Clint Newton

Clint Newton (born 18 June 1981 in South Carolina, USA) is an American-Australian rugby league player for the Hull Kingston Rovers in the European Super League. He previously played for Newcastle Knights and Melbourne Storm in the National Rugby League competition. His position of choice is at Second Row.

Early years

Son of Jackie and professional golfer Jack Newton, Clint was born in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina whilst his father was competing in the 1981 U.S. Open.

The Newtons moved back to Jack's native Newcastle where Clint began playing rugby league with the Valentine-Eleebana junior rugby league club.

Ashton Sims incident

During the 2004 season, Newton received a 12 week suspension for elbowing St George Illawarra Dragons forward Ashton Sims. The suspension cost Newton the chance to represent the United States in an international match against Australia later that year. Only four weeks earlier he had been sin-binned for foul play against a North Queensland Cowboy player.

Departure

On 28 May 2007, Newton announced he was leaving the Newcastle Knights after just 100 games, due to "personal reasons".

On 29 May 2007 Newton signed with the Melbourne Storm. He started in the second row in the Storm's round 13 clash with the New Zealand Warriors in Auckland and was one of the best players on the field, playing the full 80 minutes.

He went on to play in the Grand Final, becoming the second player to transfer mid-year to a Grand Final winning club.

On 17 October 2007, he was released by the Melbourne Storm due to salary cap restrictions and announced his move to the European Super League on a two year contract at Hull KR.

Career highlights

• Junior Club: Valentine-Eleebana (Newcastle)
• First Grade Debut: Newcastle v Warriors at EnergyAustralia Stadium, March 31, 2001 (Round 7)
• First Grade Record: 71 career NRL games to date, scoring 10 tries

References