Matthew Gidley

  • Playing Career

Playing Career

Vital Statistics

Born
Friday, 1st July, 1977
Current Age
46 years and 273 days
Place Of Birth
Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia

Known Family Links

Brother
Kurt Gidley

Biography

Newcastle junior started his career as a five-eighth before moving to the centres. A brilliant attacking player with a great right-foot step, Gidley missed the club’s 1997 grand final win because of injury. In 1999 he launched his representative career in the end of season Tri-Nations competition - scoring a try on debut in the 24-22 loss to NZ at Ericcson Stadium - and backed up with another in the 42-6 thrashing of Great Britain. After playing in Australia’s final-winning Test team, he was overlooked for representative duty in early 2000 and didn’t get his chance until the injury to St George centre Shaun Timmins. After making his State of Origin debut in NSW’s 56-16 thrashing of Queensland, he played for Australia against Papua New Guinea and went to England for the World Cup. Gidley had the distinction of playing in all six matches of the competition, which culminated in Australia’s 40-12 win over NZ in the final. His 2001 campaign was put on hold when he broke his ankle in a pre-season trial but he returned to play in all three State of Origin matches before reclaiming his Test spot in the one-off Test against NZ in July. Newcastle’s success in the 2001 grand final was a just reward for his disappointments in 1997, and he left Australia with the Kangaroos as the No.1 centre in the country. Rested from the Australian team that beat Papua New Guinea the week after the grand final, Gidley played in all three Ashes Tests in England. His rep career continued for NSW in 2002-03 but after one Test against NZ in 2002 he was left out of 2003’s Kangaroo Tour. After playing the 37-6 Test win against NZ in Newcastle in 2004, he was later dropped from the NSW team after the 22-18 loss in the Second Test of the series and then overlooked for the Tri Nations competition at the end of the year. Gidley left the club to see out his career with English club St Helens when the Knights were eliminated from the 2006 finals series.
- ALAN WHITICKER

Playing Career Statistics

All statistics shown in this section are based only on data available in the RLP database, and are not necessarily a complete and/or 100% accurate representation of a player's career. This information should be used as a guide only. If you see a question mark (?), it denotes that the figure is not available.

To view a list of corresponding matches, click on the List button.

Competitions

Competition   App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
NRL 221 68 0   1 273 124 92 5 56.11% List
City vs Country 3 - -   1 1 1 2 0 33.33% List
NRL Finals 14 5 -   - 20 6 8 0 42.86% List
Tri-Nations 3 2 -   - 8 2 1 0 66.67% List
Tour Matches Australia 1 1 -   - 4 1 0 0 100.00% List
State of Origin 11 5 -   - 20 6 4 1 54.55% List
World Cup 6 4 -   - 16 6 0 0 100.00% List
The Ashes 3 1 -   - 8 2 1 0 66.67% List
Test Series 3 1 -   - - 2 1 0 66.67% List
World Club Challenge 2 1 -   - 4 1 1 0 50.00% List
Anzac Tests 1 - -   - - 1 0 0 100.00% List
Super League 105 40 6   - 172 76 28 1 72.38% List
Challenge Cup 17 8 -   - 32 15 2 0 88.24% List


International

Test Matches - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Australia 1999-02, 2004 17 11 -   - 44 15 2 0 88.24% List

World Cup Matches - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Australia 1999-2000 6 4 -   - 16 6 0 0 100.00% List


Representative

Australia - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
NSW Country 1997, 2002, 2005 3 - -   1 1 1 2 0 33.33% List
NSW 2000-04 11 5 -   - 20 6 4 1 54.55% List
Overall1997-2005 14 5 0   1 21 7 6 1 50.00% List


Club Career

NRL/NSWRL - By Year

Team Season App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Newcastle ARL 1996 15 - -   - - 6 8 1 40.00% List
Newcastle ARL 1997 16 3 -   - 12 10 5 1 62.50% List
Newcastle NRL 1998 26 12 0 / 1 0.00% - 48 18 7 1 69.23% List
Newcastle NRL 1999 19 4 -   - 16 11 7 1 57.89% List
Newcastle NRL 2000 19 9 -   - 36 10 8 1 52.63% List
Newcastle NRL 2001 20 6 -   1 25 13 7 0 65.00% List
Newcastle NRL 2002 22 8 -   - 32 15 7 0 68.18% List
Newcastle NRL 2003 24 9 -   - 36 14 10 0 58.33% List
Newcastle NRL 2004 22 6 -   - 24 10 12 0 45.45% List
Newcastle NRL 2005 12 2 -   - 8 2 10 0 16.67% List
Newcastle NRL 2006 26 9 0 / 1 0.00% - 36 15 11 0 57.69% List

NRL/NSWRL - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Newcastle 1996-06 221 68 - / 2 0.00% 1 273 124 92 5 56.11% List

English Career - By Year

Team Season App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
St Helens 2007 33 17 -   - 68 25 8 0 75.76% List
St Helens 2008 32 11 4   - 52 25 6 1 78.13% List
St Helens 2009 31 12 2   - 52 23 8 0 74.19% List
St Helens 2010 27 8 -   - 32 19 8 0 70.37% List

English Career - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
St Helens 2007-10 123 48 6   - 204 92 30 1 74.80% List

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Contributions: Rugby League Tables, Andrew Ferguson, Shawn Dollin, Alan Katzmann, Greg Fiveash, Paul Carter, AJ Lucantonio, Nick Jones, Max Turner, Cymru RL, Bill Bates

Sources: NRL Rugby League Yearbook 2000, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 2002, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 2003, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 2004, NRL 2004 Official Rugby League Annual, ARL Rugby League Yearbook 1997, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 1999, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 2001, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 1998, 2006 Official Rugby League Annual