Nathaniel Zane Butcher (born 25 July 1997) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a second-rower and lock for the Sydney Roosters in the National Rugby League (NRL). He won an NRL premiership with the Roosters in 2019.

Nat Butcher
Personal information
Full nameNathaniel Butcher
Born (1997-07-25) 25 July 1997 (age 27)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Height184 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight97 kg (15 st 4 lb)
Playing information
PositionSecond-row, Lock
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2016– Sydney Roosters 149 25 0 0 100
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2022 Prime Minister's XIII 1 1 0 0 4
Source: [1]
As of 27 September 2024
RelativesEgan Butcher (brother)

Background

edit

Butcher was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He is the son of former Rabbitohs' player Blake Butcher.[2]

Butcher played his junior rugby league for the South Eastern Seagulls, before being signed by the South Sydney Rabbitohs. Butcher is of New Zealand descent.

Playing career

edit

Early career

edit

In November and December 2014, Butcher played for the Australian Schoolboys.[3] After playing in the lower grades at the South Sydney Rabbitohs, he joined the Sydney Roosters in 2015.[2] In 2015 and 2016, he played for the Roosters' NYC team.[4][5]

2016

edit

In round 26 of the 2016 NRL season, Butcher made his NRL debut for the Roosters against the Brisbane Broncos.[6][7] In September, he was named at lock in the 2016 NYC Team of the Year.[8] In October, he captained[9][10] the Roosters' NYC team to a premiership win, defeating the Penrith Panthers 30–28 at ANZ Stadium.[11]

2017

edit

Butcher made 2 appearances for the Roosters in 2017 but did not feature for the club in their finals campaign.[12]

2018

edit

Butcher made 13 appearances for Sydney in 2018 but made no appearances for the club in the finals and did not play in Easts 21–6 grand final victory over Melbourne.[13][14]

2019

edit

Butcher made a total of 23 appearances, playing from the bench in the club's 2019 NRL Grand Final victory over Canberra at ANZ Stadium.[15][16]

On 7 October 2019, Butcher was named on the bench for the U23 Junior Australian side.

2020

edit

Butcher played 19 games for the Roosters in the 2020 NRL season as the club reached the finals but were eliminated in the second week by Canberra ending their attempt of a third straight premiership.[17]

2021

edit

Butcher played a total of 19 games for Sydney in the 2021 NRL season including the club's semi-final in week two. The Roosters would be eliminated from the second week of the finals losing to Manly 42–6.[18]

2022

edit

In round 2 of the 2022 NRL season, Butcher scored two tries for the Sydney Roosters in a 26–12 victory over Manly. In round 21, Butcher scored two tries in an upset victory over Brisbane.[19] In round 23, Butcher scored four tries for the Sydney Roosters in a record 72–6 victory over West Tigers. This was the first time Butcher had scored four tries in a single game in his NRL career. It was also the first time since 1951 that a forward had scored four tries in a game at the club.[20][21]

2023

edit

Butcher played 24 matches for the Sydney Roosters in the 2023 NRL season as the club finished 7th on the table and qualified for the finals. Butcher played in both of the clubs finals games as they were eliminated in the second week against Melbourne.[22]

2024

edit

In round 8 of the 2024 NRL season, Butcher scored two tries for the Sydney Roosters in their 60-18 victory over St. George Illawarra in the traditional ANZAC Day game.[23] Butcher played 23 matches for the Sydney Roosters throughout the 2024 NRL season as the club finished third and qualified for the finals.[24]

Statistics

edit
Year Team Games Tries Pts
2016   Sydney Roosters 1
2017 2
2018 13
2019 23 3 12
2020 19 1 4
2021 19 2 8
2022 25 11 44
2023 24 4 16
2024 23 4 16
Totals 149 25 100

*denotes season competing

source:[25]

References

edit
  1. ^ "Nathaniel (Nat) Butcher – Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. 25 July 1997. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  2. ^ a b Luca, Rocco (3 December 2014). "The Mole'S Midweek Scoops!". Rugby League Week. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  3. ^ "Robert Jennings picked for the Australian Schoolboys rugby league team". Dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  4. ^ "B". Nyc Database. 27 December 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  5. ^ Tim Costello and Josh Robertson (12 April 2016). "LeagueUnlimited Holden Cup NYC Under 20s Teams – 2016 Round 7". League Unlimited. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  6. ^ "Updated team lists: Broncos v Roosters". NRL.com. 28 February 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  7. ^ NRL Digital Media. "NRL Late Mail | Round 26". Roosters. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  8. ^ "2016 Holden Cup Team of the Year announced". NRL.com. 28 February 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
  9. ^ Tim Costello (27 September 2016). "2016 Holden Cup NYC Under 20s Teams". League Unlimited. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
  10. ^ NRL Digital Media. "17 STARS OF 2017 | Nat Butcher". NSWRL. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
  11. ^ NRL Digital Media (October 2016). "win classic Holden Cup grand final". Roosters. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
  12. ^ "Custom Match List – Rugby League Project".
  13. ^ "Cronk plays with broken scapula in Roosters' grand final win". ABC News. 30 September 2018.
  14. ^ "Custom Match List – Rugby League Project".
  15. ^ "NRL grand final player ratings: Roosters and Raiders hits and misses". SMH. 6 October 2019.
  16. ^ "Sydney Roosters beat Canberra Raiders to win NRL Grand Final". BBC Sport.
  17. ^ "'More than a team': Ricky's resilient Raiders keep the dream alive". www.nrl.com. 9 October 2020.
  18. ^ "'They don't rate us': How injury toll eased pressure for revitalised Roosters". www.nrl.com. 16 September 2021.
  19. ^ "Sam Walker cops filthy spray from his own teammates after try ... and Roosters coach loved it". www.foxsports.com.au.
  20. ^ "Roosters farewell SCG with cricket score against Tigers". nrl.com.
  21. ^ "Roosters, Eels and Sharks add pre-finals drubbings to one-sided round of NRL". www.abc.net.au.
  22. ^ "NRL 2023: Sydney Roosters season review". www.sportingnews.com.
  23. ^ "Sam Walker's Anzac Day masterclass shows the maddening brilliance of the Sydney Roosters". www.abc.net.au.
  24. ^ "The Mole's end of season review: Maligned signing suddenly looms as Roosters saviour after exodus, injuries". www.nine.com.au.
  25. ^ "Official NRL profile of Nat Butcher for Sydney Roosters | NRL.com". National Rugby League. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
edit