Brett Kimmorley
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Brett 'Noddy' Kimmorley (born September 15, 1976 in Belmont, NSW) is an Australian rugby league player. He currently plays for and captains the Cronulla Sharks in the National Rugby League competition in Australia; he has also represented his country and state on several occasions. He currently plays at halfback.
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[edit] Playing career
Brett Kimmorley made his first grade debut for the Newcastle Knights against Manly on July 21, 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.
In 1997, after 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. Throughout the 1997 season 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.
[edit] Melbourne Storm
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.
[edit] Northern Eagles
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.
[edit] Cronulla Sharks
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), Kimmorley remained impressive.
With the new season in 2003 looking promising, Kimmorley was awarded the captaincy of the team over Matt Koellner (Former Halfback of Cronulla) 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 somewhat 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 heralds a new season for Kimmorley and looks promising after Five-Eighth Adam Dykes has re-committed to the club after several months of rumoured discontent and much expectation lies on what sort of partnership the two can combine, so far since Kimmorley's injury he and Dykes havn't found a solid patnership. The excellent performance of Kiwi superstar Nigel Vagana on the Tri-Nations tour of England in a new position of pivot may also finally provide Kimmorley with the halves partner he has been searching for.
[edit] Playing statistics
- Played 180 career first grade games with five clubs
- Has scored over 600 points including 69 career tries
- Represented Country three times and New South Wales five times
- Played 15 times for his country including the 2000 World Cup
