Kurt Mann (born 1 March 1993) is an Australian 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 currently plays for 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 ...

in the

National Rugby League 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 ...

. A utility player, he has started games in the positions of and . He previously played for the

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm is a rugby league football club based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia that participates in the National Rugby League (NRL). The club plays its home games at AAMI Park, and wears a purple and navy blu ...

St. George Illawarra Dragons The St. George Illawarra Dragons are an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) since 1999 after a j ...

and

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 ...

in the

Background

Mann was born in

Winton, Queensland Winton is an outback town and locality in the Shire of Winton in Central West Queensland, Australia. It is northwest of Longreach. The main industries of the area are sheep and cattle raising. The town was named in 1876 by postmaster Rober ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and was educated at

St. Brendan's College, Yeppoon St. Brendan's College (SBC) is an Independent school, independent Catholic school, Catholic secondary day and boarding school, boarding school for boys, located in Yeppoon, Queensland, Australia. The school was founded by the Congregation of Chr ...

. Mann played his junior rugby league for the Winton Diamantina Devils, before being signed by the

Playing career

Early career

In 2011 and 2012, Mann played for the Newcastle Knights'

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. On 21 April 2012, he played for the

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 ...

under-20s team against the

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 ...

under-20s team. On 20 June 2012, he signed a three-year contract with the

starting in 2013. He played for the Storm's

team in 2013. On 20 April 2013, he again played for the Queensland under-20s team against the New South Wales under-20s team.

2014

In 2014, Mann moved on to Melbourne's

New South Wales Cup 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 ...

team, the

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 February 2014, he played for Melbourne 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 9 of the

2014 NRL season The 2014 NRL season was the 107th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 17th season of the National Rugby League in Australia and New Zealand. The season started in New Zealand, for the Auckland Nines, replacing the Rugby Leagu ...

, he made his

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 ...

debut for the

, against

Manly-Warringah 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 seaso ...

. He played at centre and scored the match winning try on debut, in Melbourne's 22-19 win at

AAMI Park The Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, currently known as AAMI Park for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct in the suburb of East Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victor ...

. He finished off his debut year in the NRL having played in 8 matches and scored 6 tries. Furthermore, he was the awarded 2014 Melbourne Storm Rookie of the Year.

2015

On 31 January and 1 February, Mann played in the Melbourne club's

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 ...

campaign. On 1 July 2015, he signed a two-year contract with the

, starting in 2016. He finished off his last year with the Storm by playing in 20 matches and scoring 4 tries.

2016

In February, Mann played for St. George Illawarra in the

2016 NRL Auckland Nines The 2016 NRL Auckland Nines (known as the Downer NRL Auckland Nines due to sponsorship) was the third NRL Auckland Nines competition. It was held on 6–7 February 2016 at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand. As with previous tournaments, it wa ...

. In round 1 of the

2016 NRL season The 2016 NRL season was the 109th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 19th season run by the National Rugby League. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, and was followed by the All Stars Match, ...

, he made his club debut for St. George Illawarra against his former club, Melbourne, playing at fullback in the Saints 16-18 loss at AAMI Park. In round 12, against the

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 ...

, he scored his first try for St. George Illawarra. He was the club's leading try-scorer for the season with ten tries. Mann was a member of the Illawarra side which won the 2016

NSW Cup 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 ...

with a 21-20 victory over Mounties in the final.

2017

Mann was named in St. George Illawarra's squad for the

2017 NRL Auckland Nines The 2017 NRL Auckland Nines (known as the Downer NRL Auckland Nines due to sponsorship) was the fourth NRL Auckland Nines competition. It was held on 4–5 February 2017 at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand. Just like previous tournaments, it ...

. He played in 21 games, scoring 7 tries for St. George Illawarra in the 2017 season.

2018

Mann played in 26 games and scored three tries for St. George Illawarra in the 2018 season. In December, he was granted a release from the final year of his St. George contract, to return to the

on a three-year contract starting in 2019.

2019

Mann played 19 games and scored five tries for Newcastle in the

2019 NRL season The 2019 NRL season was the 112th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 22nd season run by the National Rugby League. The Sydney Roosters became the first team to win back-to-back Premierships since the Brisbane Broncos in 1992 ...

as the club finished a disappointing 11th on the table. At the start of the year, many tipped Newcastle to reach the finals after the club recruited heavily in the off-season.

2020

He made 17 appearances for Newcastle in the

2020 NRL season The 2020 NRL season was the 113th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 23rd season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 14th consecutive year. ; Notes : : : Pre-season ...

including the club's first finals game since 2013 which was an elimination finals loss against South Sydney.

2021

Mann played 22 games for Newcastle in the

2021 NRL season The 2021 NRL season was the 114th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 24th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 15th consecutive year. Regular season Ladd ...

including the club's elimination finals loss against

Parramatta Parramatta (; ) is a suburb (Australia), suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney. Parramatta is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It is co ...

2022

Mann played a total of eleven matches for Newcastle in the

2022 NRL season The 2022 NRL season was the 115th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 25th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 16th consecutive year. This became the second longest ...

as the club finished 14th on the table and missed the finals.

2023

On 2 May, it was announced that Mann would be ruled out indefinitely from playing after suffering a torn oblique muscle in Newcastle's loss to Parramatta. After playing 90 games for the Newcastle Knights, Mann parted ways with the club at the end of the 2023 season. On 8 November, he signed a two-year contract to join

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

ahead of the 2024 NRL season.

2024

In round 1 of the

2024 NRL season The 2024 NRL season was the 117th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 27th season run by the National Rugby League (NRL). The season consisted of 27 competition rounds, followed by a finals series contested by the top eight ...

, Mann made his club debut for Canterbury in their 26-8 loss against arch-rivals Parramatta. On 2 September, it was announced that Mann would be ruled out for the remainder of the 2024 season after suffering a fractured clavicle.

2025

In March, Mann re-signed with the Canterbury club until the end of the 2026 season. In May, he was selected by Queensland for the 2025 State of Origin series for the second game. He played in game two and three for Queensland as they upset New South Wales 2-1 to win the series.

Statistics

References

External links

Newcastle Knights profileSt. George Illawarra Dragons profileNRL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mann, Kurt 1993 births Living people Australian rugby league players Melbourne Storm players Illawarra Cutters players Newcastle Knights players Rugby league centres Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league wingers Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league hookers Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Queensland St. George Illawarra Dragons players Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs players Sunshine Coast Falcons players People from Central West Queensland 21st-century Australian sportsmen Rugby league utility players