Kurtley Beale
Kurtley Beale (born Curtly Beale 6th January, 1989, Western Sydney) is an Australian rugby union player. He is contracted to the NSW Waratahs and the Northern Suburbs Rugby Club.
Playing Style
Beale's position of choice is flyhalf. He has been compared to former Australian flyhalf Mark Ella due to both his skills and his Aboriginal heritage.
Youth Career
Beale was signed to the Waratahs at the age of 16 while still finishing his schooling at St. Joseph's College in Sydney. Kurtley led St Joseph's College to two outright premierships and one three-way-tie with Shore School and cross-river rivals St Ignatius' College, Riverview. Before leaving school, Beale had captained the Australian Schoolboys and his school's First XV. He was regularly attending training sessions with the Waratahs from the age of 15 and at 17, attended his first Wallabies training camp, on invitation by coach John Connolly
Senior Career
Beale made his senior NSW debut against ACT in January 2007 in a trial in Wollongong. He scored a solo try after coming on as a substitute in the game which NSW won 12-0. Two weeks later, after again coming off the bench, Beale made a late break to assist the winning try against the Crusaders. Coach Ewen Mckenzie had stated that Beale would not be rushed into the starting line up and would instead play second fiddle in his debut year behind Daniel Halangahu. However, it was no more than two weeks later that Kurtley made his starting debut against the Sharks at Absa stadium, South Africa only to lose 22-9. The following week in only his second start as flyhalf, Kurtley scored one of the most memorable tries of the season: chipping over the first line defence and stealing the ball out of the fullbacks hands to score his first five pointer in Super 14.