Danny Nutley (born 4 February 1974 in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, Queensland), also known by the

nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

of "Nuts", 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 who played in the 1990s and 2000s. A Queensland State of Origin representative , he played his club football with the

South Queensland Crushers South Queensland Crushers was an Australian rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. In 1992 it was decided that the team would be admitted into the New South Wales Rugby League competition, along with three other teams, as par ...

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 ...

and

Sydney Roosters Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club, known as the Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs. The club competes in the National Rugby Lea ...

in Australia, and with the

Warrington Wolves Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league club based in Warrington, England. They play home games at the Halliwell Jones Stadium and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league system, British rugby league. Warringto ...

and the

Castleford Tigers The Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England. They play their home games at Wheldon Road (currently known as the Mend-A-Hose Jungle for sponsorship reasons) and compete in the Super League, t ...

in England.

Playing career

Nutley was named the

Redcliffe Dolphins Redcliffe Dolphins are a semi-professional rugby league club based in Redcliffe, Queensland, Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1947, they were accepted into the Brisbane Rugby League premiership (rugby league competition), Brisbane R ...

player of the year in 1996 before joining the

in 1997. Nutley made 10 appearances for South Queensland as the club finished last on the table claiming the wooden spoon. Nutley played in South Queensland's final ever game as a club which was a 39–18 victory over Western Suburbs. Nutley later played for

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

in the

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

competition and then returned to Australia to play with Cronulla-Sutherland. In Nutley's first season back in the NRL, Cronulla finished 5th on the table and reached the preliminary final before being defeated by

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. Nutley played a further three seasons for Cronulla. Nutley made his début in 2005, playing for

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

in the State of Origin. In 2006, Nutley was voted into the

Super League Dream Team The Super League Dream Team is an annually-selected rugby league All Star Team consisting of the players deemed to have been the best in their respective positions in the Super League competition. The team is selected by a panel of journalists and ...

. "It's a good achievement and fantastic to be in a team with this calibre of player," said the then Castleford captain Nutley, who finished the year as the competition's top tackler as well as the leading metre-maker. Nutley returned to Australia to play for the

, in 2007 following a successful stint in the

competition with

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield district, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the t ...

. In 2008, Nutley left the

to rejoin former club

Cronulla Cronulla is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Boasting numerous surf beaches and swimming spots, the suburb attracts both tourists and Greater Sydney residents. Cronulla is 26 kilometres south of the Sydney central ...

. Nutley played 21 games for Cronulla in 2008 as the club finished 3rd on the table. Cronulla made it to the preliminary final before being defeated by Melbourne 28–0. This would also prove to be Nutley's final game in first grade. Nutley then retired following the conclusion of Cronulla's 2008 season.

References

External links

State of Origin Official website Rugby League Player StatsCastleford Tigers profileSaints top Dream Team nominations
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nutley, Danny 1974 births Living people Australian rugby league players Castleford Tigers captains Castleford Tigers players Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks players Queensland Rugby League State of Origin players Redcliffe Dolphins players Rugby league players from Brisbane Rugby league props South Queensland Crushers players 20th-century Australian sportsmen Sydney Roosters players Warrington Wolves players