Silva initially played rugby league for Eastern Suburbs between 1988 and 1994. He made his first grade debut for the club in round 20 1988 against the Gold Coast Giants at Seagulls Stadium.[3]
Silva was named Dally M Fullback of the Year in 1993, but in 1995, Phil Gould joined Eastern Suburbs as coach and moved Silva to reserve grade, ultimately cutting him from the team.
In the middle of the 1995 season Silva joined the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and took their troubled fullback position, ultimately scoring the final try in Canterbury's grand final win against Manly-Warringah that September.[4][5]
In the 1998 NRL season, Silva played 13 games as Canterbury finished ninth on the table and qualified for the finals. Canterbury proceeded to make the 1998 NRL Grand Final after winning four sudden death elimination matches in a row including the club's famous preliminary final victory over rivals Parramatta which is considered to be one of the greatest comebacks of all time. After being down 2—18 with less than 10 minutes remaining, Canterbury scored three tries including one by Silva to take the game into extra-time before winning the match 32—20.[6][7]
The following week, Silva played at fullback for Canterbury in their loss to the Brisbane Broncos in the 1998 NRL Grand Final. Silva was also instrumental in Canterbury's Reserve Grade Grand Final win over the Penrith Panthers in 2000. Silva retired from professional rugby league in 2001. It has been remarked that he is the last of the pedigree of NRL players that also worked as police officers.[8][9]
