Brett Kimmorley

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Brett Kimmorley

Personal information
Full nameBrett Kimmorley
NicknameNoddy
Born15 September 1976 (1976-09-15) (age 32)
Belmont, New South Wales, Australia
Height1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight84 kg ({{rnd/cExpression error: Unexpected < operatordecExpression error: Unexpected < operator|Expression error: Unexpected < operator|(Expression error: Unexpected < operator)}} lb)
Playing information
PositionHalfback
Club
YearsTeamPldTGFGP
1995–96Newcastle Knights61004
1997Hunter Mariners1024016
1998–00Melbourne Storm7927263163
2001Northern Eagles26110044
2002–08Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks140331655467
2009–Bulldogs00000
Total261741958694
Representative
YearsTeamPldTGFGP
1997Australia (SL)20000
1999–05Australia1541119
2000–07New South Wales80000
2001–07Country Origin413010
As of 14:17, 26 September 2008 (UTC)
Source: NRL Stats

Brett Kimmorley (born 15 September 1976 in Belmont, New South Wales) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer. He currently plays for the Canterbury Bulldogs in the Australian National Rugby League (NRL) competition. He previously played for the Cronulla Sharks and has also represented his country and state on several occasions. He currently plays at halfback.

He will join the Bulldogs from the 2009 season.[1][2]

Contents

[edit] Early career

Brett Kimmorley played early football for the Lakes United Seagulls.

While attending Belmont High School, Kimmorley played for the Australian Schoolboys team in 1994.[3]

[edit] Professional career

Kimmorley made his first grade debut for the Newcastle Knights against Manly on 21 July 1995 at Energy Australia Stadium (then known as Marathon Stadium). Although limited opportunities at his favoured half-back position with the Knights (because of Andrew Johns) caused him to move on.

After limited opportunities during two years with the Newcastle Knights, Kimmorley opted to sign for newly formed Super League club the Hunter Mariners who were also based out of Newcastle for the 1997 season. Throughout 1997 the Mariners only managed to make a disappointing seven wins for the entire season and with the shutting down of Super League in 1998 the Mariners were subsequently disbanded.

In 1998, with the newly formed National Rugby League starting up and the Mariners being disbanded, Kimmorley was yet again on the move. He subsequently decided to move to newly formed entity the Melbourne Storm on a three-year deal. His most memorable season for the Storm came in 1999 when the Storm won their maiden Premiership against the St George Illawarra Dragons, where he won the Clive Churchill medal for best on-ground, leading a spirited Storm comeback against the Dragons outfit.

After enjoying a premiership victory with the Melbourne Storm under coach Chris Anderson in 1999, Brett Kimmorley left Victoria for the Northern Eagles in season 2001. He had an unhappy season, however, and when the merged entity split at the end of the season, he decided to follow his former Melbourne Storm coach Chris Anderson to the Cronulla Sharks for 2002.

In his first season with his new club he somewhat flourished and led the Sharks to the preliminary final and although they lost (to eventual runners-up New Zealand Warriors).

With the new season in 2003 looking promising, Kimmorley was awarded the captaincy of the team over David Peachey and was rewarded with a new five-year deal. At the end of 2003, in the Ashes tour against Great Britain, Kimmorley was pivotal to Australia's whitewashing with last-minute field goals to secure the first two games in the three game series.

2004 was a disappointing season for Kimmorley, who failed to take his club to the finals for a second consecutive season. He was also plagued with several injuries which caused him to miss the annual State of Origin fixtures, although he still gained a position on the end of season Tri-Nations tour to Britain and had several impressive performances which were key to the team's success.

The start of 2005 looked extremely promising for the club, with Cronulla and Kimmorley winning the first 6 games in a row to be on top of the NRL Ladder. However after Kimmorley's selection for New South Wales Rugby League team in the first State of Origin match, in which he threw the fateful intercept ball to hand Queensland a victory, his confidence was seemingly shattered and his club form suffered badly. Only Cronulla's excellent first half of the season and favourable results prevented them from falling out of finals contention.

2006 was an unhappy one for Kimmorley, failing to regain his spot at halfback for both representative teams (New South Wales and Australia) the Sharks struggled to maintain their strong start to the season, plummeting from 2nd place on the ladder to lose 10 games in a row and finish 12th on the ladder.

In 2007 Kimmorley's chance for success has improved mainly from the signing of new coach Ricky Stuart a former representative halfback himself. Kimmorley has started the season well, looking to bring the Sharks their first premiership.

Kimmorley has been selected as halfback for the 2007 New South Wales State of Origin team for games 2 and 3, after Jarrod Mullen was dropped due to injury.

Kimmorley has agreed a move to the Bulldogs on a two year deal for the 2009 season. Kimmorley will play a senior role at the club, hoping to guide the Bulldogs to a final series and become the dominant halfback the club has missed in recent years. Kimmorley is also in line for captain of the Bulldogs.[4][5]

[edit] Representative career

Kimmorley has represented Country NSW four times and New South Wales eight times as well as playing 15 times for his country including the 2000 World Cup. He has also played two Super League Tests.

[edit] Playing statistics

  • Played 260 career first grade games with five clubs
  • Has scored over 600 points including 74 career tries

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Push is on by younger guns as retirement and transfers bite". The Leader (2008-10-01). Retrieved on 2008-10-03.
  2. ^ "2009 NRL Player Movements". NRL Live (2008-10-04). Retrieved on 2008-10-04.
  3. ^ "SportingPulse Homepage for Australian Secondary Schools Rugby League". SportingPulse. Retrieved on 2008-10-10.
  4. ^ "Kimmorley goes to the Dogs". Fox Sports (2008-05-16). Retrieved on 2008-05-16.
  5. ^ "No half measures as Dogs get Noddy". LeagueHQ (2008-05-15). Retrieved on 2008-05-15.

[edit] External links

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