Kurt Mann (born 1 March 1993) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who currently plays for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the National Rugby League. A utility player, he has started games in the positions of centre, five-eighth, wing, lock, fullback, hooker and halfback.

Kurt Mann
Personal information
Born (1993-03-01) 1 March 1993 (age 31)
Winton, Queensland, Australia
Height184 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight88 kg (13 st 12 lb)
Playing information
PositionWing, Hooker, Centre, Five-eighth, Lock, Fullback
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2014–15 Melbourne Storm 28 10 0 0 40
2016–18 St. George Illawarra 60 20 0 0 80
2019–23 Newcastle Knights 90 15 0 1 61
2024– Canterbury Bulldogs 17 2 0 0 8
Total 195 47 0 1 189
Source: [1]
As of 23 August 2024

He previously played for the Melbourne Storm, St. George Illawarra Dragons and Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League.

Background

edit

Mann was born in Winton, Queensland, Australia and was educated at St. Brendan's College, Yeppoon.

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

Playing career

edit

Early career

edit

In 2011 and 2012, Mann played for the Newcastle Knights' NYC team.[2][3]

On 21 April 2012, he played for the Queensland under-20s team against the New South Wales under-20s team.[4]

On 20 June 2012, he signed a three-year contract with the Melbourne Storm starting in 2013.[5] He played for the Storm's NYC team in 2013.[2]

 
Mann playing for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks team in 2013

On 20 April 2013, he again played for the Queensland under-20s team against the New South Wales under-20s team.[6]

2014

edit

In 2014, Mann moved on to Melbourne's New South Wales Cup team, the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks.[7] In February 2014, he played for Melbourne in the inaugural NRL Auckland Nines.[8] In round 9 of the 2014 NRL season, he made his NRL debut for the Melbourne Storm, against Manly-Warringah. He played at centre and scored the match winning try on debut, in Melbourne's 22-19 win at AAMI Park.[9][10] He finished off his debut year in the NRL having played in 8 matches and scored 6 tries.[11] Furthermore, he was the awarded 2014 Melbourne Storm Rookie of the Year.[12]

2015

edit

On 31 January and 1 February, Mann played in the Melbourne club's 2015 NRL Auckland Nines campaign.[13] On 1 July 2015, he signed a two-year contract with the St. George Illawarra Dragons, starting in 2016.[14][15] He finished off his last year with the Storm by playing in 20 matches and scoring 4 tries.[16]

2016

edit

In February, Mann played for St. George Illawarra in the 2016 NRL Auckland Nines.[17]

In round 1 of the 2016 NRL season, 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.[18] In round 12, against the North Queensland Cowboys, he scored his first try for St. George Illawarra.[19] He was the club's leading try-scorer for the season with ten tries.[20] Mann was a member of the Illawarra side which won the 2016 NSW Cup with a 21-20 victory over Mounties in the final.[21]

2017

edit

Mann was named in St. George Illawarra's squad for the 2017 NRL Auckland Nines.[22] He played in 21 games, scoring 7 tries for St. George Illawarra in the 2017 season.[23]

2018

edit

Mann played in 26 games and scored three tries for St. George Illawarra in the 2018 season.[24] In December, he was granted a release from the final year of his St. George contract, to return to the Newcastle Knights on a three-year contract starting in 2019.[25]

2019

edit

Mann played 19 games and scored five tries for Newcastle in the 2019 NRL season 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.[26][27]

2020

edit

He made 17 appearances for Newcastle in the 2020 NRL season including the club's first finals game since 2013 which was an elimination finals loss against South Sydney.[28]

2021

edit

Mann played 22 games for Newcastle in the 2021 NRL season including the club's elimination finals loss against Parramatta.[29]

2022

edit

Mann played a total of eleven matches for Newcastle in the 2022 NRL season as the club finished 14th on the table and missed the finals.[30]

2023

edit

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.[31]

After playing 90 games for the Newcastle Knights, Mann parted ways with the club at the end of the 2023 season.[32] On 8 November, he signed a two-year contract to join Canterbury ahead of the 2024 NRL season.[33][34]

2024

edit

In round 1 of the 2024 NRL season, Mann made his club debut for Canterbury in their 26-8 loss against arch-rivals Parramatta.[35] On 2 September, it was announced that Mann would be ruled out for the remainder of the 2024 season after suffering a fractured clavicle.[36]

