Mat Rogers

Over the weekend I got to thinking of a few different players over the years that caught my eye and I remembered one Mat Rogers.

Random topic/question for any Aussies or otherwise knowledgable people. Whatever happend to Mat Rogers? His career from my perspective as an Irish rugby fan and NH based, has always confused me.

A very skilful player who adapted pretty well to Union and was a near if not 100% dead cert stater while with the ARU, decides somewhat bizarrely from my perspective, to go back to the ARL prior to an impending RWC and the tage that would offer him to showcase his talent etc. Not suggesting the Wallabies were lost without him, but h was an intelligent & creative player witha decent kicking game that would augment most teams at the time.

So my question is whether anyone can educate as to why he left Union when he did? Im sure wikipedia could provide some answers but fans and hindsight might be more illuminating/entertaining, so if anyone cares to respond id be much obliged. Cheers.

He had a few family issues - his father committed suicide, and from memory he went through a marriage break up too. By going back to the NRL I think he was able to spend more time at home.

Asked and answered. Thank you Pete. Sorry to hear about such difficulties for anyone. Hope things got better for him.

Bad karma.

The only thing that really sticks out about him in my mind was him getting hammered by Josh Lewsey in a tackle. Rogers had been giving Lewsey stick all game, and he paid the price...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3cnss1UMO8

Was going to talk about the Josh lewsey thing but if your right pete C, then i hope his life is in a better place now. Definatley made one of the better transitions to union from league and didn't look out of place at international level.

He's 36 years old now, he retired from RL at the end of 2010, then played 1 game in 2011 to help out the Titans who had an injury crisis, but broke his foot minutes into the game and retired again


I've just checked, and the coroner ruled his father's death was accidental. His wiki page matches my memory of him http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mat_Rogers which is nice vindication (or a swift edit )

Interesting stat on wiki, he missed nearly a 3rd of the games he could have played for the Waratahs/Wallabies due to injury (incl. bereavement leave)

The tackle was a big hit, though to be fair it was very much a hospital pass and you'd expect any tackler to have made a mess of the receiver. Fair dues to Matt though, no complaints, broken ribs but came back to the game, after a break of course....

see how I managed to link the 'break'???

Jez Rinsure,

If I am picking you up incorrectly I shall lead with this apology; I am sorry. But if I have read what you said correctly, you have equated verbal sledging to a parental death (possibly suicide) and marital failure as a fitting 'punishment'.

I am glad that karma doesn't take such an active interest in rugby all the time, otherwise there'd be tens of thousands of serious injuries and/or deaths as a result of verbals on the pitch.

Seriously, cop on. He got his just desserts when Lewsey dumped him on his @rse, everything else is actual human tradgedy.

I mean, as I have taken offence to your words above and following your logic, I should be hoping that you lose a loved one to the plague. FFS. Lose your keys for 30 mins and I'd say you'e square with the Universe.

Chill.

Pete & Chris, thanks for the intel. Rinsure, will watch the clip when at home.

I think he's into ultra triathalon's these days: A mate of mine does them professionally, and I've seen Rogers in a couple of his photos

Talking about what happened to players. What happened to Ozzy Ryan Cross? He looked a natural successor to Mortlock at 13 for a while and then seemed to vanish.

yappysnap wrote:Talking about what happened to players. What happened to Ozzy Ryan Cross? He looked a natural successor to Mortlock at 13 for a while and then seemed to vanish.

He's at Racing Metro. He was told he wasn't in the Wallabies' RWC2011 plans so went to Perpignan for 3 months as RWC cover, then switched to Racing this season

Rodgers was a great player. He played against Ireland in the '03 WC when we marginally lost to Oz.

What ever happened to every South African's favorite Aussie Clyde Rathbone. Look a pretty decent player.

GunsGerms wrote:Rodgers was a great player. He played against Ireland in the '03 WC when we marginally lost to Oz.

What ever happened to every South African's favorite Aussie Clyde Rathbone. Look a pretty decent player.

Retired due to injuries in 2009, but recently re-signed with the Brumbies.

Whatever happened to Debra Ravenhill. She was easy on the eye in high school but then slipped off the radar. You're on a roll Pete so just curious how deep your well of knowledge runs! Another that wasn't too shabby with his kicking game as well as his attacking game was Andrew Walker. His union career was far patchier though by comparison but had he evolved, he would've been very useful now.

Matt Rogers and Lote Tequiri were useful league converts for Australia. Neither though had the impact in union they had in league. Brad Thorn and Jason Robinson are easily the best league converts in recent history. Ashton needs more years to prove his worth in the game.

Rinsure wrote:Bad karma.

The only thing that really sticks out about him in my mind was him getting hammered by Josh Lewsey in a tackle. Rogers had been giving Lewsey stick all game, and he paid the price...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3cnss1UMO8

I thought that was the reason he went back to the NRL because of that hit by Lewsey.

Didnt he say some think along the lines. They dont hit you that hard in rugby league.

I could be wrong about that though.

