Matthew Wright (born 30 January 1991) is a

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

international

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 as a and for the

Newcastle Thunder The Newcastle Thunder are a professional rugby league club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. They play in the Betfred Championship competition, the second tier of rugby league in the United Kingdom. They play their home matches at Kingsto ...

Betfred Championship The Championship, known as the Betfred Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a professional rugby league competition. It is the second-tier competition organised by the Rugby Football League, the governing body for the sport in England, ...

. He previously played for 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 ...

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 the

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 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 ...

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 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 ...

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 ...

Early career

Born in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, New Zealand, Wright grew up in

Blacktown, New South Wales Blacktown is a suburb in the City of Blacktown, in Greater Western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Blacktown is located west of the Sydney central business district. It is one of the most multicultural places within Greate ...

, playing his junior rugby league for St Patrick's and attending Patrician Brothers' College. While attending Patrician Brothers', Wright was a member of their rugby league team that was defeated by Matraville High in the final of 2007

GIO Schoolboy Cup The NRL Schoolboy Cup is the premier secondary schools rugby league competition in Australia, held annually since 1975. Formerly known under such names as the Amco Shield, Commonwealth Bank Cup, Arrive Alive Cup and GIO Schoolboy Cup nearly 450 s ...

. In 2008, Wright was selected to play for 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 Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players ...

. A

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith that competes in the NRL. The team is based west of the centre of Sydney, at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Penrith ...

junior, Wright played for the Panther's

Harold Matthews Cup The NSWRL Harold Matthews Cup is a junior rugby league competition played in New South Wales between teams made up of players aged under 16. The competition is administered by the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL). The competition is made up o ...

and

S.G. Ball Cup The S. G. Ball Cup is a junior rugby league football competition played predominantly in New South Wales, between teams made up of players aged under 19. Teams from Canberra and Melbourne (Victoria Thunderbolts) also participate. Prior to the C ...

sides, winning the Harold Matthews Player of the Year award in 2007. In 2008, Wright debuted for Penrith's

NYC New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

team. In 10 games, he scored six tries and kicked 28 goals. That year he signed a three-year deal with the

Cronulla 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 ...

Playing career

2009

After starting the 2009 season in the NYC, Wright made his first grade debut for the Sharks at just 18 years old. In his rookie season, Wright played 17 games and scored 6 tries.

2010

Wright spent the 2010 season playing for Cronulla's NYC and NSW Cup sides. At the end of the season, Wright played two games for 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 ...

, and was selected in Samoa's train-on squad.

2011

In 2011, Wright returned to first grade for the Sharks, playing 19 games all on the wing and scoring 4 tries. Matthew Wright rugby 2012c

2012

Wright spent the majority of 2012 playing fullback for Cronulla, scoring 1 try.

2013

In 2013, he made his test debut for Samoa in the

Pacific Rugby League International The Pacific Rugby League International is a rugby league test match that has been played between two Pacific Island nations during the National Rugby League's annual representative weekend since 2013. The fixture was held at Penrith Stadium for ...

against

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

. Later that season, Wright was a member of the Sharks victorious

New South Wales Cup The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserve ...

side.

2014

In January 2014, Wright signed a one-year deal with the

. Wright made his debut for the Cowboys in their Round 5 win over the

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, th ...

, in which he scored a try. On 22 August, Wright became one of the current NRL players and former Sharks players to accept reduced bans from the

Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) was a government statutory authority tasked to protect Australia's sporting integrity through the elimination of doping. The authority was part of the Department of Health's portfolio and was ...

for his role in the club's 2011 supplements program. Wright finished his first season for the Cowboys with 9 tries in 17 games, including a first half hat-trick in the side's 64–6 win over 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 ...

2015

In Round 5 of the

2015 NRL season The 2015 NRL season was the 108th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 18th season of the National Rugby League in Australia and New Zealand. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, which was followed ...

, Wright scored his second hat-trick for the Cowboys in their 30–10 win over the

2016

On 22 April, Wright was granted a release from the Cowboys to join the

Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 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 ...

on a three-year contract. On 7 May 2016, Wright played for

in the 2016 Polynesian Cup against

, where he played on the wing and scored a try in the 18–6 win at

Parramatta Stadium Parramatta Stadium was a sports stadium in Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia, 23 kilometres west of Sydney's central business district. The stadium was the home ground of several western Sydney-based sports teams, at the time of closure t ...

. Later in the year he represented Samoa in their historical

test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

against Fiji in Apia. He kicked 3 goals in Samoa's two point defeat.

2019

On 9 Jun 2019,

announced the signing of Wright

Statistics

NRL

: ''Statistics are correct to Round 26 of the 2016 season''

International

Personal life

Wright is the nephew of former New Zealand international

Tony Tatupu Kuripitone "Tony" Tatupu is a former professional rugby league footballer. He played as a and in the and represented both New Zealand and Western Samoa. Tatupu is the uncle of the rugby league footballer; Matthew Wright. Playing career Tatup ...

and

back

Tim Simona Tim Simona (born 20 November 1991) is a Samoan international rugby league footballer who plays as a and for the Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles in the NSW Cup and previously Wests Tigers in the NRL. Early years Born in Auckland, New Zealand, S ...

(despite actually being almost 10 months older than Simona). He is also a cousin of

forward

Jesse Sene-Lefao Jesse Sene-Lefao (born 8 December 1989) is a Samoa international rugby league footballer who plays as a or forward for the Sheffield Eagles in the RFL Championship. Sene-Lefao has previously played for the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles and th ...

and

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 ...

forward

Lamar Liolevave Lamar Manuel-Liolevave (born 1 December 1995) is a Fiji national rugby league team, Fiji international rugby league footballer who plays as er or for the Tweed Heads Seagulls in the Queensland Cup. He previously played for the Wests Tigers in ...

References

External links

Manly Sea Eagles profile2017 RLWC profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Matthew 1991 births Living people Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks players Doping cases in rugby league Junior Kangaroos players Mackay Cutters players Manly Warringah Sea Eagles players New Zealand emigrants to Australia New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent New Zealand people of Tokelauan descent Newcastle Thunder players North Queensland Cowboys players NRL All Stars players Northern Pride RLFC players Rugby league centres Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league wingers Rugby league players from Auckland Samoa national rugby league team players Samoan rugby league players