Matt Keating (born 6 September 1986) is an Australian 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 as a . He played 130 games for the

Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League. The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and their ...

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 ...

between 2008 and 2013.

Background

He is the older brother of the rugby league player;

Kris Keating Kristopher Keating (born 26 November 1988), is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer. He played as a or . Background Keating was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He is the younger brother of Burleigh Bears playe ...

Rugby league career

Parramatta Eels (2008–2013)

Keating made his first grade debut for the

in round 1 of the

2008 NRL season The 2008 NRL season was the 101st season of professional rugby league club competition in Australia, and the eleventh run by the National Rugby League. For the second year, National Rugby League teams, sixteen teams competed for the 2008 Telstr ...

against the

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilita ...

. Keating took on the role of starting hooker as the replacement for

Mark Riddell Mark Robert Riddell (born 9 December 1980) is an Australian rugby league commentator and former professional player who played as a in the 2000s and 2010s. A City New South Wales rugby league team, City New South Wales representative goal-kic ...

, who left the team to play in the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

. He played in every game for Parramatta since making his debut in round 1 of 2008 to the

2009 NRL Grand Final The 2009 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the NRL's 2009 Telstra Premiership season. Played on 4 October 2009 at Sydney's ANZ Stadium was contested between the Parramatta Eels and the Melbourne Storm, the latte ...

(52 Consecutive first grade games). In June 2013, Keating was one of 12

players that were told that their futures at the club were uncertain by coach,

Ricky Stuart Ricky John Stuart (born 7 January 1967) is an Australian professional rugby league football coach who is the head coach of the Canberra Raiders in the NRL and a former rugby league footballer who played as a in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. He ...

. Keating played 24 games for Parramatta in the

2013 NRL season The 2013 NRL season was the 106th season of professional rugby league club competition in Australia. The National Rugby League's main competition, named the 2013 Telstra Premiership after major sponsors Telstra Corporation, was contested by sixte ...

as the team finished last for a second consecutive year. He was then subsequently released by the club.

Burleigh Bears (2014)

In October 2013, Keating signed with the

Burleigh Bears The Burleigh Bears are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Gold Coast, Australia. They compete in Queensland's top rugby league competition, the Queensland Cup. Since their admission to the competition in 1997, the ...

for the 2014 Intrust Super Cup season. Keating retired at the end of the 2014 season and became a full-time Junior Development Officer with the Bears.

References

External links

Parramatta Eels profileNRL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keating, Matt 1986 births Living people Australian rugby league players Burleigh Bears players Parramatta Eels players Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from Sydney Wentworthville Magpies players