Ian Schubert

Ian 'Shoey' Schubert (born 22 August 1956 in Wauchope, New South Wales) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer of the 1970s and 1980s. He later became chief salary cap auditor for the National Rugby League. An Australian international representative player, Schubert had a long club career which began with a sensational opening season for Eastern Suburbs, before fading out and re-inventing himself with Manly-Warringah and Western Suburbs so well that he regained his Australian jumper after having been in reserve grade a year prior. By the time his career closed Schubert had played 269 first grade games, which stood as the third highest in the history of the NSWRFL.

In 1982, Schubert was a member of the 1982 Kangaroo tour, the team being the first to go through Great Britain and France undefeated, earning themselves the nickname "The Invincibles". Though he didn't play any of the tests on the tour, he played in 12 minor games and scored 3 tries.

Originally from the timber town of Wauchope, Schubert was selected to play for the Australian Schoolboys team in 1972. He was first recommended to Eastern Suburbs coach Jack Gibson in 1974. Although not out of school at the time, Schubert instantly became a regular first grader on the wing - in the process relegating the previous season's leading try scorer Bill Mullins to reserve grade! When Easts rugby union convert fullback Russell Fairfax was injured, Schubert was shifted to fullback with devastating effect. He scored fourteen tries that year and set up many others. In the grand final against St George the youngster was named as 'Man Of The Match' for his outstanding performance. Schubert's performance in that match earned him a place in the Australian team for that season's World Cup. In a match against Wales in Swansea he scored a hat-trick. In the tournament he did extremely well, twice scoring three tries in one match against Wales and briefly moving to lock forward - a move that foreshadowed his post-Eastern Suburbs career. During the 1976 NSWRFL season, Schubert played at fullback as a wing three-quarter back for Eastern Suburbs in their unofficial 1976 World Club Challenge match against British champions St. Helens in Sydney. The following years saw Schubert fail to maintain the form of his debut season. However, his pace out wide was still good enough for him to be selected for the 1978 Kangaroo tour, on which he played ten matches but could not displace the incomparable Eadie from his Test place, nor even Chris Anderson from his wing berth. His return to Australia in 1979, however, saw such a decline that by the time Easts had returned to the top under the coaching of Bob Fulton, Schubert had been relegated to reserve grade and he was not seen in the club's 1980 grand final loss to Canterbury-Bankstown. Easts did not have him in their plans for 1981, but Schubert signed with Western Suburbs and, despite not being consistent, played in the club's reserve grade grand final win.