Matt Ballin

Matt Ballin

Personal information
Full name	Matthew Ballin
Nickname	Bal, Bally[citation needed]
Born	5 January 1984 (1984-01-05) (age 27) Nanango, Queensland, Australia
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	88 kg (13 st 12 lb)
Playing information
Position	Hooker
Club
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
2007–	Manly-Warringah	106	18	0	0	72
Representative
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
2010	Queensland	1	0	0	0	0
As of 15 July 2011
Source: Rugby League Project Herald Sun

Matthew Ballin (born 5 January 1984 in Nanango, Queensland, Australia) is a professional rugby league player who currently plays for the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in the National Rugby League (NRL). He primarily plays at hooker.

Early years

Matty Ballin at the celebration of the winning of the 2008 NRL Grand Final

Ballin played junior football with the Kingaroy Red Ants. Although graded to the Brisbane Broncos, he did not play at NRL level.

Playing career

Ballin made his NRL debut in round 2 of the 2007 season when Manly played the Wests Tigers at Leichhardt Oval.

He played in the 2008 NRL Grand Final victory over the Melbourne Storm where he was the games first try scorer.^[1] Ballin attended Kingaroy State High School where his father is Principal. A good student, Ballin was well liked by his peers.

Ballin's solid form for Manly continued in 2009-10 despite the Sea Eagles failing to recapture their 2008 form. Before the 2011 NRL season Manly were not rated among the premiership favourites but stunned experts by finishing the minor round in 2nd place before going on to repeat their 2008 win by defeating the New Zealand Warriors in the 2011 NRL Grand Final giving Ballin his second NRL premiership as a player.

Representative career

In April 2009, he was named in the preliminary 25 man squad to represent Queensland in the opening State of Origin match for 2009.^[2] However he did not make an appearance.

In 2010, with injury to Cameron Smith, Ballin was named in the Queensland side and played in match one. He made an impact in the match which Queensland won. Ballin was not considered for Game II with Cameron Smith returning from injury. He was also involved in Queensland's 3-0 whitewash in the State of Origin series.

Personal life

Matt was the Adidas 2008 "Sexiest Man in League". Ballin also works as a personal fitness trainer specialising in fitness and weight loss.^[3]

References

1. ^ "Grand final: As it happened". Fox Sports. 5 October 2008. http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,24449388-23214,00.html. Retrieved 2008-10-05. 
2. ^ "Queensland name preliminary State of Origin squad". Fox Sports. 28 April 2009. http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,25398645-5016947,00.html. Retrieved 2009-04-28. 
3. ^ Dean Ritchie (13 April 2007). "Ballin hooked on work". The Daily Telegraph (Sydney). http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,21545799-5001023,00.html. Retrieved 2008-09-13. 

External links

• Matt Ballin Manly Profile
• Hasler names two debutants as Watmough returns
• NRL profile

Persondata
Name	Ballin, Matt
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	5 January 1984
Place of birth	Nanango, Queensland
Date of death
Place of death