Australia international rugby league footballer
Nick Cotric Cotric in 2019 |
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| Full name | Nikola Čotrić |
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| Born | (1998-11-18) 18 November 1998 (age 25)
Canberra, ACT, Australia |
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| Height | 185 cm (6 ft 1 in) |
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| Weight | 98 kg (15 st 6 lb) |
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| Position | Wing, Centre |
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As of 10 September 2023 |
Nikola Cotric[3] (Serbian: Никола Чотрић, romanized: Nikola Čotrić; born 18 November 1998) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a winger for the Canberra Raiders[4] in the National Rugby League (NRL), and Australia at international level
He previously played for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the NRL and has played for at representative level for New South Wales in the State of Origin series as well as one game for the Prime Minister's XIII in 2018.
Background
Cotric was born in Canberra, ACT, Australia, and is of Serbian descent.[5]
He played his junior rugby league for the Valley Dragons.
Playing career
Early years
In 2016, Cotric was a member of the Canberra Raiders' NYC team, playing 21 games primarily at centre.[6][7] In August 2016, Cotric re-signed with the Canberra outfit on a two-year contract until the end of 2018,[8] In 2016, Cotric played for the Australian Schoolboys.[9] On 5 September 2016, Cotric was named at centre in the 2016 NYC Team of the Year.[10]
2017
Before the season started, Cotric was groomed to fill in the right-wing flank to fill the void made by the departure of Edrick Lee.[11] In February 2017, Cotric was named in the Raiders 2017 NRL Auckland Nines squad.[12] In Round 1 of the 2017 NRL season, Cotric made his NRL debut for the Canberra Raiders against the North Queensland Cowboys, playing on the wing in the 20-16 Golden Point loss at 1300SMILES Stadium.[13][14] In Round 3 against the Wests Tigers, Cotric scored his first NRL career try in the 46-6 win at Canberra Stadium.[15] On 13 September 2017, Cotric was awarded with Canberra's Rookie of the year at the Mal Meninga Medal Awards night.[16] On 27 September 2017, Cotric received the Rookie of the Year award at the 2017 Dally M Awards night.[15] Even though the Raiders didn’t make the top 8 into the finals, Cotric capped off a great debut season with him playing in all of the Canberra clubs 24 matches and scoring 16 tries in the 2017 NRL season. On 3 November 2017, Cotric extended his contract with the capital club to the end of the 2020 season.[17] On 19 December 2017, Cotric was selected in Brad Fittler’s emerging New South Wales squad.[18]
2018
On 28 May 2018, Cotric was named as 18th man for New South Wales for Game 1 of the 2018 State of Origin series.[19] Cotric would play some matches at fullback towards the end of the season, filling in for the suspended Jack Wighton.[20] Cotric finished the 2018 NRL season with him playing in all of Canberra's 24 matches and scoring 12 tries. On 6 October 2018, Cotric played for the Prime Minister’s XIII against Papua New Guinea, playing on the wing and scoring a try in the 34-18 win at Port Moresby.[21] At the end of the season, statistics showed that Cotric was on top of tackle break count with 149, pipping the Sydney Roosters Grand Final winning fullback James Tedesco by two.
2019
After a good start to the season, Cotric was selected to represent New South Wales in the 2019 State of Origin series. He played in game 1, which Queensland won 18-14, but was ruled out for Game 2 with an ankle injury.
In Round 17, Cotric was sent off for a dangerous lifting tackle on St George centre Tim Lafai, and suspended for three matches.[22][23][24]
Cotric played a total of 22 games for Canberra in the 2019 NRL season as the club reached their first grand final in 25 years. He played on the wing in the 2019 NRL Grand Final as they were defeated by the Sydney Roosters.[25][26][27]
On 7 October, Cotric was named in the Australian side for the Oceania Cup fixtures. He made his Test debut in Australia’s win over New Zealand at WIN Stadium, Wollongong, and also played in Australia’s following match, an unexpected loss to Tonga at Eden Park in Auckland.
2020
In round 15 of the 2020 NRL season, Cotric scored two tries for Canberra in a 36-16 victory over the Gold Coast at Cbus Super Stadium. This followed on from the prior in round 14 where he scored two tries against Brisbane.[28]
On 22 July 2020, the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs announced the signing of Cotric on a three-year deal starting in the 2021 season and rumoured to be worth around $600,000 per season.[29]
Cotric played 23 games for Canberra scoring 14 tries, finishing as the club's top try scorer. In his final game for Canberra which was the preliminary final, he scored two tries in a 30-10 loss against Melbourne.[30]
2021
Cotric made his debut for Canterbury-Bankstown in round 1 of the 2021 NRL season against Newcastle which ended in a 32-16 defeat.[31]
On 30 June, it was announced that Cotric would miss the remainder of the 2021 NRL season with a toe injury.[32]
On December 15, it was announced he would return to Canberra on a three-year deal starting in 2022.[33]
2022
In round 20 of the 2022 NRL season, Cotric scored two tries for Canberra in a 36-24 victory over the Gold Coast. In round 21, Cotric was sent to the sin bin for a dangerous high tackle during Canberra's loss to Penrith. Cotric played a total of 21 games for the club in the 2022 NRL season including both of their finals matches against Melbourne and Parramatta.[34]
2023
Cotric played a total of 13 matches for Canberra in the 2023 NRL season as the club finished 8th on the table and qualified for the finals. Cotric played in Canberra's golden point extra-time elimination final loss to Newcastle.[35]
