Kade Snowden

Kade Snowden

Personal information
Born	(1986-12-31) 31 December 1986 (age 36) Belmont, New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
Height	186 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	112 kg (17 st 9 lb)
Position	Prop
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 2005–07 Newcastle Knights 14 0 0 0 0 2008–11 Cronulla Sharks 82 5 0 0 20 2012–16 Newcastle Knights 78 4 0 0 16 Total 174 9 0 0 36 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 2010–15 NSW Country 2 0 0 0 0 2010–11 New South Wales 2 0 0 0 0 2010 Prime Minister's XIII 1 1 0 0 4 2011 Australia 1 0 0 0 0 2012 NRL All Stars 1 0 0 0 0 2013 Italy 2 0 0 0 0
Source: [1] [2]

Kade Snowden (born 31 December 1986) is a former professional rugby league footballer of the Biddabah nation, who played as a prop in the 2000s and 2010s.

He began his career at the Newcastle Knights and made his first grade debut in 2005 in the opening round against the Melbourne Storm. He then signed with the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in 2008 and cemented a spot as a regular starter for the side. In 2010 he was rewarded with representative call ups to the NSW Country Origin and New South Wales State of Origin sides. Kade also represented his Indigenous culture through the Newcastle All Blacks in the 2022 Koori Knockout.

Background

Snowden was born in Belmont, New South Wales, Australia. He is of Italian and Indigenous descent. ^[3]

Newcastle Knights

Snowden joined the Newcastle Knights in 2002 at the age of 15 ^[4] and in his first year went on to win the Coaches Scholarship. ^[5] The following year he won the Carlson Club Award as well as the SG Ball Players Player and Player of the Year awards. ^[6] He was also rewarded that season with a call up to represent the NSW Combined High School Opens team, New South Wales at under-17 level ^[6] and the Australian school boys side. ^[4] So good was his form during that season that other clubs were already taking an interest in his services with Sydney Roosters coach Ricky Stuart trying to sign him. ^[4] The following season he captained the S.G. Ball side to premiership success with a 42–16 win over South Sydney and again represented the Australian school boys side. ^[4]

Snowden made his first-grade debut after coming off the bench for the Newcastle Knights on 13 March 2005 in the opening round clash against the Melbourne Storm at Olympic Park. ^[7] He made his first start for the club three rounds later against the North Queensland Cowboys and went on to make another three appearances during the season as Newcastle finished last on the table. ^{[8] [9]} Despite signing a new two-year contract at the club in 2006 ^[10] he failed to make a single appearance that year. ^[9] He did, however, captain the Jersey Flegg side to the Grand Final although they came up just short after losing 22–20 to the Penrith Panthers. ^[4] He made another eight appearances in 2007 but was not wanted by new coach Brian Smith and was allowed to leave the club. ^[4]

Snowden playing for the Sharks

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks

Cronulla coach Ricky Stuart signed Snowden for the 2008 NRL season as he had been an admirer ever since he had tried to sign the prop as a junior in 2003. Still with a suspension arising from a headbutting charge to serve from his time at the Knights, he made his debut for the club on 10 May in round 9 against the North Queensland Cowboys at Dairy Farmers Stadium. ^[9] His first ever try came in the final round of the season as he came off the bench against North Queensland to help his side to a 28–22 win. Snowden played in Cronulla's 2008 preliminary final loss against the Melbourne Storm where they were defeated 28–0 at the Sydney Football Stadium. ^{[11] [9]}

2009 saw Snowden become a regular starter for the club after starting all but three games for the year. ^[9] He was suspended for the round 5 clash against Canberra after he had been charged by the judiciary with a grade one dangerous contact charge for a grapple tackle against Canterbury in the 24–12 loss in the previous round. ^[12] He scored a try in round 15 in the 46–12 win against an under-strength Brisbane side. He also scored a try in the final round of the season against South Sydney in the 26–24 loss. ^[9] At the club's end of season awards he was honoured with the Players Player Award. ^[13]

