St George Dragons Tallis moved to
Sydney to make his first grade debut in the
Winfield Cup premiership for
St. George during the
1992 NSWRL season on 29 August, aged . In 1992 Tallis also played for
NSW City under 19s and
NSW Under 19s. At the end of the
1993 NSWRL season he was a reserve in the
St George Dragons' Grand final loss to the
Brisbane Broncos. Tallis was used off the interchange bench during the
1994 NSWRL season and also that year made his representative debut for the
Queensland side, being selected for the 2nd and 3rd games of the
1994 State of Origin series. In 1995 he was included in the
Tongan squad for the
1995 World Cup but had to withdraw due to injury. When the proposed
Super League competition was put on hold in
1996, Tallis offered to buy out the final year of his contract with St. George in order to join
Brisbane. St. George declined the offer however, and subsequent court action held him to his original contract. Having already signed a Super League contract to play with Brisbane, the fiery North Queenslander caused controversy when he was the only player who chose to sit out the
1996 season rather than play a final year with St. George. After having made 54 appearances for the Red V, he left Sydney.
Brisbane Broncos Tallis returned to the game with the Broncos for the
1997 Super League season and was the most dominant forward in the competition, which culminated in Brisbane's crushing 26–8 win over the
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the
Telstra Cup grand final. In addition to representing
Queensland in the
Super League Tri-series competition, he made his international debut in the 1997 post season's
Super League Test series against
Great Britain, playing at second-row forward in all three matches. during the
1998 NRL season Tallis returned to St. George for the first time since his acrimonious split with the Saints and was pelted with garbage and insults and was loudly booed every time he touched the ball before his try secured a 30–18 victory. He was selected to play for Queensland in Games 2 and 3 of the
1998 State of Origin series. Brisbane went on to capture another premiership with Tallis scoring a try and winning the prestigious
Clive Churchill Medal as the best and fairest player on-field in the club's 38–12
1998 NRL grand final win over the
Canterbury Bulldogs. Tallis made his
Australian Kangaroos Test debut in the second match of the Trans-Tasman series. He continued his great personal form when chosen for the
ANZAC Test in
1999 and spearheaded Queensland's State of Origin campaign, playing in all 3 games of the historic tied
1999 State of Origin series. However, the season ended with Brisbane's failure to defend its premiership and Tallis was ruled out of October's
1999 Tri-Nations because of injury. 2000 saw him score a try in Australia's 52–0 thrashing of
New Zealand in the ANZAC Test, but after being sent off in the opening State of Origin match for verbally abusing referee
Bill Harrigan, Tallis suffered the ignominy of a whitewash defeat (his public admission that the 'dead' third match of the series should be cancelled was a momentary lapse in judgment that may have indirectly contributed to the Blues' 56–16 win). If Tallis' stature as the most dominant forward in the game wasn't secure following Brisbane's 14–6 win over the Roosters in the
2000 NRL grand final, his four tries in Australia's 82–0 humiliation of
Papua New Guinea before the
2000 World Cup, and his selection as Australian captain for the match against
Russia (which resulted in a record 110–4 victory) did. In 2000, Tallis also received the
Australian Sports Medal. Following Australia's World Cup victory, Tallis and teammate
Shane Webcke wrote an open letter to players appealing for an end to scandalous behaviour amongst footballers which had been tarnishing the sport. announced his retirement from representative football, but continued playing with the Broncos. In 2004 he started to feel more affected by his neck injury and took heed of the warning signs his body was emitting. He played his last official match in the 2004 semi-final for the Brisbane Broncos, fittingly in his hometown of Townsville, against the
Cowboys, which the Broncos lost. At the time of his retirement, he held the Broncos' club record of most career tries for a
forward. During the 2007 season at the Broncos' 20-year anniversary celebration, the club announced a list of the 20 best players to play for them to date which included Tallis. In 2010 Tallis was inducted into the Broncos official Hall of Fame. == Career stats ==