Statistics

edit
Year Team Games Tries FGs Pts
2014   Melbourne Storm 8 6 24
2015 20 4 16
2016   St. George Illawarra Dragons 13 10 40
2017 21 7 28
2018 26 3 12
2019   Newcastle Knights 19 1 4
2020 20 6 24
2021 22 3 1 13
2022 11 1 4
2023 14 3 12
Totals 174 44 1 177

References

edit
  1. ^ "Kurt Mann - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  2. ^ a b "M". NYC Database. 27 December 2012. Archived from the original on 27 June 2015. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
  3. ^ "Kurt Mann player results, scores, news and statistics". Archived from the original on 12 May 2014.
  4. ^ "Toyota U/20's Origin squads named". NRL.com. National Rugby League. 16 April 2012. Archived from the original on 17 April 2012. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  5. ^ "Storm re-sign crop of key players". Zero Tackle. 20 June 2012. Archived from the original on 22 March 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
  6. ^ "Under 20's Origin squads named". NRL.com. National Rugby League. 15 April 2013. Archived from the original on 11 July 2018. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  7. ^ "VB NSW Cup Team Lists - Round One". NSW Rugby League. National Rugby League. 4 March 2014. Archived from the original on 29 May 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
  8. ^ "Squads For Auckland Nines". Rugby League Week. Bauer Media Australia. 14 February 2014. Archived from the original on 15 January 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
  9. ^ "NRL 2014 - Round 9 - Melbourne Storm 22 def. Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 19". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
  10. ^ Smart, Nick (10 May 2014). "Storm rookie Kurt Mann shines for Melbourne in thrilling finish against Manly Sea Eagles". The Daily Telegraph. News Corp. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
  11. ^ "Custom Match List". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
  12. ^ "Bromwich claims first Player of the Year award". Melbourne Storm. 10 October 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  13. ^ "STORM UNVEIL 2015 NINES SQUAD". Rugby League Week. 23 January 2015. Archived from the original on 21 July 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  14. ^ "Dragons sign Kurt Mann". Zero Tackle. 1 July 2017. Archived from the original on 21 April 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
  15. ^ "Dragons sign Storm utility back Kurt Mann, Mark Ioane and Luke Page". The Daily Telegraph. News Corp. Australian Associated Press. 1 July 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  16. ^ "Custom Match List". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  17. ^ "Dragons name 2016 Nines squad". Rugby League Week. Bauer Media Australia. 29 January 2016. Archived from the original on 4 February 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  18. ^ Hinds, Richard (7 March 2016). "Melbourne Storm defeat the Dragons 18-16 at AAMI Park". The Daily Telegraph. News Corp. Archived from the original on 15 April 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
  19. ^ Badel, Pete (29 May 2016). "NRL 2016: St George Illawarra Dragons down depleted North Queensland Cowboys in Wollongong". The Courier Mail. News Corp. Archived from the original on 30 May 2016. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  20. ^ "NRL 2016 - St George Illawarra Dragons". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  21. ^ Brady, Jack (25 September 2016). "Cutters upset Mounties to win Intrust Super Premiership". NRl.com. National Rugby League. Archived from the original on 23 July 2018. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  22. ^ "2017 Auckland Nines squads: Every player named for the tournament". The Roar. 28 February 2017. Archived from the original on 31 March 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  23. ^ "Custom Match List - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  24. ^ "Custom Match List - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  25. ^ Moorhead, Joseph (9 December 2018). "Knights slay the Dragons in Kurt Mann poaching". Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  26. ^ "Newcastle Knights: 2019 preview, draw, squad changes, news, every player, odds and ticketing". Sporting News.
  27. ^ "2019 SEASON REVIEW NEWCASTLE KNIGHT". Nothing But League.
  28. ^ "2020 season by the numbers". www.nrl.com.
  29. ^ "Parramatta Eels defeat Newcastle Knights 28-20 in NRL elimination final". ABC News. 12 September 2021.
  30. ^ "NRL 2022: Newcastle Knights season review". www.sportingnews.com.
  31. ^ "Casualty Ward: Trbojevic in doubt for Origin; Burns, Stone ruled out". www.nrl.com.
  32. ^ "Kalyn Ponga claims 2023 Danny Buderus Medal". Newcastle Knights. 5 September 2023.
  33. ^ "A New Breed in Hutchison, Mann, Turpin and Faamausili". Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs. 8 November 2023.
  34. ^ "Bulldogs add two more utility players as signing spree continues". www.smh.com.au.
  35. ^ "Dogs' Foxx fear compounds rough night; Eels may have finally solved big issue: What we learned". www.foxsports.com.au.
  36. ^ "NRL Casualty Ward: Season over for Walker, Smith; Radley fractures shoulder". www.nrl.com.
edit