Mat Croker

Mat Croker (born 11 September 1999) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a prop and lock for the Newcastle Knights in the NRL.

Mat Croker
Personal information
Full nameMathew Croker[1]
Born (1999-09-11) 11 September 1999
Nabiac, New South Wales, Australia
Height191 cm (6 ft 3 in)
Weight108 kg (17 st 0 lb)
Playing information
PositionProp, Lock
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2021– Newcastle Knights 42 4 0 0 16
Source: [2]
As of 16 September 2023

Background

Croker was born in Nabiac, New South Wales, Australia. He is of Chilean descent.[3]

He played his junior rugby league for Taree City Bulls and Taree Panthers, before being signed by the Newcastle Knights.[4]

Playing career

Early years

Croker rose through the ranks for the Newcastle Knights, playing with their Harold Matthews Cup team in 2015, the S. G. Ball Cup side from 2016 to 2017, captaining the side in the latter year,[5] and finally the under-20s side from 2017 to 2019.[6] During those years, he also played for the New South Wales under-16s and under-20s teams.[6] In November 2017, he re-signed with the Knights on a 3-year contract until the end of 2020.[7] In 2020, he joined the Knights' NRL squad as one of their 6 allocated development players,[8] as he graduated to the Canterbury Cup NSW team.[9]

2021

In 2021, Croker started the year without a contract but played with Newcastle's NSW Cup squad as captain of the side.[10] Ahead of round 13 of the 2021 NRL season, Croker signed an NRL contract with the Newcastle Knights after they lost three forwards from the last round in Tyson Frizell (injury), David Klemmer (suspension) and Daniel Saifiti (State of Origin selection).[11] This allowed Croker to make his NRL debut for the Newcastle club against the Parramatta Eels which ended in a 40-4 defeat.[10][12]

2023

Croker played a total of 24 games for Newcastle in the 2023 NRL season as the club finished 5th on the table. Croker played in both finals games as Newcastle were eliminated in the second week of the finals by the New Zealand Warriors.[13]

Statistics
Year Team Games Tries Pts
2021 Newcastle Knights 2
2022 16 1 4
2023 23 3 12
Totals 41 4 16

Personal life

Croker is currently the lead host and face of the 257 Collective podcast with fellow NRL players Kalyn Ponga and Connor Watson. [14]

References
  1. Callinan, Josh (9 May 2017). "Croker caps off stellar season". Newcastle Herald. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  2. "Matt Croker - Career Stats & Summary - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org.
  3. Whitelock, Adam (3 March 2022). "Chile looking to regain momentum this weekend".
  4. "Matt Croker named in NSW under 20s side to play Queensland". Manning River Times. 9 July 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  5. "Croker scoops junior double". Newcastle Knights. 9 May 2017. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  6. "Mathew Croker". 1 May 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  7. "Young Knights building pathways". Newcastle Knights. 23 November 2017. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  8. "Full 2020 squad list and development players". Newcastle Knights. 7 August 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  9. "TEAM LISTS | Canterbury Cup NSW Rd 1". New South Wales Rugby League. 10 March 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  10. "'It means everything': Croker set to make dream debut". Newcastle Knights. 4 June 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  11. "Knights v Eels Round 13 NRL team list". Newcastle Knights. 1 June 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  12. "Milestone men Gutho and Sivo shine; Over-keen Knights 'panic' on old boys day: 3 Big Hits". www.foxsports.com.au.
  13. "NRL 2023: Newcastle Knights season review". www.sportingnews.com.
  14. "257.collective". www.instagram.com.
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