Rugby league is mourning former Queensland and Australian player Carl Webb who has passed away aged 42 after a four-year battle against Motor Neurone Disease.
Webb was one of rugby league’s hard men, amassing 187 first-grade games in stints for the Brisbane Broncos, North Queensland Cowboys and Parramatta Eels in a career that included 12 Origin matches for Queensland and one Test for Australia in 2008.
The Mount Isa-born forward was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2020 at the age of 39. The progressive neurological disorder destroys cells that control the body’s muscles, making it increasingly difficult for sufferers to move, speak and breathe.
“Everything you do is just a battle,” Webb told News Corp in 2021. “Day by day, I’m on a slow decline.”
Webb’s four-year fight against the disease accelerated on Thursday after he fell at his home in Dalby, the town in Queensland’s Western Downs where his rugby league rise began, spotted by a scout as a 108kg, 15-year-old in 1996.
The big back-rower joined the Brisbane Broncos from the Toowoomba Clydesdales as a teenager. He made his first-grade debut in 2000 as a 19-year-old and coach Wayne Bennett quickly saw his potential, selecting him in the Queensland side the next year.
In his Origin debut for Queensland in 2001, the 20-year-old Webb made an immediate impact in a young side dubbed ‘Bennett’s Babes’, stampeding through several Blues players to score a sensational try. It inspired the Maroons’ upset win over NSW at Suncorp Stadium and secured Webb’s place in State of Origin infamy.
Webb’s fame as a player was matched by the fear he induced in opposing sides. He had been a state boxing champion in his teens and old habits saw him miss the Cowboys’ 2005 NRL Grand final loss to Wests Tigers while suspended for punching.
After 66 games and 21 tries for the Broncos, Webb had joined the North Queensland Cowboys that year and went on to play 115 games across six seasons, reaching his pinnacle when he represented Australia in the Centenary Test against New Zealand in 2008.
After representing the Indigenous All Stars in their inaugural match in 2010, Webb’s final year as an NRL player was with the Parramatta Eels in 2011 but injuries took their toll and he played only six games before retiring.
Webb had returned to boxing the year prior, making his professional debut in January 2010 against heavyweight Scott Lewis on an Anthony Mundine undercard. But he lost the bout and before the decade was out was living with MND in a specially-modified unit in Brisbane, just a torpedo punt from his Origin feats at Suncorp Stadium.
“Anyone who has come across Carl’s battle will have been touched by his bravery,” Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) Chairman Peter V’landys said. “He was a fearsome player and competitor and one of the toughest forwards to play in his era. He had a physical presence and aggression which was unmatched.
“He showed every bit of that toughness following his diagnosis with Motor Neurone Disease. On behalf of the Commission, I extend my condolences to Carl’s family, friends, and all those who played with and knew him.”
Webb founded the Carl Webb Foundation in 2021. He is survived by four children.
