Matt King
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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Matthew King | |
| Date of birth | August 22, 1980 | |
| Place of birth | Casino, Australia | |
| Height | 1.90 m | |
| Weight | 100 kg | |
| Nickname | Stork | |
| Position | Centre / Wing | |
| Professional clubs* | ||
| Years | Club | Apps (points) |
| 2003 - 2006 | Melbourne | 68 (160) |
| Representative teams | ||
| 2004 - 2005 2005 - 2006 2005 - 2006 |
Country New South Wales Australia |
2 (4) 6 (20) 8 (4) |
|
* Professional club appearances and points |
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Matt King (born August 22, 1980 in Casino, NSW), is an Australian rugby league player for the Melbourne Storm in the National Rugby League competition and also for New South Wales. He previously played for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks and the North Sydney Bears but was never able to crack the first grade. His position of choice is at Centre though he often plays on the wing for his state and country.
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[edit] Childhood and early career
Matt began playing rugby league at the age of seven for his local club side the Casino Cougars in northern New South Wales and was a solid performer through his junior career. In 2000 he was signed by the North Sydney Bears where he worked his way through the grades at the club playing in both jersey flegg and reserve grade, having two seasons at the club before suffering from a serious shoulder injury in 2002 and then quitting rugby league for good because of a claimed disinterest.
After hanging up his boots at just the age of twenty-two King took up several odd jobs such as working as a barman and a garbage collector before deciding to give rugby league another go in 2003 signing with the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks. King failed to crack first-grade or the starting team in reserve grade at the Cronulla side. He began to look for other clubs to play for, eventually settling on moving to the Brisbane Norths club in Queensland, one of the feeder clubs for the Melbourne Storm.
[edit] Melbourne Storm
After moving to the Storm's feeder club in Brisbane, King played for nearly a year before being selected to make his first grade debut in the National Rugby League, finally making his debut at the age of twenty-three against the St George Illawarra Dragons at WIN Stadium in round 24 of 2003, impressing on his debut without scoring. King went on to make another two appearances for the club in the regular season that year, scoring his first try in round 26 against Manly.
The 2004 season saw King develop further as a player at the Storm, he cemented his place in the squad and was vital in the Melbournes side attack becoming a potent offensive weapon with his agility, pace, strength and ability to find the try line. At the conclusion of the 2004 club season King finished with a total of fifteen tries and had developed into one of the up and coming centres in rugby league. This was recognised with his selection in the annual City vs Country match for the Country side.
2005 became the season where King would stamp his mark on rugby league, beginning the season by scoring seven tries in the first seven games of the season including a set of doubles against Brisbane and Canberra and yet again impressing City vs Country selectors enough to be again selected in the annual clash. After further impressive performances King was called up for his first major representative honour, being selected for the New South Wales State of Origin side for all three games in 2005. King finished the 2005 season at Melbourne with fourteen tries, and coupled with his three for New South Wales, earned a spot in the Australian international side for the 2005 tour of Great Britain.
The following year in 2006 started off slowly for King, but as the year progressed he worked his way into form again. He was once again selected in the New South Wales side again for the annual State of Origin clash, which NSW lost the series 2-1 to QLD. After his side's 15-8 loss to the Brisbane Broncos in the 2006 NRL grand final, in which he starred by scoring a try, he criticised match referee Paul Simpkins for his apparent refereeing mistakes in the grand final[1].
[edit] New South Wales
After some impressive games for his club side at Melbourne along with two good displays for the Country team in both 2004 and 2005, King was selected for the New South Wales team in game one of the 2005 State of Origin series out of position on the wing as to his usual role at centre. King eventually played in all three matches, failing to score in the first two, yet crossed the line three times in the final match for a hat-trick in the series decider. Following the game he was awarded with the first Brad Fittler award.
2006 saw King yet again selected in the original squad for New South Wales. Playing in game one he scored once for the Blues, helping them to a 17 to 16 victory. He was retained for the second game of the series but this time failed to score in an eventual loss to Queensland.
[edit] Australia
After some impressive performances during the 2005 season for both club and state King was selected to go on the tour of Great Britain with the Australian international side. He played in every game on tour and was again selected out of position on the wing, yet played well enough to earn praise from the Great Britain and Ireland international winger Brian Carney whom stated he was "the best winger in the world".[2]
[edit] Career playing statistics
[edit] Point scoring summary
| Games | Tries | Goals | F/G | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 68 | 40 | - | - | 160 |
[edit] Matches played
| Team | Matches | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Melbourne Storm | 68 | 2003 - present |
| Country | 2 | 2004 - 2005 |
| New South Wales | 6 | 2005 - 2006 |
| Australia | 8 | 2005 - 2006 |
[edit] Quotations
"For a winger to have the impact he did in a game was incredible, his input to the team's performance was significant, especially in the second game. He had such an important bearing on the result. I knew he was a good player but I didn't know he was that good." (New South Wales coach Ricky Stuart, commenting on King's performances after the 2005 State of Origin.)
"I haven't had the rise of a normal first-grader so I really appreciate where I am at the moment and it's something I don't take for granted." (King comments on his unusual rise to fame and quick success.)
