Samantha Wood is an Australian

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

and

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 ...

player and former

football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player. Wood started playing rugby league and football from a young age. During her football career, she represented

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Australia ...

and

Canberra United Canberra United Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the southern Canberra suburb of Wanniassa, Australian Capital Territory. Founded in 2008 by Capital Football, the club was an inaugural member of the W-League and t ...

in the Australian W-League and Australia at youth level. Her time at Newcastle Jets was cut short by a boating accident, which caused her to require surgery for a fractured skull. Following her career in football, Wood switched to rugby league and played in the inaugural

City vs Country Origin City vs Country Origin was an annual Australian rugby league football match that took place in New South Wales between City and Country representative sides. The City side represented the Sydney metropolitan area. While technically it was Sydne ...

match after signing for

Queanbeyan Blues Queanbeyan Blues United Rugby League Club is an Australian rugby league football club based in Queanbeyan, New South Wales formed in the late 1920s. They conduct teams for both junior and senior teams. Notable Juniors * Johnny Hawke (1949-52 S ...

in 2017. One year after, she started a career in rugby union too and played in the inaugural

Super W The Super W is a women's rugby union competition held in Australia. The inaugural season was in 2018, when it replaced the former National Women's Rugby Championship. The are the most successful team so far, . Teams Six women's rugby teams c ...

season for the

Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005–2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the brumby, feral horses whi ...

Early life

Wood was born and raised in the small town of Grenfell in

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 ...

by her parents Trevor and Linda Wood. Wood first took up sports to escape bullying in school; choosing to play rugby league and, later, association football. Since the age of 10, she has always worn a ribbon in her hair while playing sport; the initial reason for this was so her grandparents could identify her easily on the field.

Football career

Wood started to take up football because her grandfather and mother started to disapprove of her playing rugby league. Wood represented the Australia national football team, ''The Matildas'', at under-17 and under-20 levels. With the former, she was part of a team that achieved a silver medal in the

Youth Olympic Games The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) is an international multi-sport event for athletes between 15 and 18 years old, organized by the International Olympic Committee. The games are held every four years in staggered summer and winter events consisten ...

. She played for

for the 2008–2009 season and made eight league appearances, including four as a substitute. Her season ended prematurely due to a boating accident, which resulted in a fractured skull. Her next football club was Western NSW Panthers. In 2012, she moved to

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

to study sports coaching and exercise science; she briefly played for

Canberra FC Canberra Croatia Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in the suburb of Deakin in the south of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. Founded in 1958 the club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Capi ...

, scoring 11 goals in 17 appearances before impressing in trials for

and signing for them.

Rugby league career

While playing for

, Wood was selected for the inaugural women's

on 14 May 2017; she represented the Country team. After a break from rugby league, she returned in 2020 to play for Queanbeyan Blues again.

Rugby union career

Wood switched to rugby union in 2018, signing for

team

and also representing

University of Canberra The University of Canberra (UC) is a public research university with its main campus located in Bruce, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The campus is within walking distance of Westfield Belconnen, and from Canberra's Civic Centre. UC ...

in rugby sevens. She scored her first points in the inaugural Super W season, the 2018 season, in a fixture against

Melbourne Rebels The Melbourne Rebels is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Melbourne. They made their debut in SANZAR's Super Rugby tournament in 2011. They were the first privately owned professional rugby union team in Australia, until 2017 ...

. She scored a

conversion Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series * "The Conversion" ...

and a

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

in a 37–8 victory for the Brumbies. Wood usually operates as a full-back in rugby union. She earned her first call-up to the

Australia women's national rugby union team The Australia women's national rugby union team, also known as the Wallaroos, has competed at all Women's Rugby World Cups since 1998, with their best result finishing in third place in 2010. Australian women have been playing rugby since the ...

, The Wallaroos, on 14 April 2019. In November of that year, she was called up to the Australia A team to compete in the Oceania Championship.

Personal life

In January 2009, Wood had a serious accident while being towed on a tube behind a boat on

Wyangala Dam Wyangala Dam is a major gated rock fill with clay core embankment and gravity dam with eight radial gates and a concrete chute spillway across the Lachlan River, located in the south-western slopes region of New South Wales, Australia. The ...

. A wave caused her knee to collide with her nose at high speed; she spent six days in hospital as a result and had to have her nose and sinuses reconstructed. The accident fractured her skull and caused her to miss the rest of the season with Newcastle Jets. Outside of her sporting career, Wood is a primary school teacher that works in Canberra and is enjoying life with her wife Chlodagh Wood and dog Penny.

Honours

; with Canberra United * Premier League Player of the Year

References

External links

* *
Ozfootball
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Samantha 1991 births Living people Australia women's international rugby union players Australian female rugby union players Australian female rugby league players Australian female rugby sevens players Australian women's soccer players Australian schoolteachers Canberra United FC players Newcastle Jets FC (A-League Women) players Rugby union fullbacks People from the Central West (New South Wales) Sportswomen from New South Wales Soccer players from New South Wales Women's association football players not categorized by position