Kurt Gidley /

Fun facts

Full Name: Kurt Gidley                                                        

Nickname: Gids

Date of Birth: 07/06/1982

NRL Debut: 2001 Newcastle Knights vs St George Illawarra Dragons

Clubs: Newcastle Knights

Position/s: Fullback/Five Eighth/Halfback

Height: 178cm

Representative Honours: Country, NSW, Australia, Prime Ministers XIII, NRL All Stars

Career Highlight: Captaining Knights and NSW, Representing my Country

Fast facts

Favourite book: Ikigai by Rector Garcia and Francesc Miralles

Favourite colour: Blue

Favourite holiday destination: Bora Bora, Tahiti

Least favourite food: Anchovies

If I could be an animal I would be: Eagle

Famous person I would like to meet: Tom Brady

Biography

As an energetic and cheeky boy, Kurt Gidley had a fun childhood playing footy, cricket, golf, surfing, running and riding bikes. He grew up in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia with his parents and two older brothers.

Kurt was a very big Bulldogs fan in the 1980s. He spent his youth cheering for Terry Lamb and his blue and white team, until the Newcastle Knights joined the NRL in 1988. Transitioning to support the Newcastle Knights became even easier when Kurt’s older brother, Matt, started to play for them.

As well as watching the NRL games, Kurt started playing Rugby League in a local team when he was six years old. He loved the team camaraderie, competitiveness, and fun of Rugby League. His parents and grandparents shared taking him to training and games. Things were not always smooth sailing, Kurt missed out on numerous rep teams and Knights Junior Teams. He could have chosen to quit, but fortunately Kurt was resilient and determined and kept playing. Finally, he was chosen for a junior team at the Newcastle Knights when he was 17. From that perseverance, Kurt was not only chosen for the junior team he went on to play for Newcastle Knights until he was 33 years old.

Kurt will never forget the day he was working at the butcher shop and received a call on his mobile phone from Coach Michael Hagan. The coach told him to put the knife and apron down and come and make your NRL debut on Friday night! Kurt’s dream had come true! This call was the beginning of a wonderful NRL journey, the first of the 251 games Kurt would play for the Newcastle Knights.

As well as captaining the Newcastle Knights, Kurt captained the NSW State of Origin team and represented the Australian Kangaroos. Kurt loved the mateship of playing in these teams and is very proud of his NRL career.

Now, Kurt lives in Newcastle with his wife and three daughters. He is extremely proud to be a NRL ambassador as he loves running coaching clinics, Health and Wellbeing projects and promoting inclusivity.

Kurt’s goal as an ambassador is to promote the greatest game of all, Rugby League, and continue to coach and educate people.