# Matt Groat

Matt Groat is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Souths Logan Magpies in the Queensland Cup. He previously played for Thirlmere Roosters in the Group 6 Rugby League, St. George Illawarra Dragons, Wests Tigers in the NRL and Doncaster, and the Dewsbury Rams in the Championship. He also played in the Queensland Cup for the Wynnum-Manly Seagulls and Easts Tigers. He played as a prop.

## Playing career
### Early years

From the small town of Rankins Springs in the Riverina, Groat lived on a 6000ha property. He went to school in Griffith, before becoming a student at renowned rugby league school St Gregory's College, Campbelltown. During his time at the school he was named as the most valuable player for his team at the 2010 Australian Schoolboys Championships, and represented the Australian Schoolboys team in 2009 and 2010. In 2011, he was named in the Junior Kangaroos team.

### Wests Tigers

Groat joined the Wests Tigers NYC Cup team in 2011. By round 12 he had progressed to making his début in first grade, after a late injury to Wade McKinnon. Having already played a lower-grade game, Groat came off the bench in the last 5 minutes. Later in the season, Groat became a regular in the first side, playing off the bench. Wests Tigers won 8 of the 10 games he played in 2011.
In an early-season match in 2012, Groat was knocked unconscious by a shoulder charge from Brisbane Broncos forward Ben Te'o. The incident was considered a "test case" on how the NRL Judiciary would treat players who made contact with the head when attempting a shoulder-charge. Two weeks later Groat played for New South Wales in the inaugural under-20s State of Origin match, but he failed to make a further first grade appearance for the season.
Groat was unable to play at the start of 2013 due to injury. Coach Mick Potter said, "Matt got his ankle, foot and toe caught in the ground and got some weight on the back of it. He had been working hard and his shape was looking better too." He didn't play any first grade in 2013.

### St. George Illawarra Dragons

In September 2013, it was announced that Groat had signed with the Dragons for at least one season. He failed to make any first-grade appearances for the club, and a year later signed with Salford.

### Doncaster

On 16 April 2015, Groat signed for English side Doncaster.

### Dewsbury

On 29 January 2016, Groat was released by Doncaster and signed with Dewsbury.

### Central Queensland

In 2017, Groat returned to Australia and signed with Queensland Cup side the Central Queensland Capras. On 16 January 2018, Groat was released by Central Queensland and signed with the Easts Tigers.

### Easts Tigers

Groat made a total of eight appearances for Easts in his first season at the club scoring no tries.

### Wynnum Manly

In the 2019 Queensland Cup, Groat played for Wynnum-Manly where he made 15 appearances.

### Souths Logan

In the 2020 Queensland Cup, Groat played for Souths Logan making one appearance.

## Personal life

Groat has studied a Certificate 4 in Fitness.

## Footnotes

* ↑ Rugby League Project
* ↑ League Central
* ↑ Love Rugby League
* ↑ Christian Nicolussi (15 September 2012). "Aaron Woods, Matt Groat out to make mark". Herald Sun. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
* ↑ Wayne Cousins. "MATT GROAT ENJOYS THE JOURNEY". weststigers.com.au. Archived from the original on 24 May 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
* ↑ "2010 18 Years Championships". SportingPulse. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
* ↑ "Australian Schoolboy's relishing English Challenge". www.therfl.co.uk. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
* ↑ "11 NRL players feature in Junior Kangaroos". nrl.com. Archived from the original on 7 October 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
* ↑ Wayne Cousins. "MATT GROAT ENJOYS THE JOURNEY". weststigers.com.au. Archived from the original on 24 May 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
* ↑ Broncos to appeal Te'o ban|NRL, Rugby League, NRL Scores, NRL Ladder|Fox Sports
* ↑ Chris Barrett (10 April 2012). "Te'o shoulders responsibility of tackling judiciary hearing head on". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
* ↑ "Tigers prop Groat back from injury". NRL News. 16 April 2012. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
* ↑ Wayne Cousins (25 January 2013). "James Gavet and Matt Groat to miss start of season". weststigers.com.au. Archived from the original on 10 April 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
* ↑ "Matthews Agrees To Terms". dragons.com.au/. 5 September 2013. Archived from the original on 8 September 2013. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
* ↑ "Salford Red Devils: Matt Groat and Luke Menzies join for 2015". BBC. 2 September 2014. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
* ↑ "The Dons sign Matt Groat". doncasterrugbyleague.co.uk.
* ↑ "Matt Groat excited over Rams future". thepressnews.co.uk.
* ↑ "CQ Capras gains and losses". qrl.com.au/.
* ↑ "Player profile". qrl.com.au/.
* ↑ "Injury Report: Groat faces stint on the sideline". www.wynnumseagulls.com.au.
* ↑ "Toyota U/20's Origin squads named". NRL News. 16 April 2012. Retrieved 24 April 2012.