Matthew Allwood (born 16 November 1992) 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 previously played as a and for 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 ...

and

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

, Allwood played his junior football for

Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School The Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School is a government boys' academically selective and specialist secondary day and boarding school, located in Calala, a small suburb of Tamworth, in the New England region of New South Wales, Austra ...

before being signed by the

Playing career

As a youngster, Allwood played for the Country New South Wales Under 17s and Under 18s teams and 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 ...

Combined High Schools team. In 2011 and 2012, Allwood played for the

' NYC team before moving on to the Raiders'

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

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 ...

in 2013.

Canberra Raiders

In round 1 of the 2014 season, Allwood 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 Canberra 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 ...

at in the Raiders 28–22 loss at

1300SMILES Stadium The Willows Sports Complex (last known as 1300SMILES Stadium due to naming rights) was a grass football stadium situated in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. It was used predominantly as a rugby league ground as the home ground of the North Que ...

. In Round 7 against 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 ...

, Allwood scored his first NRL career try in Canberra's 24-22 last minute 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 ...

. Allwood finished his debut year in the NRL with him playing in 11 matches and scoring a try for the capital club. Due to an off-field incident, Allwood was released before the season ended.

New Zealand Warriors

On 20 May 2014 it was announced that Allwood had signed a three-year contract with the

starting in 2015. Allwood played a total of seven games for the New Zealand Warriors. He was contracted with the club until the end of 2017 but mainly played for the clubs NSW Cup team. In 2018, Allwood played for

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

in the NSW Cup. He joined the Warriors when their pre-season began in November 2014.

Post playing

Allwood competed in the 2025 season of the SBS series

Alone Australia ''Alone Australia'' is an Australian survival reality television competition series on SBS which premiered on 29 March 2023. It follows the self-documented daily struggles of 10 individuals as they survive alone in the wilderness for as long a ...

, and lasted 16 days in the wilderness.

References

External links

New Zealand Warriors profile
1992 births Living people Australian rugby league players Canberra Raiders players Indigenous Australian rugby league players 21st-century Indigenous Australian people Mount Pritchard Mounties players New South Wales Residents rugby league team players New Zealand Warriors players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Scone, New South Wales Rugby league wingers 21st-century Australian sportsmen {{NewZealand-rugbyleague-bio-stub