Matt Prior (rugby league)

Matthew Prior (born 27 May 1987) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as prop, second-row and lock for the Leeds Rhinos in the Super League.

Matt Prior
Personal information
Full nameMatthew Prior
Born (1987-05-27) 27 May 1987
Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
Height188 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight105 kg (16 st 7 lb)
Playing information
PositionProp, Second-row, Lock, Centre
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2008–13 St. George Illawarra 121 8 0 0 32
2014–19 Cronulla Sharks 134 6 0 0 24
2020– Leeds Rhinos 5 0 0 0 0
Total 260 14 0 0 56
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2011–17 Country Origin 2 0 0 0 0
2018– New South Wales 1 0 0 0 0
As of 11 May 2020
Source: [1]

He was a member of the St George Illawarra Dragons' 2010 and Sharks' 2016 NRL Premership winning teams. Prior has played for Country Origin and New South Wales.

Background

Prior was born in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia.

Playing career

Prior started at St George Illawarra in 2006, making his NRL debut in round 5 of the 2008 season. In 2010 he was a member of the Dragons' premiership winning side and he played in their 2010 NRL Grand Final victory. That year he signed for a further three years with the club and he played with them till the end of 2013.[2]

On 13 January 2011, Prior was named in the "Blues in waiting" squad. He attended a three-day camp at Homebush January 2013 co-ordinated by coach Ricky Stuart for players deemed to have potential to feature in future New South Wales Origin teams.[3]

In Round 9, 2012 he was sent off for striking Cowboys captain Johnathan Thurston with his elbow, with his charge referred directly to the NRL Judiciary.[4] He was suspended for five weeks over the incident.[5] After the incident Prior was moved to the interchange bench for the St. George Illawarra Dragons.

For the 2014 season, Prior moved to the Cronulla Sharks. He was a regular member of their first grade team and in 2016 played a pivotal role in their push as premiership contenders. He gave a man of the match performance in their qualifying semi-final match against the Canberra Raiders and played in their semi-final victory over the North Queensland Cowboys to earn a place in the 2016 NRL Grand Final. Prior played at prop in the grand final against Melbourne which Cronulla won 14-12, claiming their first premiership since entering the competition in 1967.[6]

On 3 September 2017, Prior made his 200th appearance in The NRL.[7]

A surprise selection, Prior was named in the 2018 NSW Blues team for Origin 2 to replace the injured Reagan Campbell-Gillard. New South Wales went on to win the game 18-14 and win their first series since 2014. In game 3, Prior was left out of The Blues side and was replaced by Tariq Sims.[8]

Prior played 27 games for Cronulla in 2018 as the club reached the preliminary final against Melbourne but fell short of another grand final appearance losing 22-6 at AAMI Park.[9]

In round 23 2019, Prior played his 250th NRL game for the Sharks in their 42-16 win over the New Zealand Warriors at PointsBet Stadium in Cronulla. Prior made a total of 25 appearances for Cronulla in the 2019 NRL season as the club finished 7th on the table and qualified for the finals. Prior played in the club's elimination final loss against Manly-Warringah at Brookvale Oval.[10]

On November 29 2019, Prior signed a two-year contract to join English Super League team Leeds.[11]

Personal life

Prior was born in Wollongong in New South Wales and went to school at Bulli High School. Prior is a life Member of The Thirroul Butchers.

Notes
  1. Rugby League Project
  2. MATT PRIOR RE-SIGNS WITH DRAGONS. dragons.com.au. 22 March 2010
  3. "Stuart names Blues in waiting". SMH. 13 January 2011.
  4. Prior to face judiciary for Thurston hit – ABC Grandstand Sport (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
  5. Prior gets five weeks for Thurston hit – ABC Grandstand Sport (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
  6. "Cronulla defeat Storm to break 50-year NRL grand final hoodoo - as it happened". The Guardian.
  7. http://www.sharks.com.au/news/2017/09/02/prior_200_.html
  8. http://www.sportingnews.com/au/league/news/state-of-origin-nsw-team-matt-prior-tariq-sims-suncorp-stadium/1smvagauj0nk31n9khe6wvcsvx
  9. "Melbourne v Cronulla preliminary final". The Guardian.
  10. "Under-strength Sea Eagles send Sharks packing". NRL.
  11. "Leeds Rhinos sign forward as captain Trent Merrin leaves on compassionate grounds". BBC.
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gollark: =tex m = \frac{y_2-y_1}{x_2-x_1}
gollark: Anyway, that's the gradient.
gollark: This is a straight line, so the result should be the same whichever pair of points you pick.
gollark: =tex \frac{22-19}{7-6}
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