Jamie Mathiou (born 4 September 1972) is a former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. An

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

international , he played for the

North Sydney Bears The North Sydney Bears is an Australian rugby league football club based in North Sydney, New South Wales. The club competes in the New South Wales Cup, having exited the National Rugby League following the 1999 NRL season after 90 years in the ...

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest town in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...

and

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was formed in 1870 as Leeds St John's and play in the Super League, the top tier of English rugby league. They have played home matches at Headi ...

Background

Born on the

Gold Coast, Queensland The Gold Coast is a coastal city in the state of Queensland, Australia, approximately south-southeast of the centre of the state capital Brisbane. With a population over 600,000, the Gold Coast is the sixth-largest city in Australia, the nati ...

, Mathiou played his junior rugby league for the

Cudgen Hornets The Cudgen Rugby League Football Club, more commonly known as the Cudgen Hornets, was formed in 1950 and plays at Ned Byrne Field at Kingscliff. It competes in the Gold Coast Rugby League. Cudgen Hornets Seniors compete in the Gold Coast/Twee ...

and attended Kingscliff High School, where he represented the

Australian Schoolboys The Australian Schoolboys refer to junior teams that represent Australia in various sports. The name is mainly used in rugby league, rugby union and baseball. Other popular team sports in Australia such as cricket, basketball, association footbal ...

in 1989.

Playing career

In 1989, while playing for Cudgen, Mathiou represented the New South Wales under-17 team in their 16–8 win over Queensland under-17. In 1990, he joined the

Gold Coast Seagulls The Gold Coast Chargers were a professional rugby league club which played in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership from 1988 to 1994, the Australian Rugby League premiership from 1995 to 1997, and the National Rugby League premiership ...

, playing for their lower grade sides. In 1992, Mathiou joined the

. In Round 18 of the

1992 NSWRL season The 1992 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership season was the eighty-fifth season of professional rugby league football in Australia. Sixteen teams competed for the J.J. Giltinan Shield during the season which culminated in a grand final for ...

, he made his first-grade debut in the Bears' 12–26 loss to the

St George Dragons The St. George Dragons is an Australian rugby league football club from St George District in Sydney, New South Wales that played in the top level New South Wales competition and Australian Rugby League competitions from the 1921 until th ...

. Over two seasons with North Sydney, Mathiou played four games. In 1995, he joined the newly established

. He played seven games for the club in their first season. In 1996, he played just four games before departing the club at the end of the season. In 1997, Mathiou joined the

, where he would go on to play 136 games for the club, starting 100 from the bench. He became the longest-serving import for the club since the change of import rules in 1982. In 1998, he came off the bench in Leeds' 1998 Grand Final loss to the

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors are a professional rugby league club in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the Super League. Formed in 1872 as Wigan Football Club, Wigan was a founding member of the Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby ...

. In 1999, he came off the bench in Leeds'

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

win over the

London Broncos The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club in London, England. The club competes in the RFL Championship. It was a member of Super League from its inaugural season in 1996 until the end of the 2014 season, when they were relegat ...

. In 2000, he represented

at the 2000 Rugby League World Cup. In 2002, after leaving Leeds, Mathiou returned to Australia, captaining the

Ipswich Jets The Ipswich Jets are an Australian rugby league football club based in Ipswich, Queensland. Their name comes from nearby RAAF Base Amberley, one of the largest airbases in Australia. The Jets compete in the Queensland Cup competition. Originall ...

in the

Queensland Cup The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by four ...

for two seasons.

Statistics

NSWRL/ARL

Super League

International

Post-playing career

After retiring, Mathiou spent time coaching the

and worked as a recruitment coordinator for the

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby league, Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won ...

from 2005 to 2014. In 2015, he joined the

Gold Coast Titans The Gold Coast Titans are a professional rugby league football club, based on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australia and New Zealand's national rugby league club competition. The ...

as the recruitment manager, spending only a year at the club. In 2016, he returned to the Roosters as a member of the recruitment team.

References

External links

Profile at leedsrugby
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mathiou, Jamie 1972 births Living people Australian rugby league players Ipswich Jets players Ireland national rugby league team players Irish rugby league players Leeds Rhinos players North Queensland Cowboys players North Sydney Bears players Rugby league players from the Gold Coast, Queensland Rugby league props