Michael Witt
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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Michael Witt | |
| Date of birth | January 1, 1984 | |
| Place of birth | Toowoomba, Australia | |
| Height | 1.80 m | |
| Weight | 86 kg | |
| Nickname | Witt Dog | |
| Position | Five-eighth / Halfback | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | New Zealand Warriors | |
| Number | 6 / 7 | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| Newtown Lions | ||
| Professional clubs* | ||
| Years | Club | Apps (points) |
| 2000–2004 2005–2006 |
Parramatta Manly |
27 (176) 20 (144) |
| Representative teams** | ||
| 2006 | NSW Residents | 1 (8) |
|
* Professional club appearances and points |
||
Michael Witt (born in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia on January 1, 1984) is a rugby league player from the New Zealand Warriors and is one of the rising stars of the National Rugby League competition. One of the sport's most accomplished goalkickers, his position is either halfback or five-eighth and his down-to-earth attitude, dedication, natural talent and ability have won him many fans, as well as his boy next door good looks which have made him one of the NRL's pin-up players, often appearing in various charity calendars and women's magazines.
Contents |
[edit] Early career
Growing up in Toowoomba, Michael was a champion junior boxer and played rugby league for the Newtown Lions in the local junior competition, and he later went on to represent Queensland in rugby league at the Under 15 level in 1999 and the Under 16 level in 2000. During 1999 he was spotted by the Parramatta Eels as a player with much potential and he was offered a scholarship by the club, which he accepted, and in the following year he moved to Sydney to join his older brother Steven at Parramatta, where he spent the next three seasons in the lower grades. During the 2002 season, Michael played in the SG Ball Grand Final, where his Parramatta team was unfortunately defeated 18-16 by the Western Suburbs Magpies. When Parramatta's regular halfback Paul Green was injured (causing his retirement from the game), Michael was promoted to the team as Green's replacement to make his National Rugby League debut on May 2, 2003. Despite a very promising debut from Michael, Parramatta were soundly beaten 44-12 by the Sydney Roosters in a Friday night game at Parramatta Stadium.
[edit] Sparking the Parramatta Eels
Before Michael's debut, Parramatta had won just two games from seven in 2003, and were looking very likely to be out of the semi finals race very early on in the season. But Michael sparked the disappointing Eels to life, and the team won ten from their last fourteen games of the season to narrowly miss qualifying for the semi finals. In one of his early games in the NRL he encountered extreme disappointment in missing two crucial, but easy (by his standards) goals which saw Parramatta lose narrowly 18-16 to the New Zealand Warriors. On The Michael Witt Story that aired on The Footy Show later that year, Michael admitted that he felt like he had let the whole Parramatta organisation down with those missed attempts at goal, but he soon quickly overcame this early setback to become one of the form players in the NRL with many commentators impressed with his maturity and the sharpness of his skills. Some of the highlights of his first season included the sideline conversion to seal Parramatta's come-from-behind victory over the North Queensland Cowboys at Parramatta Stadium, and his first half effort against the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Aussie Stadium, where his two classy tries set up Parramatta's easy 34-20 win. Michael scored a haul of 18 points in that match, and was Parramatta's leading pointscorer in 2003 with 104 points from three tries, 45 goals and two field goals. His great first season in the NRL saw him win Parramatta's Rookie of the Year award as well as being selected in the New South Wales Under 19 team to play Queensland in an interstate representative match. Unfortunately though for Michael, a shoulder injury prevented him from playing. He was also among the main contenders for the prestigious Dally M Rookie Of The Year award, which was won by the Melbourne Storm's Billy Slater. Michael was rewarded for his great form with a new, lucrative four year contract to stay with Parramatta.
[edit] A frustrating season
2004 started promisingly with Michael being named in the emerging Queensland State of Origin squad in the early part of the season. However, he was very surprisingly not selected in first grade until Round 12, despite Parramatta's very poor form until that time and calls from many fans for him to be selected, wondering why Parramatta's Rookie of the Year just twelve months previously now seemed to be out of favour with Parramatta coach Brian Smith. Michael's return sparked a limited recovery for Parramatta, which included an upset 26-12 victory over eventual Grand Finalists the Sydney Roosters, with Michael's pinpoint accurate bombs resulting in three tries for winger Luke Burt. But the Eels finished well down the ladder with just nine wins to finish 12th. Adding to the disappointment was Michael receiving a two week suspension for a dangerous throw in a game against the Newcastle Knights in June. But the most disappointing occurrence of 2004 happened post season, when Parramatta announced that Michael was "not in their first grade plans" for 2005, despite him having another three years to go on his contract. This came just weeks after he turned in a supreme effort against the New Zealand Warriors where he scored 24 points from two tries and eight goals in a 48-18 win at Parramatta Stadium, and had scored 72 points from three tries and 30 goals in his limited appearances during the course of the season. However, upon his release by Parramatta, Michael was very quickly signed by Manly as part of their impressive build-up for the 2005 season and during the 2004-05 off season, Michael employed the tutoring of Australian soccer great Graham Arnold to further finesse his goalkicking talents.
