Adam Clydsdale (born 13 February 1993) is an Australian former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer. In 2022, he played for and was captain-coach of the Scone Thoroughbreds in the

Newcastle Rugby League The Newcastle Rugby League is a local rugby league football competition in Newcastle, Australia. It is one of the oldest rugby league competitions in Australia, founded in 1910. A Newcastle rugby league team, Newcastle representative team was al ...

. He previously played for the

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league team based in Newcastle, New South Wales that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, the Knights joined the top-tier competition in New ...

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugb ...

and

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in the Sutherland Shire of Southern Sydney, Southern Sydney, New South Wales. Cronulla compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugb ...

in the

NRL The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

. Clydsdale also played for the

Maitland Pickers The Maitland Pickers Rugby League Football Club is an Australian rugby league football club based in Maitland, New South Wales formed in 1955. They currently play in the Newcastle Rugby League competition. Their nickname was originally the Pumpk ...

Background

Born in

Scone, New South Wales Scone () is a town in the Upper Hunter Shire in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. At the 2021 census, Scone had a population of 5,013 people. It is on the New England Highway north of Muswellbrook about 270 kilometres (167.77 mil ...

, Clydsdale played his junior rugby league for the Scone Thoroughbreds, before being signed by the

. Clydsdale is the grandson of

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

international Don "Bandy" Adams.

Playing career

Early career

In 2009, Clydsdale played for the Newcastle Knights'

Harold Matthews Cup The NSWRL Harold Matthews Cup is a junior rugby league competition played in New South Wales between teams made up of players aged under 17. The competition is administered by the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL). The competition is made up ...

team and won Newcastle's Harold Matthews Cup Player of the Year award. In 2011, he played in Newcastle's 2011

S. G. Ball Cup The S. G. Ball Cup is a junior rugby league football competition played predominantly in New South Wales, between teams made up of male players aged under 19. Teams from Canberra and Melbourne, and Auckland also participate. Prior to the COVID ...

Grand Final win over the

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilitated by ...

, winning the Knights' S. G. Ball Cup Player of the Year award and Player's Player award. In 2012 and 2013, he played for the clubs

NYC New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive wit ...

team. At the end of 2012, he won the clubs NYC Player of the Year award and Player's Player award. In November and December 2012, he attended the Blues Origin Pathways camp designed for possible future

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

State of Origin representatives.

2013

In 2013, Clydsdale captained Newcastle's NYC team. In round 9 of the

2013 NRL season The 2013 NRL season was the 106th season of professional rugby league club competition in Australia. The National Rugby League's main competition, named the 2013 Telstra Premiership after major sponsors Telstra Corporation, was contested by sixt ...

, he made his

debut for the Newcastle club against the

. On 10 May, he re-signed with the Knights on a 3-year contract after rejecting an offer from the

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Manly club debuted in the 1947 New South Wales Rugby Football League sea ...

. He played in two matches for the Newcastle outfit in the 2013 season.

2014

On 15 February and 16 February, Clydsdale played for Newcastle in the inaugural

NRL Auckland Nines The NRL Nines is a rugby league nines competition, normally held during the NRL preseason each year. It was initially held in Auckland, New Zealand, between 2014 and 2017 before going on hiatus. Returning in 2020, hosting duties moved to Per ...

. In Round 6 against the

, he scored his first NRL try in Newcastle's 26–12 win at

Canberra Stadium Canberra Stadium, commercially known as GIO Stadium Canberra, is a facility primarily used for rugby league and rugby union games, located adjacent to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, the capital of Australia. It is the largest sp ...

. He finished off the 2014 season having played in 21 matches and scoring two tries.

2015

On 31 January and 1 February, Clydsdale played for Newcastle in the

2015 NRL Auckland Nines The 2015 NRL Auckland Nines (known as the Dick Smith NRL Auckland Nines due to sponsorship) was the second NRL Auckland Nines tournament, contested between all sixteen teams of the National Rugby League. The draw was released on 16 September 20 ...

. He finished off the 2015 season having played in 17 matches and scoring two tries. On 6 October, he signed a two-year contract with the

starting in 2016, after being told he was free to look elsewhere by incoming Newcastle coach Nathan Brown.

2016

After signing with the

, Clydsdale played the first 19 rounds in reserve grade before an ankle injury to Canberra Raiders' interchange bench utility

Kurt Baptiste Kurt Baptiste (born 15 March 1991) is a Papua New Guinea international rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Sunshine Coast Falcons in the Queensland Cup. He has also previously played for the Brisbane Broncos, Canberra Raiders, Sydn ...

saw Clydsdale make his debut for the club in their 26—22 win over the

New Zealand Warriors The Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as the Aucklan ...

in round 20. Clydesdale only playing 11 minutes in that match. He then played in rounds 21 and 22, playing 13 and 20 minutes respectively before dropping out of the round 23 team when Baptiste returned. In round 23, hooker

Josh Hodgson Joshua Hodgson (born 31 October 1989) is a former English rugby league footballer who played primarily as a hooker, and has represented England and Great Britain at an international level. He has previously played for Hull FC and Hull Kingsto ...

was put on report for a dangerous tackle meaning he would miss a week. Clydsdale was recalled into the team starting at hooker. He played 27 minutes before Kurt Baptiste came on for the rest of the match. Clydsdale did not play another first grade match during 2016. Clydsdale was a member of the

Mount Pritchard Mounties The Mounties Rugby League Football Club (sponsored by Mounties Group) is an Australian rugby league football club based in Mount Pritchard, New South Wales formed in 1927. They currently play in the Ron Massey Cup and Sydney Shield. Recent ...

side which was defeated 21-20 by the

Illawarra Cutters The Illawarra Rugby League Football Club was an Australian rugby league football club based in Illawarra formed in 2012. Originally known as the Illawarra Cutters, they became known as the Illawarra RLFC before the 2017 Intrust Super Premiership ...

in the 2016

Intrust Super Premiership NSW The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserve ...

Grand Final.

2017

After playing 11 games for Canberra in 2017, Clydsdale was released from his contract to join the

effective immediately until the end of the season. He played two NRL games for Cronulla in 2017. After the season ended, he signed a new one-year contract to rejoin Canberra in 2018, only to announce his retirement from the NRL in November 2017 to pursue a career with his family business.

2018

In 2018, Clydsdale joined the

in the

2019

In 2019, Clydsdale played for the Scone Thoroughbreds and won the man of the match award in their 40-6 grand final win in the

Group 21 Rugby League Group 21 Rugby League is a local rugby league competition, run under the control of the Country Rugby League. It covers the Upper Hunter area of New South Wales, and has three divisions, first grade, reserves and Under 18s. For sponsorship reaso ...

competition over the

Aberdeen Tigers Group 21 Rugby League is a local rugby league competition, run under the control of the Country Rugby League. It covers the Upper Hunter area of New South Wales, and has three divisions, first grade, reserves and Under 18s. For sponsorship reas ...

References

External links

Canberra Raiders profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clydsdale, Adam 1993 births Living people Australian rugby league players Canberra Raiders players Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks players Maitland Pickers players Mount Pritchard Mounties players Newcastle Knights players Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from Scone, New South Wales Scone Thoroughbreds players 21st-century Australian sportsmen