Matt Groat is an Australian

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 plays for the

Easts Tigers The Brisbane Tigers are a rugby league club based at Langlands Park, in the suburb of Coorparoo in Brisbane, Australia. Since 1996, they have competed in the Queensland Cup, having competed in the Brisbane Rugby League from 1934 to 1997, where ...

in the

Intrust Super 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 ...

. He has previously played for

Thirlmere Roosters The Thirlmere Roosters Rugby League Football Club is an Australian rugby league football club based in Thirlmere, New South Wales, formed in 1976. They currently play in the Group 6 Rugby League competition. Thirlmere, with its maroon and gold s ...

in the

Group 6 Rugby League The Macarthur Division Rugby League is a senior Rugby league competition in New South Wales, Australia, administered by the New South Wales Rugby League. Formerly known as Group 6, the competition was, until 2019, run under the auspices of the ...

St. George Illawarra Dragons The St. George Illawarra Dragons is an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League since 1999 after a joint-ve ...

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers are an Australian professional Rugby league, rugby league football team, based in the Inner West and South West Sydney. They have competed in the National Rugby League since being formed at the end of the 1999 NRL season as a j ...

in the

NRL The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

and

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

, and the

Dewsbury Rams The Dewsbury Rams are a professional English rugby league club based in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire that compete in the Championship. They play their home games at the Tetley's Stadium, on Owl Lane. The Rams' main fanbase comes from their hometo ...

in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

. He plays as a .

Playing career

Early years

From the small town of

Rankins Springs Rankins Springs is a village in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia in Carrathool Shire and on the Mid-Western Highway. At the 2011 census, Rankins Springs had a population of 299 residents living in 145 private dwellings. This dr ...

in the

Riverina The Riverina is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation ...

, Groat lived on a 6000ha property. He went to school in Griffith, before becoming a student at renowned rugby league school

St Gregory's College, Campbelltown , motto_translation = What you sow, so shall you reap , established = , type = Independent single-sex and co-educational comprehensive and specialist primary and secondary day and boarding school , specialist = Agricultural s ...

. During his time at the school he was named as the most valuable player for his team at the 2010 Australian Schoolboys Championships, and represented the Australian Schoolboys team in 2009 and 2010. In 2011, he was named in the

Junior Kangaroos The Junior Kangaroos side represents Australia in the sport of rugby league. They are commonly known as the Junior Kangaroos, after the native marsupial of that name. Since 2019, they are an under-23 side, with players selected from the NRL. The ...

team.

Wests Tigers

Groat joined the Wests Tigers NYC Cup team in 2011. By round 12 he had progressed to making his début in first grade, after a late injury to

Wade McKinnon Wade McKinnon (born 12 February 1981) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. His position of preference was as a fullback. Playing career Early years Educated at St Dominic's College, Pe ...

. Having already played a lower-grade game, Groat came off the bench in the last 5 minutes. Later in the season, Groat became a regular in the first side, playing off the bench. Wests Tigers won 8 of the 10 games he played in 2011. In an early-season match in 2012, Groat was knocked unconscious by a shoulder charge from

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite com ...

forward

Ben Te'o Ben Te'o (born 27 January 1987) is a former profesional rugby union and rugby league footballer who last played as a er for the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL. He previously played for both the Wests Tigers and the South Sydney Rabbitohs with wh ...

. The incident was considered a "test case" on how the

NRL Judiciary The NRL Judiciary is the disciplinary judiciary of the National Rugby League (NRL), a rugby league competition. The Judiciary regulates the on-field conduct of players from NRL clubs. Due to changes announced on the eve of the 2022 NRL season, th ...

would treat players who made contact with the head when attempting a shoulder-charge. Two weeks later Groat played for

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

in the inaugural under-20s

State of Origin A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco Oval ...

match, but he failed to make a further first grade appearance for the season. Groat was unable to play at the start of 2013 due to injury. Coach

Mick Potter Michael Potter (born 24 September 1963) is an Australian professional rugby league football coach who is the interim head coach of the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the National Rugby League, and a former professional rugby league football ...

said, "Matt got his ankle, foot and toe caught in the ground and got some weight on the back of it. He had been working hard and his shape was looking better too." He didn't play any first grade in 2013.

St. George Illawarra Dragons

In September 2013, it was announced that Groat had signed with the Dragons for at least one season. He failed to make any first-grade appearances for the club, and a year later signed with

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

Doncaster

On 16 April 2015, Groat signed for English side Doncaster.

Dewsbury

On 29 January 2016, Groat was released by Doncaster and signed with Dewsbury.

Central Queensland

In 2017, Groat returned to Australia and signed with

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 ...

side the

Central Queensland Capras Central Queensland Capras are a semi-professional rugby league football club primarily based in Rockhampton, Queensland and representing Central Queensland. They currently play in the Queensland Cup, the premier rugby league competition in Quee ...

. On 16 January 2018, Groat was released by Central Queensland and signed with the

Easts Tigers

Groat made a total of 8 appearances for Easts in his first season at the club scoring no tries.

Personal life

Groat has studied a Certificate 4 in Fitness.

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Groat, Matt 1992 births Living people Australian rugby league players Balmain Ryde-Eastwood Tigers players Central Queensland Capras players Dewsbury Rams players Doncaster R.L.F.C. players Illawarra Cutters players Junior Kangaroos players Rugby league players from Sydney Rugby league props Wests Tigers NSW Cup players Wests Tigers players