[edit] Beach Bound
Michael, along with fellow blue chip signings Ben Kennedy and Brent Kite, added much needed player strength at Manly in 2005 and the club qualified for its first semi finals series since 1998 and finished in eighth position. For the first half of the season Manly was among the dominant teams of the NRL, and Michael's form correspondingly at five-eighth was some of the best of his career to date, prompting Manly officials to publicly thank Parramatta for releasing him. Among the highlights were excellent performances in the victories over eventual Premiers Wests Tigers and in the amazing come-from-behind win against the Penrith Panthers. Penrith led 26-6 early in the second half, before a Witt-inspired Manly team powered home to win 36-26 at Brookvale Oval. Also during this period, Michael kicked 20 successive goals without a miss. However, Manly found wins hard to come by in the second half of the season, and Michael experienced the same frustrations that plagued his 2004. In a match in July against the Wests Tigers, he received a one week suspension for striking Liam Fulton. And after a disappointing 36-10 loss to the St George Illawarra Dragons a few weeks later, Michael was dropped from the first grade squad after being targeted by the big Dragons forwards due to his perceived defensive deficiencies. Manly coach Des Hasler used a number of forwards at five-eighth in subsequent games, but with very little success, and Michael was drafted back into the side for the semi final against Parramatta. Despite Manly being hopelessly outclassed 46-22 to be eliminated, Michael sent the crowd alight by scoring one of the best tries of 2005, as he weaved through the Parramatta defence and sprinted fifty metres to score under the posts. However, this great moment was marred by yet another two week suspension, this time for a high tackle on Eels hooker Mark Riddell. Michael was among the leading pointscorers in the NRL for 2005, scoring 140 points from five tries and 60 goals from 19 appearances.
In late 2005, Michael was one of 12 of the hottest players in the NRL that posed for the League Of Their Own 2006 calendar that was produced in the style of the famous Dieux du Stade calendars to raise money for the Koori Kids foundation.
[edit] On the outer
With Michael's two match suspension ruling him ineligible in Manly's two NRL-sanctioned pre-season trial matches for 2006, unproven rookie Travis Burns was able to take advantage of his absence and was preferred by coach Des Hasler as Manly's regular five-eighth for the season (despite Michael being the incumbent in that position at the end of 2005), and Michael was given only one start in first grade for the year against Newcastle in Round 17 (following Burns' suspension for one week). Michael performed very credibly in his only appearance, despite Manly's 26-12 loss at Brookvale Oval. Starting the year in the NSWRL Premier League, Michael's class shone even further in lesser company, playing at both five-eighth and halfback and helping Manly to a number of large victories, with the team finishing fourth and just missed qualifying for the Grand Final. This strong form throughout 2006 led to Michael's selection at five-eighth for the NSW Residents team to play Queensland Residents in a representative match played prior to the third State Of Origin match at the Telstra Dome in Melbourne, where Michael steered NSW Residents to a comfortable 28-20 win. He was also the first player in the Premier League competition to score 100 points for the season, a mark he reached in early May.
Off the field, Michael was included in Cosmopolitan magazine's Boys With Balls '06 feature which profiled 20 of the sexiest footballers of the year from both the NRL and AFL competitions. He was also the male centrefold for the November 2006 issue of Cleo magazine, and was featured on the front cover of the Naked Rugby League 2007-08 charity calendar (as well as inside for the month of February 2007) with proceeds from its sales going to the National Breast Cancer Foundation of Australia.
At the end of the 2006 season, Michael's NRL career tally after 47 games stood at 320 points from 11 tries, 137 goals (from 179 attempts at a success rate of 76.54%) and two field goals.
As opportunities at Manly became increasingly limited, Michael signed with the New Zealand Warriors for the 2007 season on a one year contract.
[edit] Trivia
- Michael is missing a bone in one of his feet, and as a result prefers to wear football boots that have the spikes moulded on, rather than screwed on, which causes him discomfort.
- Michael's godparents are the parents of former Newcastle Knights player Robbie O'Davis.
- The Newcastle Knights were the team Michael supported as a youngster and his older brother, Steven, and younger brother, Robbie, have both played for the Knights.
- Michael has a tattoo of a sun on his left shoulder blade.
[edit] Gallery
 Michael Witt celebrates a try against South Sydney, 2003 |
 Michael Witt looks to gain field position against Brisbane, 2003 |
 Michael Witt celebrates against the Dragons, 2003 |
 Michael Witt salutes the crowd after Parramatta upset the Roosters in 2004 |
 Michael Witt and Luke Burt after they plotted in the downfall of the Roosters, 2004 |
 Michael Witt is met by the South Sydney defence at Brookvale Oval, 2005 |
 Michael Witt is happy after Manly thumped Canberra 36-14 in Round 6, 2005 |
 Michael Witt takes the ball up for a kick-off, 2005 |
 Michael Witt in the League Of Their Own 2006 calendar |
 Michael Witt leaves the field after Manly lost to Newtown in a Premier League trial, 2006 |
 Michael Witt slots another goal between the posts against Newcastle at Brookvale, 2006 |
 Michael Witt directs the Manly attack versus the Knights, 2006 |
 Michael Witt being interviewed about the 2007-08 Naked Rugby League calendar |
 Michael Witt on the cover of the 2007-08 Naked Rugby League calendar |
[edit] External links
- Michael Witt's NRL Player Profile and Statistics
- Michael Witt's Official Player Profile
- Announcement of the signing of Michael Witt by the New Zealand Warriors
- Article on Michael Witt signing with the New Zealand Warriors from the Toowoomba Chronicle
- Naked Rugby League calendar website
- Article on the Naked Rugby League 2007-08 Calendar
