despite being listed in jersey 20, which led to the commentators constantly mixing up the pair.

The match is remembered for being Greg Florimo’s final regular season home game at North Sydney Oval.

“I’d never watched the game back until the other week,” Lambert said.

“I just never wanted to watch it again because of the type of game it ended up being, but (teammate) Scott Mahon posted it on YouTube so I gave it a watch.”

Despite the result, Lambert was happy to walk away with his $5000 match payment.

“After the game Steve Walters and Owen Cunningham took me under their wings because they said I was the only player shorter than them,” he said.

THE AFTERMATH

Denny Lambert played just one game in his NRL career. Picture: Supplied

Lambert thought it was going to be the start of a long career. But, the arrival of Paul Green and Noel Goldthorpe at the Cowboys in 1999 was bad news for Lambert and Prince.

Prince left the club at the end of 2000, while Lambert started at halfback in 1999 for Queensland’s under-19s team.

Denny Lambert with former AFL player Jack Love. Picture: Evan Morgan

“There was never one big reason why I never played first grade again,” Lambert said.

“I can only blame myself for it because I was ill-disciplined away from the field.

“I was having a good time, out drinking, although I was led astray by some of the senior playing group.

“To be honest, at one point I was brought into the office for a chat about the discipline side of things, and it was evident from the discussions that I had been thrown under the bus. It was a case of big fish frying little fish. But I thought Prince and I could have had a long career together there if things had gone differently.

“I lost my licence and Tim Sheens was living on Magnetic Island. I was getting a lift home from training with him most nights and he was candid about his plans for me.

“He said, ‘You’ve played one game and you’ll play 50, but it won’t be until 100 that the game slows down for you. So I always thought I had a chance of playing first grade again.”

Denny Lambert in 2003. Picture: Glenn/Barnes

Instead with no obvious path back into the top grade after plugging away in the Queensland Cup, Lambert went to play with the Pia Donkeys in France after a phone call from former Cowboys teammate Adam Nable.

He returned to play with Wynnum Manly in the Queensland Cup Cup in 2003 and won The Courier-Mail’s best and fairest award and the Queensland Cup player of the year.

Denny Lambert in action for Wynnum Manly Seagulls in 2007.

Denny Lambert, complete with tongue stud and tattoos, playing for Wests Panthers.

“Wynnum were the feeder team for Manly in the NRL … so I was invited down for a two-week pre-season training camp,” Lambert said.

“I was offered a very basic contract for about $20,000 sign-on, but decided to stay in Brisbane as the money was obviously not enough to live on.”

He returned to France in 2005 but tore his ACL before returning for another successful stint in the Queensland Cup.

“A lot of me is proud to say that I played first grade,” said Lambert.

“Some people never get to play one game. But there is a big part of me that is embarrassed where I feel a bit of a failure having not gone further with it.”