Reuben Cotter (born 28 December 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 112 ...

footballer who primarily plays as a and forward for the North Queensland Cowboys in the National Rugby League (NRL) and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

at international level. He has played at representative level for

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

in State of Origin. He played as a earlier in his career.

Background

Cotter was born in Mackay, Queensland,

, and is of

German Jewish The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (''circa'' 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish ...

and

Torres Strait Islander Torres Strait Islanders () are the Indigenous Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal people of the rest of Australia, they are often grouped ...

descent. He played his junior rugby league for the Sarina Crocs and attended

Sarina State High School Sarina State High School is located in the small rural town of Sarina, Queensland, Australia. The school had 600 students in 2013 with a reported 20 percent continuing studies at University. Sarina State High previously boasted a marine aquarium ...

. In 2011, he captained the Central Queensland NRL bid under-13 side against Keebra Park State High School, and later joined the North Queensland Cowboys academy.

Playing career

Early career

In 2013 and 2014, Cotter played for the

Mackay Cutters The Mackay Cutters are a semi-professional rugby league football club based in Mackay, Queensland, Mackay, Queensland. They compete in Queensland's top rugby league competition, the Queensland Cup. The club was admitted to the Queensland Cup i ...

Cyril Connell Cup The Cyril Connell Challenge is an under-16 competition administered by the Queensland Rugby League. First run in 2021, the competition replaced the QRL Junior State Championships, which ran from 2017 to 2020. The 2020 competition was ultimately ca ...

side. In February 2014, he represented the Queensland Murri under-16 side in their 18–14 win over New South Wales. In May 2014, he captained the Queensland under-16 side in their 20–18 win over New South Wales. In 2015, Cotter moved up to the Cutters' Mal Meninga Cup side and later that year was selected at hooker in the Queensland under-18 side that defeated New South Wales 22–18. In September 2015, Cotter was selected 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. Other popular team sports in Australia such as cricket, basketball, association footbal ...

side that played a touring New Zealand under-18 team. He scored a try in the first Test, which Australia won 70–24. In 2016, Cotter joined the North Queensland Cowboys

under-20 Junior is a category of athletics in which athletes compete under the age of 20 years. Countries all around the world compete in athletics. World Junior Athletics Competitions are held every two years which contain the best junior competitors in ...

side, playing just two games before tearing his

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation ...

(ACL), ruling him out for the season. In January 2017, he returned from his injury and was named in the Queensland under-20 Emerging Origin squad. He tore his ACL again in 2017, and subsequently missed the entire 2017 and 2018 seasons.

2019

In 2019, Cotter joined the North Queensland Cowboys

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 ...

squad as a development player. On 23 February, he played his first game in almost two years in North Queensland's pre-season trial win over the Gold Coast Titans at

Sunshine Coast Stadium Sunshine Coast Stadium is a multi-sport venue located at Kawana Waters on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia. The stadium is the main venue in a sporting precinct that also includes seven fields. Development Sunshine Coast Stadium was fir ...

. Cotter started the 2019 season playing for the Cowboys' Queensland Cup affiliate, the

, where he scored nine tries in 15 games. In Round 13 of 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 ...

, Cotter made his NRL debut in the North Queensland Cowboys 20–22 loss to the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles at

1300SMILES Stadium The Willows Sports Complex, currently known as 1300SMILES Stadium through Naming rights, sponsorship, is a grass football stadium situated in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. It has been a predominantly rugby league ground as the home ground o ...

. He finished his rookie season playing five games, all off the bench. On 4 September, Cotter signed a one-year contract extension with the North Queensland Cowboys.

2020

Cotter began the 2020 season playing for the

, scoring two tries in a 22–23 loss to the Norths Devils. After returning to the North Queensland side in Round 5, he played four games off the bench. In Round 15, he started at hooker for the first time replacing the injured Reece Robson. He finished the season as the club's starting hooker, playing six games in the position. On 30 September, Cotter re-signed with the North Queensland side until the end of the 2022 season.

2021

Cotter made only six appearances for the North Queensland club in 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 ...

as they finished 15th on the table.

2022

In June, Cotter was selected for game one of the

2022 State of Origin series The 2022 State of Origin series was the 41st annual best-of-three series between the Queensland and New South Wales rugby league teams. Before this series, Queensland had won 22 times, NSW 16 times, with two series drawn. Game I Game One was a ...

which Queensland won 16-10 at Stadium Australia. Cotter played 18 matches for North Queensland in 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 ...

as the club finished third on the table and qualified for the finals. Cotter played in both finals matches including their preliminary final loss to Parramatta, scoring a try in the 24-20 loss. In October, he was named in the Australia squad for the

2021 Rugby League World Cup The 2021 Rugby League World Cup (RLWC2021) was a collection of world cups in the sport of rugby league, held in England from 15 October to 19 November 2022. England won hosting rights for the competition on 27 October 2016. The bid received £2 ...

and played two games in the tournament.

2023

Cotter played all three games in the

2023 State of Origin series The 2023 State of Origin series is the 42nd annual best-of-three series between the Queensland and New South Wales rugby league teams. Before this series, Queensland had won 23 times, NSW 16 times, with two series drawn. Venues Game I was held ...

. Cotter won the Wally Lewis medal for man of the series. Cotter played 20 games for North Queensland in the

2023 NRL season The 2023 NRL season is the 116th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 26th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams For the 2023 season, the number of teams in the NRL has increased from sixteen to seventeen with the ...

as the club finished 11th on the table.

Statistics

NRL

: ''Statistics as at 1 June 2022''

References

External links

North Queensland Cowboys profileNRL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cotter, Reuben 1998 births Living people Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league players Indigenous Australian rugby league players Mackay Cutters players North Queensland Cowboys players People from Sarina, Queensland Prime Minister's XIII players Queensland Rugby League State of Origin players Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from Mackay, Queensland Rugby league locks Rugby league props