Tony Grimaldi

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Tony Grimaldi

Personal information
Full name
Date of birth	21 November 1974 (1974-11-21) (age 33)
Place of birth	Sydney, Australia
Height	184 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	93 kg (14 st 9 lb)
Nickname(s)	Lobster
Youth clubs
Years	Club
	Penshurst RSL
Senior clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (points)
1995 1996–2006 1999 2000–2001	St.George Canterbury Gateshead Hull FC	1 (0) 120 (44) 9 (0) 9 (0)
* Professional club appearances and points counted for domestic first grade only.

Tony Grimaldi (born 21 November 1974 in Sydney, Australia) was an Australian rugby league player for the Canterbury Bulldogs, a club in the National Rugby League. Despite recently announcing an extension of his contract until 2007 Tony was forced to announce his retirement from rugby league on the 14th of September 2006. This was due to a bulging disk in his neck causing extreme pain in his neck and down along his right arm. He had previously had two vertebrae fused exacerbating his injury and increasing the chance of permanently injurying his neck if he continued to play.

Tony's career spanned over 12 seasons primarily for the Canterbury bulldogs. Tony played in the 1998 grandfinal against the Brisbane Broncos scoring a try as well as the 2004 grandfinal for the Bulldogs against Sydney City Roosters. Tony played his junior rugby league primarily as a halfback and hooker for Penshurst rsl. He played his first game in first grade in Round 21 1995 for the St. George Dragons against the North Queensland Cowboys. Tony also played briefly with Gateshead Thunder & Hull FC in the European Super League. Tony Captained Hull FC, due to his extensive experience in rugby league, to a final series. He then returned to the Canterbury Bulldogs in the 2002 season. He was not a regular first grade player over the 2002-2003 season, however he worked his way back to a starting position from 2004 to 2006.

Grimaldi was also known for his sense of humour and light hearted nature. He was criticised for comments made in a press interview regarding Andrew Johns. Grimaldi was quoted as saying "I think you should be able to swear at the touchie if the decision's wrong." [1] He later withdrew his comments attributing them to a "poor attempt at sarcastic humour." [2]. In his player profile, when asked what his most memorable moment from his debut was he replied: "I've had so many knocks to the head that I don't even remember what I had for breakfast." [3]. Teammate Brent Sherwin cited Grimaldi as the team's biggest pest as "He once put chillies on a sandwich he bought for me."[4]. This comedic approach differed greatly from that of his serious, professional, onfield attitude

Tony is remembered for his hard-work ethic, commitment and stamina in defence, "One of the club's workhorses, Tony Grimaldi is rock solid in defence and a sound attacker. "[5]. In his last season of first grade at almost 32yrs of age he still averaged over 40 tackles per game an amazing achievement considering the physically demanding nature of rugby. He featured in the premiership winning side of 2004 for the Bulldogs. In 2005 despite not making the finals Grimaldi was the NRL top tackler "In 2005 he was the NRL leading tackler with a whopping 852 tackles and many will remember his one-on-one steal against Broncos Karmichael Hunt back in Round 20 as the Bulldogs got home with a 29-22 victory."[6]

Tony captained the side on a number occasions when representative players were unavailable. Most notably was in 2004 when he captained the Bulldogs against Leeds in the Carnegie World Club Challenge. His position of choice was at lock-forward. He will be remembered as one of the unsung hero's of rugby league avoiding the cult of celebrity and upholding the moral fabric of the game embodying its finest qualities and virtues. Tony's loyalty and long standing service to the club was rewarded with a job within the Bulldog's administration.

[edit] Matches played

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] External links

• Tony Grimaldi's playing profile and statistics
• Official Tony Grimaldi NRL profile
• an article on Tony's career and retirement
• Artcile on Grimaldi's early retirement
• Grimaldi captain of Bulldogs for WCC match