Andrew Symonds made a surprise appearance at Kougari Oval, near Brisbane, to fulfil his dream of playing a senior rugby league match.

He swapped the green and gold of Australia for the green and red of Wynnum-Manly to take the field against a Men Of League All Stars team which included former Test centre Steve Renouf, former Melbourne Storm premiership winger Marcus Bai and Manly star Ben Kennedy.

Symonds had his Cricket Australia contract ripped up for breaking team rules but that means he is free to play sports deemed too risky for his physical well-being when he was a contracted player.

Top of the list was rugby league, the sport he loves so passionately he once considered giving away cricket to try out for the Brisbane Broncos.

It was only a gently-paced semi-social game but Symonds felt some pressure to perform in front of spectators including Queensland Bulls teammates Jim Maher and Andrew Bichel.

"I couldn't sleep last night," Symonds, who gave a crowd of several hundred fans some glimpses of his potential, told Herald Sun.

Playing wing for the first half before moving closer to the action, Symonds was playfully jeered by the crowd in the grandstand bar when he dropped the first pass to come he way but he proceeded to play well.

In the dying minutes he found space up the middle of the ruck to scoot away and could have scored himself but generously unloaded to teammate David Green who touched down under the posts.

Symonds once deceived the defence by twice dummying and he took the ball up with admirable commitment to the point where occasionally he drew three men in the tackle.

When his opposite number, Bai, found space out wide Symonds closed the gap with a strong tackle.
"One thing I will say about him is that he is very strong," Bai said.

"I thought I would bump him off, but I couldn't."

Former St George hooker Trevor Bailey liked Symonds' style.

"He has got a bit of pace and strength - if he had played league he would have played wing or centre and being the athlete he is might have done well," Bailey said.