Matt Rua

Matt Rua
Personal information
Full name Matthew James Rua[1]
Born 20 July 1977 (1977-07-20) (age 34)
Auckland, New Zealand
Playing information
Height 187
Weight 105 kg
Position Second-row
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1998–2002 Melbourne Storm 100 14 0 0 56
2007 Melbourne Storm 1 0 0 0 0
Total 101 14 0 0 56
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1999–2001 New Zealand 11 2 0 0 8
Source: RLP

Matthew Rua (born 20 July 1977 in New Zealand) is a former professional rugby league player.

Contents

Playing career

Rua was a Manly Warringah Sea Eagles junior in 1996 and played for the Junior Kiwis.

Rua signed for the Melbourne Storm in 1998 and played 100 games for the club before being released at the end of the 2002 season.

He signed with the Canberra Raiders for the 2003 season, but walked out of his contract before the season started for personal reasons.

In 2006 he played for the Waitakere Rangers in the Bartercard Cup before being signed by the Central Comets in the Queensland Cup.

This was enough to get him signed by the Melbourne Storm in 2007. However he only played one first grade game that season, his first since 2002, in Melbourne's round 13 win over the New Zealand Warriors at Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland. He retired at the end of the year.

Representative career

Rua represented New Zealand eleven times between 199 and 2001, including the 2000 World Cup.

Later years

Rua is of Cook Islands heritage and has been involved with the Cook Islands national team as a coach.[2]

References

  1. ^ RUA, MATTHEW JAMES 1999 - 2001 - KIWI #681 nzleague.co.nz
  2. ^ Donaghy, Dave (15 March 2007). "Islander blood runs deep". Herald Sun. http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/nrl/story/0,21985,21383990-14823,00.html. Retrieved 2008-07-31.