Graham Victor Mattson is a New Zealand former

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer, and coach who represented

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and later coached

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

Playing career

Mattson was a Point Chevalier Pirates player in the

Auckland Rugby League The Auckland Rugby League (ARL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It is responsible for rugby league in the region, including both club and school rugby league. It began in 1910 when the fi ...

competition and also represented

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

. Between 1964 and 1965 Mattson played in three test matches for the

New Zealand national rugby league team The New Zealand national rugby league team (Māori: Tīma rīki motu Aotearoa) has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the native bird of ...

. Mattson worked as a

Police Constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

Coaching career

Mattson began his coaching career in the 1970s with

Point Chevalier Point Chevalier (; commonly known as Point Chev and an original colonial name of Point Bunbury after Thomas Bunbury) is a residential suburb and peninsula in the city of Auckland in the north of New Zealand. It is located five kilometres to th ...

before coaching the

Mangere East Hawks The Mangere East Hawks are a rugby league based in Mangere, New Zealand. The Hawks compete in Auckland Rugby League's Fox Memorial competition. History The club was formed in 1963, the first fourteen junior teams took the field in 1964.''The Haw ...

, spending most of his time with the lower grades.Lion Red Rugby League Annual 1990 ''New Zealand Rugby League'', 1990. p.122 In 1981 Mattson was the head coach of the new

Papatoetoe Panthers Papatoetoe is a suburb in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest suburb in Auckland by population and is located to the northwest of Manukau Central, and 18 kilometres southeast of Auckland CBD. Papatoetoe has the unofficial title of Auckland ...

club and was on their inaugural committee. In 1990 he was appointed the

coach.Coffey, John and Bernie Wood ''Auckland, 100 years of rugby league, 1909-2009'', 2009. , p.296. Mattson later coached

at the

1994 Pacific Cup The 1994 Pacific Cup was the seventh staging of the Pacific Cup. It is a rugby league tournament held between Pacific teams. The tournament was hosted by Fiji and eventually won by Tonga, who defeated the hosts 34 - 11 in the final. Squads Befo ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mattson, Graham Living people Auckland rugby league team coaches Auckland rugby league team players Glenora Bears players Mangere East Hawks coaches New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand sportspeople of Tongan descent New Zealand police officers New Zealand rugby league coaches New Zealand rugby league players Papatoetoe Panthers coaches Point Chevalier Pirates coaches Point Chevalier Pirates players Rugby league hookers Rugby league locks Tonga national rugby league team coaches Year of birth missing (living people)