Nathaniel 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.
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Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Nathaniel Butcher | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 25 July 1997 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 184 cm (6 ft 0 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 97 kg (15 st 4 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Second-row, Lock | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: [1] As of 30 June 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Background
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
Early career
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
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
Butcher made 2 appearances for the Roosters in 2017 but did not feature for the club in their finals campaign.[12]
2018
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
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
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
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
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
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
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]
Statistics
| 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 | 5 | |||
| Totals | 131 | 21 | 84 |
*denotes season competing
source:[24]
References
External links
