Mat Rogers

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Mat Rogers (born February 1, 1976 in Sydney and educated at The Southport School) was an Australian rugby union player and rugby league player - a dual international. His father was the late Cronulla Sharks legend Steve Rogers, who was the Sharks' CEO.

Rogers played rugby league with the Cronulla Sharks NRL side, State of Origin for Queensland (5 times 1999 to 2000), and for the Australian national side(7 Tests 1998 to 2000) before his switch back to union in 2002. He played at fly half for the Waratahs.

[edit] Schoolboy representative

Playing both forms of the game as a junior, Rogers excelled at union at Queensland's Southport School, a well known rugby union nursery. He played in the Australian Schoolboys representative team, at one point playing opposite a young Jonny Wilkinson, and future All Blacks sensation Jonah Lomu.

[edit] Rugby league career

After deciding that rugby league was his preferred career path, Rogers joined his father's former club, the Cronulla Sharks. Forming a powerful combinations with centre partner Andrew Ettingshausen and fullback David Peachey, Rogers was an electric and entertaining ball-running winger during the mid-to-late 90's. He was a talented goal kicker and holding several pointscoring records with Cronulla. His 40m burst has been timed at 4.9 seconds ^{[citation needed]}. He is seen as a vital attacking weapon and point scoring machine due to his goal-kicking talent and ability to score tries from the tightest situations.

He expressed his desire to shift from his position on the wing to either centre or fullback, however a serious injury to the rotator cuff of his shoulder at the conclusion of the Kangaroos successful 2000 World Cup Campaign destroyed his chance and after a complete shoulder reconstruction was restricted to only a handful of games during the 2001 season, his final year with the Sharks.

[edit] Senior rugby union career

Following his switch Rogers was an immediate success in rugby union. His transition has not been without controversy however. Several times Rogers has found himself the focus of media scrutiny after several comments regarding the state of Australian club Rugby in comparison to training for the Wallabies and after an alleged altercation outside a Glasgow nightclub with a fan in 2004.

His initial switch was also met with some contempt ^{[citation needed]} from Waratahs fans after coach Bob Dwyer revealed that Waratahs and Wallaby stalwart Matthew Burke would be moved from his preferred position of fullback to outside centre in order to accommodate Rogers. His 2004 Super 12 season started brilliantly but a serious ankle injury suffered in South Africa ruled him out of that year's Tri Nations series.

His autobiography Off the Wing, On a Prayer was published in 2002 by E.S.M Sports Pty. Ltd. It was written shortly after his transition from rugby league to rugby union, while his father Steve Rogers was still alive and while he was still married to his ex-wife Michelle Miller. He is currently going through a separation with Michelle, the mother of his children Jack and Skyla, and he is romantically attached to Australian model Chloe Maxwell. She is the mother of his son Max.

Starting in the 2005 Tri Nations Series, Rogers was shifted from fullback to play at fly-half following the injury of Stephen Larkham. He continued to play in that position during the 2005 Grand Slam tour of British Isles and Europe and remained there for the Waratahs for most of the new Super 14 competition in 2006.

Coming on late in the second half in the second test against South Africa in the 2006 Tri Nations Series, Rogers scored a late try which allowed Stirling Mortlock to kick the winning conversion from the left sideline, for a 20-18 win.

It was reported on the 28 August 2006 that Rogers had sustained a knee injury requiring athroscopic surgery and was ruled out of the last test against The Springboks but was fit for the end of year tour.

"I've had (the injury) for a couple of weeks and I was hoping it would have pulled up a bit better than it has," Rogers said. "I'm disappointed to miss out on the Springboks match because I feel that we've got a great chance of winning a Test on their soil, which hasn't been done for a long time."

Newspapers have sparked the question of how many games Rogers has actually not participated in due to injuries.

Figures according to The Daily Telegraph Rogers has missed 21 out of 61 games for the Waratahs, some due to his father's passing at the start of the year. For the Wallabies he has played 41 of 57 matches. Overall he has not played for 37 of 118 games making him a spectator 31% of the time since moving to rugby union.

It was reported on the 12 Sept 06 that Rogers will return to rugby league in 2008 to play with the Gold Coast Titans. It was estimated that Rogers will give up his $650 000 a season salary with the ARU for a $300 000 change to the ARL.

Rogers was named in the 37 man squad for Australia's tour of Europe. He had been selected to play at fly-half with usual number 10 Larkham playing outside him at inside-centre.

On December 8, 2006, Mat's older brother, Don Rogers, was taken to a Sydney hospital on a suspected drug overdose.

It was made official on December 14, 2006, that Mat Rogers would be released from his contract from the Waratahs and the Australian Rugby Union.