Nikola Cotric (; born 18 November 1998) 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 11 ...
footballer who plays as a winger for the
Canberra Raiders
The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby ...
in the
National Rugby League
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 ...
(NRL), and
Australia at international level
He previously played for 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 facilit ...
in the NRL and has played for at representative level for
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
in the
State of Origin series
The State of Origin series is an annual best-of-three rugby league series between two Australian state representative sides, the New South Wales Blues and the Queensland Maroons.
Referred to as “Australian sport's greatest rivalry”, the ...
as well as one game for the
Prime Minister's XIII
Prime Minister's XIII, or sometimes informally referred to as the PM's XIII, is the name of a representative rugby league team, comprising Australian players from National Rugby League clubs that did not qualify for the NRL Finals, or whose tea ...
in 2018.
Background
Cotric was born in
Cooma
Cooma is a town in the south of New South Wales, Australia. It is located south of the national capital, Canberra, via the Monaro Highway. It is also on the Snowy Mountains Highway, connecting Bega with the Riverina.
At the , Cooma had a ...
,
New South Wales, Australia
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
, and is of
Serbian descent.
He played his junior rugby league for the Valley Dragons.
Playing career
Early years
In 2016, Cotric was a member of the Canberra Raiders'
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, playing 21 games primarily at . In August 2016, Cotric re-signed with the Canberra outfit on a two-year contract until the end of 2018, In 2016, Cotric played 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 ...
. On 5 September 2016, Cotric was named at centre in the 2016 NYC Team of the Year.
2017
Before the season started, Cotric was groomed to fill in the right-wing flank to fill the void made by the departure of
Edrick Lee
Edrick Lee (born 18 September 1992) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a er for the Dolphins (NRL), Dolphins in the National Rugby League, NRL.
Lee previously played for the Canberra Raiders, Cronulla-Sutherland ...
. In February 2017, Cotric was named in the Raiders
2017 NRL Auckland Nines
The 2017 NRL Auckland Nines (known as the Downer NRL Auckland Nines due to sponsorship) was the fourth NRL Auckland Nines competition. It was held on 4–5 February 2017 at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand. Just like previous tournaments, it ...
squad. In Round 1 of the
2017 NRL season
The 2017 NRL season was the 110th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 20th season run by the National Rugby League. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, and was followed by the All Stars Match, w ...
, Cotric 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
Canberra Raiders
The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby ...
against the
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 ...
, playing on the wing in the 20-16 Golden Point loss at
1300SMILES Stadium
The Willows Sports Complex, currently known as 1300SMILES Stadium through sponsorship, is a grass football stadium situated in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. It has been a predominantly rugby league ground as the home ground of the Nor ...
. In Round 3 against the
Wests Tigers
The Wests Tigers are an Australian professional 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 joint-venture ...
, Cotric scored his first NRL career try in the 46-6 win at
Canberra Stadium
Canberra Stadium (GIO Stadium for commercial reasons) is a facility primarily used for rugby league and rugby union games, located adjacent to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, the capital of Australia. It is the largest sports ven ...
.
On 13 September 2017, Cotric was awarded with Canberra's Rookie of the year at the
Mal Meninga
Malcolm Norman Meninga (; born 8 July 1960) is an Australian professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of the Australian national team and a former professional rugby league footballer. Meninga is widely regarded as one of the fin ...
Medal Awards night. On 27 September 2017, Cotric received the Rookie of the Year award at the 2017 Dally M Awards night.
Even though the Raiders didn’t make the top 8 into the finals, Cotric capped off a great debut season with him playing in all of the Canberra clubs 24 matches and scoring 16 tries in the
2017 NRL season
The 2017 NRL season was the 110th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 20th season run by the National Rugby League. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, and was followed by the All Stars Match, w ...
. On 3 November 2017, Cotric extended his contract with the capital club to the end of the 2020 season. On 19 December 2017, Cotric was selected in
Brad Fittler
Bradley Scott Fittler (born 5 February 1972), also known by the nickname of "Freddy", is the head coach of the New South Wales State of Origin team, a commentator and a television presenter. Fittler has previously coached the Sydney Roosters i ...
’s emerging
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
squad.
2018
On 28 May 2018, Cotric was named as 18th man for
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
for Game 1 of the
2018 State of Origin series
The 2018 State of Origin series was the 37th State of Origin series, annual best-of-three series between the Queensland rugby league team, Queensland and New South Wales rugby league team, New South Wales rugby league teams. Before this series, Q ...
. Cotric would play some matches at fullback towards the end of the season, filling in for the suspended
Jack Wighton
Jack Wighton (born 4 February 1993) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Canberra Raiders in the NRL and Australia at international level.
He has played at representative level for the Indigenous All ...
. Cotric finished the
2018 NRL season
The 2018 NRL season was the 111th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 21st season run by the National Rugby League. The main competition, known as the 2018 Telstra Premiership due to sponsorship from Telstra, featured 16 team ...
with him playing in all of Canberra's 24 matches and scoring 12 tries. On 6 October 2018, Cotric played for the
Prime Minister’s XIII against
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
, playing on the wing and scoring a try in the 34-18 win at
Port Moresby
(; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...
