Matt Davis (rugby league)
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Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Matthew Davis | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 5 July 1996 Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 15 st 2 lb (96 kg) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Loose forward, Second-row, Hooker | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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As of 28 August 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Matt "Dav" Davis (born 5 July 1996) is an English rugby league footballer who plays as a second-row or loose forward for the Warrington Wolves in the Betfred Super League.
He played for the London Broncos in the Championship, and on loan from London at the Hemel Stags and the London Skolars in League 1. He has spent time on loan from Warrington at the Rochdale Hornets in the Championship and the Broncos in the Super League.
Background
Matt Davis was born in Burbage, Leicestershire, England.
Matt is the oldest son of Ian Davis.
All three of Ian's sons are on the books of Super League clubs, with Sam a hooker at the London Broncos and Jonno a Halfback at the Hull Academy.
Early career
Matt Davis previously played with the Leicester Storm in the Conference League South and featured in the Midlands Regional Academy.
As an amateur for Leicester Storm, he was then selected for the Midlands Academy, before joining the prestigious London Broncos' academy and progressing into the first team in 2015.
He was spotted by Broncos Head of Youth Darren Higgins who picked out both Davis and Ben Gray from the Midlands set up.
In 2015 he was given the chance to move up from the academy at the London Broncos and train with the first team the club.
Playing career
He debuted for the first team on 23 May 2015, in a 46-6 victory over Sheffield Eagles; a day remembered also for the on-field debut of his manager, Andrew Henderson.
He was not an immediate regular player. He played some games but he was also out on dual registration quite a few times before cementing his place at the Broncos with games for the Hemel Stags in 2016 and the London Skolars in 2017, who both play in the League 1 competition.
Davis signed with the Warrington Wolves in June 2018, at a time when London were not even certain to make the play-offd
However, London Broncos season hit form and a winning streak that went on for months saw Broncos finish second and Davis was key in the play-offs making a final appearance in an 11-8 victory over Salford Red Devils on 22 September 2018.
He was injured in training, missing the last two games of the season.
Two weeks later, the Broncos beat Halifax and then Toronto away in the Million Pound Game, meaning that he ended his permanent career at the Broncos with both the personal glory of the player's player of the year award and as a player who had taken the club back up to Super League.
He later returned a few weeks into 2019, on a month's loan, before regularly making the matchday squad at Warrington.
Matt is probably one of the top 10 players the London Broncos have developed in the past 15 years alongside internationals Mike McMeeken, Tony Clubb, Louis McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Dan Sarginson, Alex Walker, and Kieran Dixon.
He played for the London Broncos in the Betfred Championship from 2015 to 2018 before signing for the Warrington Wolves, who did not initially pick him for the first team.
Davis began his career at the London Broncos as a loose forward or second-row before making a successful switch to hooker towards the end of the 2018 season.
He left London Broncos as the player's player of the year in 2018.
Davis was perhaps seventh or eighth in the pecking order and regressed to playing for a bottom of the table Championship club and his former club London Broncos approached Warrington to bring him back to the club, initially on loan, where he became a first team regular.
His form attracted Warrington to not only bring him back but put him in the first team, where he debuted against the Broncos in 2019 and where he is now a first team regular.
He played in the 2019 Challenge Cup Final victory over St. Helens at Wembley Stadium.[3]
References
- ^ Rugby League Project
- ^ loverugbyleague
- ^ "St Helens 4-18 Warrington RESULT: Challenge Cup Final as it happened from Wembley". Mirror. 24 August 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
External links
