Anthony Watmough
Anthony Watmough (born 7 October 1983) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer for the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles club of the National Rugby League. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative forward, he has played his whole career to date with the Eagles, winning both the 2008 NRL Premiership and the 2011 NRL Premiership with them.
Career
A product of the Narrabeen Sharks,[2] Watmough first played in the NRL in 2002 for the Northern Eagles club.
In 2005, Watmough was first selected for the New South Wales State of Origin team. Watmough was awarded the 2007 Dally M Second Rower of the Year award. He played in the 2007 NRL grand final defeat to the Melbourne Storm.[3]
He played in the 2008 NRL Grand Final victory over the Melbourne Storm and was then named in the Australian squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.[4]
Watmough started the following season in good form, winning the man-of-the-match award for his two-try performance in Manly's victory in the 2009 World Club Challenge. He was selected for Australia in the one-off test match against New Zealand on 8 May 2009.[5] Watmough gave a dominant display to earn the man of the match award in game 3 of the 2009 State of Origin series in what was described by commentator Andrew Voss as one of the greatest ever Origin performances.[6]
He won his second Dally M Second-Rower of The Year award for the 2009 season and in doing so made sure Manly retained the award for the third year in a row as his teammate Glenn Stewart won it the year before and Watmough won it in 2007.
In the 3 year period from the start of 2008 season, Watmough was penalised in games 70 times, the most of any player in the NRL. To add, he had recently been caught urinating on a shopfront which caused a fan fume uproar.[7]
2011 was seen as a turnaround for Anthony Watmough both on and off the field. Off-field, Manly coach Des Hasler enlisted the help of his 1987 and 1996 premiership coach, Rugby League Immortal and club legend Bob Fulton who's private talk with Watmough put the 27 year old back on the straight and narrow while his on-field form for the second placed Sea Eagles saw him return to the NSW Origin team for games 2 and 3 of the 2011 State of Origin series.[8] However, before the end of the season, reports emerged of another off-field transgression, with Watmough accused of trashing a hotel room after a State of Origin victory.[9]
References
- ^ http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,25898971-5018866,00.html
- ^ Stevenson, Andrew (24 September 2007). "Choc an irresistible force". The Age (Australia: Fairfax). http://www.theage.com.au/news/news/choc-an-irresistible-force/2007/09/23/1190486140521.html?page=2. Retrieved 27 December 2009.
- ^ "Factfile on 2007 grand final". The Daily Telegraph. 29 September 2008. http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,24415751-5001023,00.html.
- ^ "Grand final: As it happened". Fox Sports. 5 October 2008. http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,24449388-23214,00.html. Retrieved 5 October 2008.
- ^ Wald, Tom (3 May 2009). "Kangaroos selectors stick by losing World Cup team for New Zealand Test". Fox Sports. http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,25422175-5016947,00.html. Retrieved 3 May 2009.
- ^ "Anthony Watmough tops State of Origin III player ratings". 16 July 2009. http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,25789250-10389,00.html.
- ^ "Stats Central". Daily Telegraph (Sydney). 11 March 2011.
- ^ The reinvention of Anthony Watmough
- ^ Danny Weidler (28 August 2011). "Watmough trashed Origin hotel room". Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/sport/watmough-trashed-origin-hotel-room-20110827-1jfew.html. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
External links
| Persondata |
| Name |
Watmough, Anthony |
| Alternative names |
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| Short description |
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| Date of birth |
10 July 1983 |
| Place of birth |
Auburn, Sydney |
| Date of death |
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| Place of death |
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