Kurt Gidley
Australian rugby league player, State of Origin captain, and co-owner of Steel City Beer Company.
via Wikipedia: Kurt Gidley · see source
Kurt Geoffrey Gidley (born 7 June 1982) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Warrington Wolves in the Super League. An Australia international and New South Wales State of Origin representative and captain, he previously played in the National Rugby League for the Newcastle Knights, captaining them for 123 games. Off the field, Gidley is founder and co-owner of Steel City Beer Company alongside Andrew Johns, Matthew Johns, Danny Buderus, and Matt Hoy.
Quick Facts
- Full name
- Kurt Geoffrey Gidley
- Born
- 7 June 1982
- Birthplace
- Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
- Height
- 178 cm / 5 ft 10 in
- Weight
- 86 kg / 190 lb
Facts from the source article.
Did You Know?
- Gidley was an apprentice butcher when he left high school.
- He is the younger brother of Matthew Gidley and the youngest of three brothers.
- Gidley was awarded the Brad Fittler Medal for NSW's Player of the Series in 2010.
Playing career
Gidley made his NRL debut for the Newcastle Knights in 2001 at 19 years of age, playing Five-eighth in a round 24 loss to St George Illawarra, though he did not feature in the Knights' successful finals run. After winning the 2001 NRL Premiership, the Knights travelled to England to play the 2002 World Club Challenge against Super League champions the Bradford Bulls, with Gidley playing in Newcastle's loss. In 2004 he had a productive season, being 18th man for the NSW Blues, and in round 10 made history by kicking the winning field goal after 3 minutes and 26 seconds of extra time to secure the Knights' first ever golden point victory, against the Broncos at Lang Park (Suncorp Stadium) while the team was without Andrew Johns.
Gidley missed most of the 2005 season due to injury. In 2006 he travelled to Papua New Guinea to play for the Prime Minister's XIII against the Kumuls. The 2007 season saw him score multiple times for the Knights and convert goals, including 15 points against the South Sydney Rabbitohs in round 5 with 2 tries, 3 of 4 goals, and a field goal; he also represented NSW in the 2007 State of Origin. In January 2010 he was named in the NRL All Stars team, voted as the Knights' representative after beating Ben Cross, Chris Houston and Jarrod Mullen, but suffered a knee injury in the game that sidelined him until round 6 of the 2010 season.
On 17 May 2010 he was named captain of the New South Wales Blues, and for the first time in Origin history captained the side from the reserves bench for Game 2. During a team bonding session on 10 June 2010, his ex-teammate and friend Andrew Johns, then NSW assistant coach, caused controversy when it emerged he had encouraged a player to attack Queensland player Greg Inglis, referring to him as a 'black cunt'; Gidley defended Johns as not a racist, stating 'He's obviously still going to be a great mate of mine.'
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