Nathan Smith (born 17 July 1988) is an Australian 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. He previously played for the Parramatta Eels of the National Rugby League. He primarily plays as a .

Early life

Born in

Bowraville, New South Wales Bowraville is a small town in the Mid North Coast hinterland of New South Wales, Australia in the Nambucca Valley. The town is known for tourism with attractions such as a folk museum, a war museum, a historic theatre, and other historic buildin ...

, Smith played his junior football for the Bowraville Tigers before being signed by the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.

Rugby league career

2008-2010: Early playing career

He played for Canterbury's Toyota Cup team in 2008, playing 20 games before moving on to the Canterbury NSW Cup reserve-grade team in 2009.

2011: Move to Parramatta

At the end of 2011, Smith signed with the Parramatta Eels after a lack of first-grade opportunities at the Canterbury-Bankstown club.

2012: First-grade debut

In round 18 of the

2012 NRL season The 2012 NRL season was the 105th season of professional rugby league club competition in Australia, and the first run by the newly formed Australian Rugby League Commission. The main competition, called the 2012 NRL Telstra Premiership due to spon ...

he made his

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 ...

debut for the Eels against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles after Parramatta hooker,

Matt Keating Matt Keating (born 6 September 1986) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a . He played 130 games for the Parramatta Eels in the NRL between 2008 and 2013. Background He is the older brother of the rugby ...

was injured during the warm-up. Smith replaced Keating for the rest of the

after Keating was ruled out for the rest of the year. On 12 September 2012, Smith was named at in the 2012 NSW Cup Team of the Year.

2013

In June 2013, Smith was one of 12 Parramatta players that were told that their futures at the club were uncertain by coach, Ricky Stuart.

References

External links

2012 Parramatta Eels profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Nathan 1988 births Living people Australian rugby league players Parramatta Eels players Rugby league hookers Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from New South Wales Wentworthville Magpies players