Graham Victor Mattson is a New Zealand former

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, and coach who represented

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 ...

and later coached

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

Playing career

Mattson was a

Point Chevalier Pirates The Point Chevalier Pirates are a New Zealand rugby league club based in Point Chevalier. The Pirates currently compete in the Fox Memorial (First Division) competition run by the Auckland Rugby League. History The club was founded in 1919 Au ...

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. Founded in 1909, the ARL has played a pivotal role in the development and promotion of rugby league in Auckland and beyond. ...

competition and also represented

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

. 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 () 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 Kiwi (bird), native bird of that name. The team' ...

. Mattson worked as a

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

Coaching career

Mattson began his coaching career in the 1970s with

Point Chevalier Point Chevalier (; commonly known as Point Chev and originally named 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 the west of t ...

before coaching the

Mangere East Hawks The Mangere East Hawks are a rugby league club based in Māngere, 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. ...

, 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 southeast of Auckland CBD. Papatoetoe was traditionally an important area for Tāmak ...

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 1941 births Living people 20th-century New Zealand sportsmen 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 police officers New Zealand rugby league coaches New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand sportspeople of Tongan descent Papatoetoe Panthers coaches Point Chevalier Pirates coaches Point Chevalier Pirates players Rugby league hookers Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Auckland Tonga national rugby league team coaches