Matthew Gidley

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.