I liked Mat Rogers too. Some Australian Union supporters hold him responsible for the 2003 World Cup loss because he hooked his final clearance, which meant England restarted with a line-out much closer to the opposition posts.

That's always seemed a bit harsh as a last word on the man. The code wars in Australia are a lot fiercer than in England, though, and there are still a number who think the John O'Neill made a mistake signing up league stars like Rogers, Sailor and Tuqiri.

His father's death hit him very hard. Only a few years earlier, his mum had died from breast cancer after a long struggle. His old man suffered from depression and Rogers has spoken of his fears that it might run in the family. His brother Don was rushed to hospital with a drugs overdose a few months later.

This all happened during 2006 so it's hard not to see it being a big factor behind his decision to return to League. His dad was a League star and part of his brother's recovery involved him getting back into the game at a lower level. Don took a short contract to play in America shortly afterwards.

Rogers second marriage is to TV presenter Chloe Maxwell. She got him signed up with multi-level marketing company Amway while he was still in the game. That kind of business isn't my cup of tea but they were doing very well at it last time I read about them. I'm slightly worried I might be coming across as a Mat Rogers stalker.

He did retire from League but then made a cameo comeback last year for the Gold Coast Titans. Unfortunately, he broke his foot in his first game back and brought that chapter to a close. By all accounts, he still looked sharp. That brief appearance did take him up to 200 NRL appearances which may have been one reason he originally agreed to help the team out for a short stint.

Rugby Fan, thank you for that informative post. I think am pretty much up to speed and glad to hear that things are going for him ok post his career i both codes.

Yes, while you havent said anything, comparing his behaviour to what Jimmy did/is alleged to have done (man I love the fact that you cannot defame the dead, the sick focker!) certainly puts a level of undesirable activities to mind when speaking of Lote.

On a related league convert wingers gone bad, did Wendel Sailor do anythign post his drugs ban? (as a child of the 90's everytime then and now, that i heard or read WS's name, the Mr Wendel song by Arressted Development got/gets stuck in my head.....

Didn't Lote call the current Australian coach to ask why Chris Malone hadn't been selected when he secretly had Malone in the room with him at the time or something like that?

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:
Matt Rogers and Lote Tequiri were useful league converts for Australia. Neither though had the impact in union they had in league. Brad Thorn and Jason Robinson are easily the best league converts in recent history. Ashton needs more years to prove his worth in the game.

Don't forget the impact of wendell sailor, another ozzie league convert with a big reputation unfortunatley in union he will be remembered for snorting charlie rather than his test performances. Credit to the guy though served his ban, does loads for drug charities and made a comeback as a veteran to league including some decent showings.

As much as it pains me to say it i think SBW now joins billy whizz and brad thorn as the best converts in modern rugby....soo gutted this guy is leaving, despite his premaddona tendancies, he could have been one of the greats.

Agreed re SBW. This season he went from being a giifted rugby player to being a gifted Union player. He was outstanding to watch as the nuances of Union had come second nature to him, I don't mean to sound so patronising and im not suggesting that he wasn't ever so slightly always effective since coming over to Union, be he had developed as a Union player since the RWC and could have had either 12 or 13 for the All Blacks defence in 2015.

On a side note too, his name also allowed for one of the better media mock ups/puns in Money Bill Williams.... I'll leave it at that though!

Sorry to hear about Rogers woes. I remember him initially from his days as a fullback for Cronulla Sharks and then from his stint in Union but lost track of him after that. He was a very talented player and definitely one of the better League converts.

what happened with Lote hasn't become public info so no point in guessing when we haven't a clue what really happened.

And Wendell went back to league and became a cult figure at the Dragons. Not as good as his bronco days but still a handy player and played good football and now does media work

http://mobile.news.com.au/national-old/wallaby-lote-tuqiri-sacked-for-having-woman-in-hotel-room/story-e6frfkwi-1225769861384

This is one such story that did come out. Lote was married at the time I believe. The story referenced other behavioural issues. I happen to know what they are. I'm not saying Tiquiri did anything illegal but they were bad enough for the ARU to want him out.

rodders wrote:Sorry to hear about Rogers woes. I remember him initially from his days as a fullback for Cronulla Sharks and then from his stint in Union but lost track of him after that. He was a very talented player and definitely one of the better League converts.

My thoughts go down a similar trail:
Whenever I watched him playing for the Sharks, I always used to think to myself "Gee this guy should have a go at rugby union".

Yeah, I think you got the wrong end of the stick there debaters1. Perhaps I should have been clearer, I was just expressing sympathy for the way the guy's life seems to have unravelled, not equating anything to his rugby?

Ok Pete.

Ah grand, tone of voice doesn't tend to translate in txt and perhaps i should have paid more attention to the space between you saying bad karma and then moving on to other chat. My bad. Hope you didn't lose your keys btw!

And while we all love to engage in a good campfire chat, I don't think it helps anyone to engage in public chat about a now irrelevant player's private (or not so private) activities.