In late February 2020 Rory Lillis started at lock for the Tweed Heads Seagulls A Grade side in their trail against Burleigh.
In 2019 Rory Lillis was part of the Tweed Heads Seagulls Queensland Cup squad playing in ten matches, starting eight from the bench and Rounds Twenty Three and Twenty Four at lock.
In total in the Queensland Cup in 2019 Rory Lillis played 339 minutes, ran for 715 metres (249 post contact), broke sixteen tackles and made 194 tackles at a 91% tackling efficiency.
Rory Lillis had a career match in Round Twenty Three against the Northern Pride, in fact it was his first Queensland Cup start. In his fifty six minutes on the field, Rory Lillis ran for 207 metres, eight three of which were post contact and made twenty eight tackles.
2019 also saw Rory Lillis made eight appearances for the Tugun Seahawks in the GCRL First Grade competition scoring three tries, including a late season double against Southport and also scoring the following week against Ormeau.
Rory Lillis made his Queensland Cup debut in 2018 for Tweed Heads playing three matches in total, running for 165 metres and making fifty five tackles at a 90.16% tackling efficiency.
In 2018 Rory Lillis played four matches in the GCRL First Grade competition for the Tweed Heads Seagulls with his matches coming against Burleigh twice, Currumbin and Tugun.
The local young second rower originally from the Mullumbimby Giants just south of the border moved back to the Gold Coast mid-way through the 2016 season playing for the Tweed Heads Seagulls Colts side before making the Titans Holden Cup squad for the 2017 season and played in twenty Two matches in the Holden Cup for the Titans including scoring his solitary 2017 NYC try in Round twenty Three against the St George Dragons.
Rory Lillis started in all twenty two of his 2017 NYC matches, all in the second row outside of Round Three against the Parramatta Eels when he started at lock. In total across the 2017 NYC season Rory Lillis carried the ball on 199 occasions making 1 786 metres, one line break, two try assists, six off loads and 663 at a tackling efficiency of 86% all whilst on the field for 1 652 minutes. Rory Lillis’s 2017 NYC per game season averages included running for 81.2 metres from 9.1 hit-ups and 30.1 tackles in 75 minutes of game time.
On fifteen occasions Rory Lillis played all 80 minutes including from Rounds Ten to Nineteen when he did not come off the field in those eight matches. On four occasions Rory Lillis ran for more than 100 metres with his highest number of metres in a match coming in Round Fourteen against the Warriors when he ran for 137 metres from fourteen charges into the Warriors defence.
Defensively Rory Lillis had an outstanding year in 2017, making the most tackles by a Titans NYC player both in terms of total tackles and tackles per match with 663 and 30.1 respectively. In all twenty two matches that he played Rory Lillis made in excess of twenty tackles including making more than 30 tackles on eleven occasions including a huge game against the Cronulla Sharks when he made 39 tackles in Round Nineteen.
In 2016 Rory Lillis played the season with the South Sydney NYC side where he played a total of eight matches, scoring one try in the process which came against the Newcastle Knights in Round Two. Of the eight matches Rory Lillis played, he started at either lock or second row in five of those and came off the interchange bench in the other three rounds that he played in. In two of the matches that he started Rory Lillis played the entire 80 minutes, which were in Rounds One and Three against the Roosters and Dragons respectively, showcasing his endurance abilities.
In the remaining six rounds Rory Lillis averaged around 40 minutes a match to finish to an average of 50 minutes per match during the 2016 NYC season. His 2016 averages also included an average of eight runs for 70 metres and 20 tackles per match. From a run metres perspective his best match was against Newcastle in Round Two when he ran for 105 metres and in Round Three he made 31 matches against St George. In addition to the NYC matches that he played in 2016, Rory Lillis also played two matches for La Perouse United in the local South’s Sydney A grade competition which were against the Coogee Dolphins and Moore Park.
Upon his return from Sydney in mid-2016 Rory Lillis linked with the Tweed Heads Seagulls QCup Colts squad making his first appearance for them in Round 17 against the Sunshine Coast Falcons and proceeded to play eight matches straight, including scoring three tries which came on debut, in Round 22 against the Toowoomba Clydesdales and in Round 25 against the Redcliffe Dolphins. Rory Lillis lined up in the second row in all of the matches that he played for the Tweed Heads Colts in 2016.
Prior to moving to Sydney, Rory Lillis had a distinguished junior representative career on the Gold Coast and Northern New South Wales, including representing Group 18 at the U15 level in 2012 and playing in the CC Cup competition in 2013 and the MM Cup competition in 2015 including scoring a try against the Redcliffe Dolphins in Round Three. Rory Lillis was also part of the South Coast team for the 2015 QSSRL U18 championships where team mates includes Tyrone Roberts-Davis and AJ Brimson who will be Titans NYC team mates this year.