. At the end of the season, statistics showed that Cotric was on top of tackle break count with 149, pipping the
Sydney Roosters
The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won fifteen Ne ...
Grand Final winning fullback
James Tedesco
James Tedesco (born 8 January 1993), nicknamed "Teddy", is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a and captains the Sydney Roosters in the NRL, New South Wales rugby league team and Australia.
He previously played for the Wests ...
by two.
2019
After a good start to the season, Cotric was selected to represent New South Wales in the
2019 State of Origin series
The 2019 State of Origin series was the 38th annual best-of-three series between the Queensland and New South Wales rugby league teams. Before this series, Queensland had won 21 times, NSW 14 times, with two series drawn.
For just the second t ...
. He played in game 1, which Queensland won 18-14, but was ruled out for Game 2 with an ankle injury.
In Round 17, Cotric was sent off for a dangerous lifting tackle on St George centre
Tim Lafai, and suspended for three matches.
Cotric played a total of 22 games for Canberra in the
2019 NRL season
The 2019 NRL season was the 112th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 22nd season run by the National Rugby League. The Sydney Roosters became the first team to win back-to-back Premierships since the Brisbane Broncos in 1992 ...
as the club reached their first grand final in 25 years. He played on the wing in the
2019 NRL Grand Final
The 2019 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2019 National Rugby League season and was played at Sydney's ANZ Stadium. The match was contested between defending premiers the Sydney Roosters and the Canberra Ra ...
as they were defeated by the
Sydney Roosters
The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won fifteen Ne ...
.
On 7 October, Cotric was named in the Australian side for the
Oceania Cup
The Oceania Cup is an international men's field hockey competition organised by Oceania Hockey Federation (OHF). It is held every two years to determine which teams will receive an automatic berth to the Men's FIH Hockey World Cup and Summer Olymp ...
fixtures. He made his Test debut in Australia’s win over
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
at
WIN Stadium
Wollongong Showground, known as WIN Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium located in Wollongong, Australia. The stadium was officially opened in 1911. From 1982 until 1998 it played host to every home match for the Illa ...
,
Wollongong
Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wa ...
, and also played in Australia’s following match, an unexpected loss to
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 ...
at
Eden Park in
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...
.
2020
In round 15 of the
2020 NRL season
The 2020 NRL season was the 113th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 23rd season run by the National Rugby League.
Teams
The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 14th consecutive year.
; Notes
:
:
:
Pre-seaso ...
, Cotric scored two tries for Canberra in a 36-16 victory over the Gold Coast at
Cbus Super Stadium
Robina Stadium, also known by its sponsored name Cbus Super Stadium, is a rectangular football stadium in the Gold Coast suburb of Robina, Queensland. The main usage is as the home ground to the National Rugby League's Gold Coast Titans; t ...
. This followed on from the prior in round 14 where he scored two tries against Brisbane.
On 22 July 2020, 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 facilit ...
announced the signing of Cotric on a three-year deal starting in the 2021 season and rumoured to be worth around $600,000 per season.
Cotric played 23 games for Canberra scoring 14 tries, finishing as the club's top try scorer. In his final game for Canberra which was the preliminary final, he scored two tries in a 30-10 loss against Melbourne.
2021
Cotric made his debut for Canterbury-Bankstown in round 1 of the
2021 NRL season
The 2021 NRL season was the 114th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 24th season run by the National Rugby League.
Teams
The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 15th consecutive year.
Regular season
Ladd ...
against
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 ...
which ended in a 32-16 defeat.
On 30 June, it was announced that Cotric would miss the remainder of the
2021 NRL season
The 2021 NRL season was the 114th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 24th season run by the National Rugby League.
Teams
The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 15th consecutive year.
Regular season
Ladd ...
with a toe injury.
On December 15, it was announced he would return to
Canberra on a three-year deal starting in 2022.
2022
In round 20 of the
2022 NRL season
The 2022 NRL season is the 115th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 25th season run by the National Rugby League.
Teams
The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 16th consecutive year. This became the second longest s ...
, Cotric scored two tries for Canberra in a 36-24 victory over the
Gold Coast
Gold Coast may refer to:
Places Africa
* Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana:
** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642)
** Dutch G ...
. In round 21, Cotric was sent to the sin bin for a dangerous high tackle during Canberra's loss to
Penrith. Cotric played a total of 21 games for the club in the 2022 NRL season including both of their finals matches against Melbourne and Parramatta.
Statistics
*denotes season still competing
[https://www.nrl.com/players/nrl-premiership/raiders/nick-cotric/]
References
External links
Canberra Raiders profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cotric, Nick
1998 births
Living people
Australia national rugby league team players
Australian people of Serbian descent
Australian rugby league players
Canberra Raiders players
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs players
New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players
Rugby league centres
Rugby league fullbacks
Rugby league players from New South Wales
Rugby league wingers
People from Cooma