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Matt Gidley
Personal information
Full nameMatthew Gidley
Born(1977-07-01)1 July 1977(age 47)
Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
Height186 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight94 kg (14 st 11 lb)
PositionCentre
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1996–06 Newcastle Knights 221 68 0 1 273
2007–10 St Helens 123 48 6 0 204
Total 344 116 6 1 477
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1999–04 Australia 17 11 0 0 44
2000–04 New South Wales 11 5 0 0 20
1997–2005 Country Origin 2 0 0 1 1
Source:[1][2][3]

Matthew "Matt" Gidley(born 1 July 1977) is an Australian former professionalrugby leaguefootballer and administrator. Gidley played for theNewcastle Knightsin theARL Premiershipand theNRL,andSt Helensin theSuper League,and forNew South Walesin theState of Origin seriesandAustraliaat international level. He is also the former CEO of Football Operations atNewcastle.

Background[edit]

Gidley was born inNewcastle, New South Wales,Australia.Matt is the older brother of the formerNewcastle KnightsandWarrington WolveshalfbackKurt Gidley.

Playing as a youngster in theNewcastle Rugby Leaguefor the Wests club, While attending Glendale High School, Gidley played for theAustralian Schoolboys teamin 1995.[5]

Playing career[edit]

Newcastle[edit]

Gidley had played all his junior football in thefive-eighthposition, however withMatthew Johnstaking up the position in the Knights line up, he slotted in to rightcentre.[citation needed] Gidley was selected for theAustralian teamto compete in the end of season1999 Rugby League Tri-Nationstournament. In the final againstNew Zealandhe played at centre in the Kangaroos' 22-20 victory. Gidley played at centre for Newcastle in their2001 NRL grand finalvictory against theParramatta Eels.At the end of the2001 NRL season,he went on the2001 Kangaroo tour.Having won the2001 NRL Premiership,the Knights traveled to England to play the2002 World Club ChallengeagainstSuper Leaguechampions, theBradford Bulls.Gidley played at centre and scored atryin Newcastle's loss.

Gidley playing for St Helens in 2007

Gidley became famous for his wing/centre combination with former KnightTimana Tahu.A common play was for the ball to be sent out to the right side of the field where Gidley would run, draw one or two players in before doing the famous Gidley flick pass to Tahu or placing a grubber kick down the line. This play was used at both club and representative level.

2006 saw a rejuvenation of sorts for Gidley seeing him recapture some of his old magic flick pass play with Knights wingerBrian Carney.In 2006, Gidley retired from representative football, aiming to focus on playing well at club level. This move was questionable as it was right before the annualCity vs Country Originclash, where many thought Gidley was going to make the Country side in the centre position.

He became only the 4th Newcastle Knight to play more than 200 career games.

St Helens[edit]

Gidley joined English clubSt Helensin theSuper Leagueas a replacement forJamie Lyonin 2007 when Lyon returned to Australia with theManly-Warringah Sea Eagles.His first match for the English club was their victory in the2007 World Club Challengeover theBrisbane Broncos.

He played in the2007 Challenge Cup Finalvictory over theCatalans DragonsatWembley Stadium.[6]

Gidley was named in theSuper League Dream Teamfor 2008'sSuper League XIII.[7]

He played in the2008 Super League Grand Finaldefeat by theLeeds Rhinos.[8]

He played in the2009 Super League Grand Finaldefeat by the Leeds Rhinos atOld Trafford.[9][10][11][12][13]

He then put pen to paper on a one-year contract to keep him atKnowsley Roadfor 2010.[14]

Administration career[edit]

In 2011, Gidley returned to theNewcastle Knightsas the Business Development Manager before being appointed the CEO of Football Operations in June 2011 by the new owners, Hunter Sports Group.[15]Meanwhile, his younger brother Kurt was club captain.

He stepped down as CEO on 1 November 2017.[16]

References[edit]

  1. ^NRL Stats[permanent dead link]
  2. ^Rugby League Project
  3. ^loverugbyleague
  4. ^"Paul Sculthorpe: Matt Gidley deal is a booster for Saints".Liverpool Echo.1 July 2009.Retrieved30 November2017.
  5. ^"SportingPulse Homepage for Australian Secondary Schools Rugby League".SportingPulse.Retrieved10 October2008.
  6. ^Dilger, Simon (25 August 2007)."Saints 'overwhelmed' at win".Sky Sports.UK: BSkyB.Retrieved18 October2010.
  7. ^"2008 engage Super League Dream Team".Super League. 15 September 2008. Archived fromthe originalon 21 July 2010.Retrieved26 September2008.
  8. ^"2008 Grand Final".BBC. 4 October 2008.Retrieved5 October2008.
  9. ^"Rhinos Take Super League Title".Sky News. 11 October 2009.Retrieved22 November2019.
  10. ^AFP (11 October 2009)."Leeds makes it Super League hat-trick".ABCNews.Retrieved22 November2019.
  11. ^Fletcher, Paul (10 October 2009)."St Helens 10-18 Leeds Rhinos".BBC Sport.Retrieved22 November2019.
  12. ^Stewart, Rob (12 October 2009)."Lee Smith targets place in England rugby union team after Grand Final victory".The Telegraph.Retrieved22 November2019.
  13. ^"Sinfield hails historic title win".BBC Sport.11 October 2009.Retrieved22 November2019.
  14. ^"Gidley Signs New Deal at Saints".Rugby Football League. 22 June 2009. Archived fromthe originalon 25 August 2012.Retrieved22 June2009.
  15. ^Matt Gidley named Knights CEO of Football OperationsArchived26 October 2012 at theWayback Machinerleague.com,23 June 2011
  16. ^Matt Gidley Leaves Knights

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Matthew_Gidley&oldid=1219517300"