Matthew Petersen

Matthew Andrew Petersen (born 27 March 1980) is a former United States international rugby league footballer who played for the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats in the Super League. He also played for the Gold Coast Titans in the NRL. His position of choice was on the wing.

Playing career

Petersen moved from the Cowboys to the Parramatta Eels half way through 2002 and played for the Eels with some success until 2006. Early in his career at the Eels, Petersen was at the centre of a spiteful match against the Brisbane Broncos at Parramatta Stadium after Allan Langer appeared to drop his knees into Petersen, some members of the crowd later throwing bottles at Broncos players.

Petersen equalled the club try-scoring record for one match during the 2003 round 12 clash against the South Sydney Rabbitohs. Scoring four tries in the one game, he was the first Eel to have done so since 1988.

In 2005, Petersen made 13 appearances for Parramatta as the club won the minor premiership but he did not feature in any of the finals matches.

Eels care-taker coach, Jason Taylor, dropped Petersen from the first-grade roster when he took over coaching duties in May, 2006, and demoted the under-performing winger to the Premier League, where he spent the rest of the season.

Wikipedia