Nathan Merritt
| Personal information |
| Full name |
Nathan Deane Merritt |
| Date of birth |
26 May 1983 (1983-05-26) (age 25) |
| Place of birth |
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Height |
183 cm (6 ft 0 in) |
| Weight |
88 kg (13 st 12 lbs) |
| Nickname(s) |
Nate Dogg |
| Club information |
| Position(s) |
Wing\Fullback |
| Current club |
Souths |
| Youth clubs |
| Years |
Club |
|
Alexandria Rovers |
| Senior clubs* |
| Years |
Club |
Apps (points) |
2002–2003
2004–2005
2006– |
South Sydney Rabbitohs
Cronulla Sharks
South Sydney Rabbitohs |
(50)
(42)
(140) |
| Representative teams |
| 2006 |
Prime Minister's XIII |
|
|
* Professional club appearances and points
counted for domestic first grade only.
|
Nathan Merritt (born May 26, 1983 in Sydney, New South Wales) is an Australian professional rugby league player for the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the National Rugby League competition he has also previously played for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks. His position of choice is either on the wing or at fullback. Merritt is an Indigenous Australian who grew up on The Block, Redfern.
Biography
Early career
Merritt played junior football for Alexandria Rovers.
2002-2003
His first-grade debut was for the South Sydney Rabbitohs against the New Zealand Warriors at Ericsson Stadium in round 9 of the 2002 NRL season.
2004-2005
At the end of the 2003 season Merritt agreed to terms with the Cronulla Sharks where he was to play for the next two years. In the 2005 season, Merritt endured a tough year. He played only three first grade games for the Cronulla Sharks, but was a stand-out player in the lower grade NSWRL Premier League matches for the Newtown Jets, scoring almost 300 points for the year. His outstanding showing that year was rewarded when his old club the South Sydney Rabbitohs offered him a two-year contract to play in the National Rugby League.
2006-present
In 2006, Merritt re-joined the Rabbitohs after a brief stint at the Cronulla Sharks. He was a stand-out performer in an underachieving side all year, and was one of only three players to play all 24 games for the Rabbitohs that year. In September the same year, Nathan's hard work and great performances through the year culminated in the announcement that Nathan had earned his first representative honour, to play for the Prime Minister's XIII. Merritt was the only South Sydney player to be included in the squad. The Australian team beat the Papua New Guinean team 28-8, with Merritt one of the try-scorers. He was also included in the train-on squad for the Kangaroos squad for the Tri-Nations tournament against England and New Zealand, but missed out on a starting position.
He was the highest try scorer for the 2006 season with 22 tries, beating Manly Sea Eagles' star Brett Stewart who scored 20. It was the first time in rugby league history that the leading tryscorer in a season came from the club that ran last that year.
Following the announcement of the City Origin squad in 2007, Merritt hinted that his non-selection was possibly due to "a Souths thing or a racial thing"[1].
First Grade Record
Leading 2006 NRL Try Scorer with 22 tries
Music
In 2007, Merritt, along with the Sydney Rooster's Amos Roberts, appeared in the music video for Anthony Mundine's Platinum Ryder single.
References
External links
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