Matt Seers (born 28 June 1974) 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 in the 1990s and 2000s. 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 ...

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 ...

and

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the c ...

, as a or .

Club career

Seers played his junior football with

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 ...

before becoming a student of

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 ...

for his senior years of high school. He was an Australian Secondary Schoolboys Representative in 1992. On the 29 August 1993, Seers made his first grade début against South Sydney coming off the bench in a 36-16 victory at the

Sydney Football Stadium The Sydney Football Stadium, commercially known as Allianz Stadium and previously Aussie Stadium, was a football stadium in Moore Park, Sydney, Australia. Built in 1988 next to the Sydney Cricket Ground, the stadium was Sydney's premier rect ...

. In 1994, Seers' talent kept experienced fullback

Greg Barwick Greg Barwick is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. Playing career A noted fullback and kicker, Barwick played for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs between 1988 and 1989 but did not pla ...

in reserve grade and, in 1994, forced the club's star signing,

Manly-Warringah The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...

fullback

Ivan Cleary Ivan Cleary (born 1 March 1971) is an Australian professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of the Penrith Panthers in the NRL and a former professional rugby league footballer who played as a and in the 1990s and 2000s. He is a ...

, into the centres. He was named Norwich "Rising Star of the Year" that season. In the 1994 preliminary final against Canberra, Seers managed to chase down Canberra Fullback

Brett Mullins Brett Mullins (born 21 January 1972) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s, and early 2000s. A New South Wales State of Origin and Australian international representative back, he played his club ...

who had made a break down the centre of the field and had looked certain to score a try. Norths went on to lose the game 22-9. In 1996, Seers played 18 games and scored 7 tries including a try in the 1996 preliminary final defeat against

St. George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

. In 1997, Seers played in 25 games as Norths made it to the preliminary final before losing to eventual premiers

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

. During the match with Newcastle leading 12-4, Seers made a break down the right hand touchline and looked certain to score a try when

Darren Albert Darren "DJ" Albert (born 28 February 1976) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. A representative winger, he played his club football for the Newcastle Knights (with whom he won the 199 ...

raced across the field and tackled Seers just short of the line. Norths made the semis again in 1998, with Seers making a mid-season change to centre and

Ben Ikin Benjamin Ikin (born 21 February 1977) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and works as the Football & Performance Director for the Brisbane Broncos. An Australian international and Queensland State of Origin representat ...

playing at fullback. He played in both finals matches which both ended in defeat against

Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...

and

Canterbury-Bankstown Canterbury-Bankstown is a customary region of Sydney, Australia, in the south-western suburbs. The area is located around the Bankstown railway line, to the west of the St George region and to the south of the Inner West region. The suburbs o ...

. Seers played 133 games for Norths including the club's final ever game in first grade which was a 28-18 victory over North Queensland in

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

in which Seers was sin binned. After a troubled period in which he was admitted into rehab for a drug problem, Seers signed with the Tigers for 2000. After initially being left out of the first Wests Tigers' teams, Seers had some success under coach

Terry Lamb Terence John Lamb (born 15 September 1961), also nicknamed "Baa", is an Australian former rugby league footballer and coach. He played 350 games, with the Western Suburbs (1980–1983) and Canterbury (1984–1996). Lamb was known for his su ...

. Seers moved to 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 ...

club the

for the 2003 season. He was released by the club in August the same year after breaking his hand a few months earlier. Seers signed a one-year contract with the

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Cronulla, in the Sutherland Shire, Southern Sydney, New South Wales. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugby league ...

for the 2004 season, but failed to play any first grade. In 2010, Seers joined

Craig Field Craig Field (born 12 December 1972) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer. Field played for South Sydney, Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, Balmain Tigers and Wests Tigers. His primary position was at . His talent and leaders ...

to play for the Cudgen Hornets in the Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League.

Representative

In 1995, Seers made his début at fullback for

Country Origin The Country New South Wales rugby league team is a representative rugby league football team. Between 1987 and 2017 there were two tiers: the Origin team that consisted of professional players who originated from clubs of the Country Rugby Leagu ...

. Two years later he scored a try in the team's 17-4 victory over City. Seers was selected for New South Wales in four

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 ...

games. He was on the bench for the first and third games in 1995, and the second match of the 1997 series. Seers was given a start on the wing in the third 1997 Origin game.

Personal life

Seers is the cousin of former Tiger team-mate

. On 15 January 2015 Seers was arrested and charged with supplying and trafficking

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...

. In February 2018 Seers was sentenced to 4 years imprisonment (balance suspended after he served 12 months in jail) for his part in a syndicate that provided cocaine to footballers.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Seers, Matt 1974 births Living people Australian rugby league players Country New South Wales Origin rugby league team players New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players North Sydney Bears players People from Tweed Heads, New South Wales Rugby league centres Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from New South Wales Wakefield Trinity players Wests Tigers players