Matthew Spence (born 7 April 1976) 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 and coach. His position of preference was in the second row, although he also played as

prop A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

occasionally.

Early years

Born in New Zealand, Matthew grew up playing for the Turangi Dambusters in the

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runawa ...

competition. Spence also played for the

Junior Kiwis The Junior Kiwis side represents New Zealand in the sport of rugby league. They are commonly known as the Junior Kiwis, after the native bird of that name. Since 2010, they are an under-20s side, with players selected from the NRL, Intrust Super ...

Playing career

Spence then moved to Australia, joining 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 ...

and making his first grade debut in 1995. He impressed many in his rookie season and was awarded the Eric Grothe Rookie of the Year award at Parramatta. However he needed a knee reconstruction in 1997 and this injury plagued his next two seasons at the Eels. He signed for the

Western Suburbs Magpies The Western Suburbs Magpies (legal name: Western Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club Ltd) are an Australian rugby league football club based in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Formed in 1908, Wests, as they are commonly r ...

in 1999 and looked to rebuild his career. However, before the season had started he failed a

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 ...

drug test, testing positive for ecstasy. He was the first player to be suspended under the NRL's new drug rules and received a seven-week suspension. With the Magpies merging with Balmain for the 2000 season he was forced to move clubs again and returned home to New Zealand to play for the

Auckland Warriors The New Zealand Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as ...

. He was not re-signed by the new owners in 2001 and retired. When not required by the Warriors in 2000, Spence was assigned to play for the

Newtown Jets The Newtown Jets are an Australian rugby league football club based in Newtown, a suburb of Sydney's inner west. They currently compete in the NSW Cup competition, having left the top grade after the 1983 NSWRFL season. The Jets' home ground ...

. He played for the

Northcote Tigers The Northcote Tigers are a rugby league club based in Northcote, Auckland, Northcote, New Zealand. The club was founded in 1910 as the Northcote Warriors though they became known as the Northcote Ramblers shortly afterwards.John Haynes ''From A ...

in the

2002 Bartercard Cup The 2002 New Zealand rugby league season was the 95th season of rugby league that had been played in New Zealand. The main feature of the year was the third season of the Bartercard Cup competition that was run by the New Zealand Rugby League. Th ...

Later years

In 2003 Spence was the

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

of the new Tihoi club in the Waicoa Bay club competition. In 2009 and 2010 Spence was the

for the Turangi Dambusters in the Bay of Plenty premier competition, his old junior club.Star Spence in roving Dambusters role
''The Daily Post'', 13 July 2009

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spence, Matthew 1976 births Living people New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand Warriors players New Zealand rugby league coaches Newtown Jets NSW Cup players Northcote Tigers players Parramatta Eels players Rugby league players from the Bay of Plenty Region Rugby league second-rows Place of birth missing (living people) Junior Kiwis players Western Suburbs Magpies players