In a trial match against Manly before the 2010 NRL season, Snowden was sin binned for punching Jason King. ^[14] In round 7 he scored a try in a 26–6 win against his former club Newcastle in a man of the match performance. ^[15] He was rewarded for his fine form with a call up to the Country Origin side for the annual City vs Country Origin match. ^[16] There were calls from coach Ricky Stuart ^[17] and Queensland legend Arthur Beetson ^[18] to pick Snowden for the New South Wales State of Origin side in the last match of the series which they had already lost for a fifth consecutive year. There were initial concerns over his eligibility after being placed on report by Tony Archer and later being charged by the judiciary with dangerous contact for a late hit on Jamie Soward in the 22–4 loss against St. George-Illawarra. ^{[19] [20]} However, with an early guilty plea Snowden was only suspended for the round 16 clash against North Queensland. However, this meant he missed his last chance to impress selectors before the side was named. ^[21] Despite missing the North Queensland game, Snowden was picked for the last match and started the game as a prop. New South Wales lost the match 23–18, and henceforth the series 3–0, for the first time since 2000. In round 20 Snowden scored the first away try of his career in a 20–13 loss against Canberra. ^[9]

At the end of the season, Snowden was named to play in the annual Prime Minister's XIII match against Papua New Guinea ^[22] and put in a good performance capping the performance with a try. ^[23]

Return to the Knights

Snowden has agreed to a four-year deal with the Knights from the beginning of the 2012 season after controversially reneging on a new deal with the Sharks. Snowden had verbally agreed to re-sign with the Cronulla club but famously back-flipped after receiving a phone call from the new owner of the Newcastle Knights, Nathan Tinkler, whilst en route to a press conference announcing his re-signing at the Cronulla Sharks. On 22 August 2014, Snowden became one of the current NRL players and former Sharks players to accept reduced bans from the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority for his role in the club's 2011 supplements program. ^[24]

On 3 May 2015, Snowden played for New South Wales Country against New South Wales City in the 2015 City vs Country Origin. Snowden played 21 games for Newcastle in the 2015 NRL season as the club finished last on the table for the first time since 2005. ^{[25] [26]}

In August 2016, Snowden announced his retirement from rugby league due to chronic injuries that had limited him to just one game in the 2016 season. Newcastle would finish last on the table for a second consecutive season only managing to win one match. ^{[27] [28]}

References

1. "Kade Snowden – Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
2. "Rleague.com – Snowden, Kade". Archived from the original on 28 November 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
3. "Kade Snowden linked to Italy". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney. 11 October 2011. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
4. "Prophecy coming true for Snowden". Newcastle Herald. 30 June 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
5. "2002 Annual Report" (PDF). Newcastle Knights. Retrieved 4 October 2010.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
6. "2003 Annual Report" (PDF). Newcastle Knights. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 May 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
7. "Kade Snowden Player Profile". National Rugby League. Retrieved 4 October 2010.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
8. "The worst teams in NRL history". Sporting News.
9. "Kade Snowden Statistics". rleague.com. Archived from the original on 16 August 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
10. "Newcastle Re-Sign Rising Star Kade Snowden". rleague.com. 15 June 2006. Archived from the original on 12 February 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
11. "Storm through to NRL final". ABC.
12. "Sharks trio facing stint on sidelines". Australia: ABC News. 6 April 2009. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
13. "Douglas awarded Monty Porter Medal". Cronulla Sharks. 15 September 2009. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
14. "Sea Eagles NRL squad win first trial match against Cronulla Sharks". Manly Sea Eagles. 12 February 2010. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
15. "Snowden has no short-term plans for return to Newcastle". Newcastle Herald. 26 April 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
16. "Sharks Snowden Selected in Country Side". Cronulla Sharks. 2 May 2010. Archived from the original on 26 February 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
17. "Stuart says Snowden ready for Maroons' man mountains". The Sydney Morning Herald. 16 May 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
18. "Big Artie tips Snowden to help save the Blues". The Sydney Morning Herald. 20 June 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
19. "Origin hopefuls Kade Snowden and Chris Heighington charged". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney. 21 June 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
20. "Snowden fears late tackle may wreck his Origin hopes". The Sydney Morning Herald. 21 June 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
21. "Sharks Snowden Takes Early Guilty Plea". Cronulla Sharks. 22 June 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
22. "Sharks Trio Named in Prime Minister's XIII". Cronulla Sharks. 14 September 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
23. "Sharks Props Star in PM's XIII Win". Cronulla Sharks. 26 September 2010. Archived from the original on 26 February 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
24. "Cronulla Sharks players accept doping bans". The Sydney Morning Herald. 22 August 2014. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
25. "Representative Round team lists". National Rugby League. 3 May 2015. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
26. "Panthers hand Knights the wooden spoon". National Rugby League. 5 September 2015.
27. "Snowden announces retirement". Zero Tackle. 26 August 2016. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
28. "Sione Mata'utia says the time has come for the Knights young guns to deliver". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney.

External links

• NRL profile
• Newcastle Knights profile