Jamie Mathiou (born 4 September 1972) is a 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. An

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

international , he played for the

North Sydney Bears The North Sydney Bears are an Australian rugby league football club based in Cammeray on Sydney's North Shore (Sydney), North Shore. The club currently competes in the NSW Cup, having exited the National Rugby League following the 1999 NRL s ...

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest city in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...

and

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home games at Headingley Rugby Stadium, AMT Headingley Rugby Stadium and compete in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby lea ...

Background

Born on the

Gold Coast, Queensland The Gold Coast, also known by its initials, GC, is a coastal city and region in the state of Queensland, Australia, located approximately south-southeast of the centre of the list of Australian capital cities, state capital, Brisbane. It is ...

, Mathiou played his junior rugby league for the

Cudgen Hornets The Cudgen Rugby League Football Club, more commonly known as the Cudgen Hornets, was formed in 1950 and plays at Ned Byrne Field at Kingscliff. It competes in the Gold Coast Rugby League. Cudgen Hornets Seniors compete in the Gold Coast/T ...

and attended Kingscliff High School, where he represented the

Australian Schoolboys The Australian Schoolboys refer to junior teams that represent Australia in various sports. The name is mainly used in rugby league, rugby union and baseball. Other popular team sports in Australia such as cricket, basketball, association footbal ...

in 1989.

Playing career

In 1989, while playing for Cudgen, Mathiou represented the New South Wales under-17 team in their 16–8 win over Queensland under-17. In 1990, he joined the

Gold Coast Seagulls The Gold Coast Chargers were a professional rugby league club which played in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership from New South Wales Rugby League season 1988, 1988 to New South Wales Rugby League season 1994, 1994, the Australian R ...

, playing for their lower grade sides. In 1992, Mathiou joined the

. In Round 18 of the

1992 NSWRL season The 1992 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership season was the eighty-fifth season of professional rugby league football in Australia. Sixteen teams competed for the J.J. Giltinan Shield during the season which culminated in a grand final for ...

, he made his first-grade debut in the Bears' 12–26 loss to the

St George Dragons The St. George Dragons are an Australian rugby league, rugby league football club from the St George, Sydney, St George District in Sydney, New South Wales that played in the top level New South Wales Rugby League, New South Wales competition ...

. Over two seasons with North Sydney, Mathiou played four games. In 1995, he joined the newly established

. He played seven games for the club in their first season. In 1996, he played just four games before departing the club at the end of the season. In 1997, Mathiou joined the

, where he would go on to play 136 games for the club, starting 100 from the bench. He became the longest-serving import for the club since the change of import rules in 1982. In 1998, he came off the bench in Leeds' 1998 Grand Final loss to the

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors is an English professional rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club competes in the Super League, the top tier of the British rugby league system. Formed in 1872, the club is a founding member of the Ru ...

. In 1999, he came off the bench in Leeds'

Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...

win over the

London Broncos The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, England. They play their home games at Plough Lane and currently compete in the RFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of British rugby le ...

. In 2000, he represented

at the

2000 Rugby League World Cup The 2000 Rugby League World Cup was the twelfth Rugby League World Cup, World Cup for men’s national rugby league teams, held between 28 October and 25 November and hosted between the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Ireland and France. ...

. In 2002, after leaving Leeds, Mathiou returned to Australia, captaining the

Ipswich Jets The Ipswich Jets are an Australian rugby league football club based in Ipswich, Queensland. Their name comes from nearby RAAF Base Amberley, one of the largest airbases in Australia. The Jets compete in the Queensland Cup competition. Original ...

in the

Queensland Cup The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league, rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League, Queensland Rugby ...

for two seasons.

Statistics

NSWRL/ARL

Super League

International

Post-playing career

After retiring, Mathiou spent time coaching the

and worked as a recruitment coordinator for the

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 ...

from 2005 to 2014. In 2015, he joined the

Gold Coast Titans The Gold Coast Titans are a professional rugby league football club, based on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership, Australia's elite rugby league competition. Since 2008, the ...

as the recruitment manager, spending only a year at the club. In 2016, he returned to the Roosters as a member of the recruitment team.

References

External links

Profile at leedsrugby
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mathiou, Jamie 1972 births Living people Australian rugby league players Ipswich Jets players Ireland national rugby league team players Irish rugby league players Leeds Rhinos players North Queensland Cowboys players North Sydney Bears players Rugby league players from the Gold Coast, Queensland Rugby league props