Bulldogs History Database
Brett Kimmorley
| Player # | 711 |
|---|---|
| Nickname | Noddy |
| Position | Half Back |
| Height | 172cm |
| Weight | 83kg |
| DOB | 15th Sep 1976 |
| Origin | Belmont, NSW |
| Junior Club | Valentine Devils, Lakes United |
| Debut | 2009: Round 1 vs Manly |
| Other Clubs | Newcastle, Hunter Mariners, Melbourne, Northern Eagles, Cronulla |
| Rep | NSW(10), Aus(22) |
With a total of 261 first grade games, eight NSW jumpers, 15 Australian and four Country Orgin caps, Brett Kimmorley was just what the doctor ordered for the blue-and-whites in 2009.
Brett Kimmorley played his junior rugby league with the Lakes United Seagulls and attended Belmont High School, where he played in the Australian Schoolboys team in 1994.
The man they call "Noddy", made his first grade debut for the Newcastle Knights against Manly on 21 July 1995 at Energy Australia Stadium. After limited opportunities during his two years at Newcastle behind half back Andrew Johns, Brett opted to sign with the newly formed Super League club the Hunter Mariners who were also based out of Newcastle for the 1997 season.
Throughout 1997 the Mariners managed to win just seven games and with the shutting down of Super League in 1998 the Mariners were subsequently disbanded.
In 1998, with the newly formed National Rugby League starting up and the Mariners being disbanded, Brett was yet again on the move. He made the move south to the newly formed entity the Melbourne Storm on a three-year deal.
His most memorable season for the Storm came in 1999 when the Storm won their maiden Premiership against the St George Illawarra Dragons, where he won the Clive Churchill medal for best on-ground, leading a spirited Storm comeback against the Dragons outfit.
After enjoying a premiership victory with the Melbourne Storm under coach Chris Anderson in 1999, Brett Kimmorley left Victoria for the Northern Eagles in season 2001.
Noddy had an unhappy season, however, when the merged entity split at the end of the season, he decided to follow his former Melbourne Storm coach Chris Anderson to the Cronulla Sharks for 2002.
In his first season with his new club he flourished and led the Sharks to the preliminary final where they lost to eventual runners-up the New Zealand Warriors.
With the new season in 2003 looking promising, Kimmorley was awarded the captaincy of the team over David Peachey and was rewarded with a new five-year deal. At the end of 2003, in the Ashes tour against Great Britain, he was pivotal in Australia's whitewash with last-minute field goals to secure the first two games in a three game series.
2004 was a disappointing season for Brett, who failed to take his club to the finals for a second consecutive season. He was also plagued with several injuries which caused him to miss the annual State of Origin fixtures, although he still gained a position on the end of season Tri-Nations tour to Britain and had several impressive performances which were key to the team's success.
The start of 2005 looked extremely promising for the club, with Cronulla winning the first six games in a row to be on top of the NRL ladder. However after his selection for New South Wales Rugby League team in the first State of Origin match, in which he threw the famous intercept ball to hand Queensland a victory, his confidence was seemingly shattered and his club form suffered badly. Only Cronulla's excellent first half of the season and favourable results prevented them from falling out of finals contention.
2006 was an unhappy one for Brett, failing to regain his spot at half back for both representative teams (New South Wales and Australia) and the Sharks struggled to maintain their strong start to the season, plummeting from 2nd place on the ladder to lose 10 games in a row and finish 12th.
In 2007 his chance for success improved due to the signing of new coach Ricky Stuart, a former representative half back himself.
Brett was selected as half back for the 2007 New South Wales State of Origin team for games 2 and 3, after Jarrod Mullen was dropped due to injury.
Brett agreed on a move to the Bulldogs for a two-year-deal where he played a senior role at the club. The blue-and-whites were looking for guidance from the veteran number seven, a position the club had missed in the preceding years.
The representative career of Brett Kimmorley is quite a success, having represented Country NSW four times, New South Wales 10 times as well as playing 15 times for his country including the 2000 World Cup. He has also played two Super League Tests.
Brett steered the Bulldogs to the Preliminary Final in his first year at the Club and in 2010, in his final home game he had the chance to land a field goal against Penrith only for the attempt to be charged down and result in a try to the opposition a cruel way to finish.
After two years at the Bulldogs, Brett totalled 307 first grade games, scored 83 tries, kicked 196 goals, 11 field goals for a total of 735 career points.
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