Kurtley Beale

Beale was born in Blacktown, New South Wales, and grew up at Mount Druitt in Western Sydney. He attended St Joseph's College, Hunters Hill where he played in that school's first XV in his last three senior years. Beale was selected in the NSW and Australian Schoolboys representative rugby teams between 2004 and 2006. In 2006 Beale captained both the Joeys first XV and the Australian Schoolboys side, and regularly attended training sessions with the NSW Waratahs from the age of 15. He signed with the Waratahs while still only a 16-year-old. At 17, he attended his first Wallabies training camp, on the invitation of coach John Connolly. ==Career==

Beale first played senior rugby at the Northern Suburbs club alongside then-Waratahs teammates Al Baxter and Sam Norton-Knight. With the launch of the Australian Rugby Championship in 2007, Beale became the starting flyhalf for the Rams. He played every game of the season in which the Rams went on to become minor premiers. One of the top try scorers and leaders in try-assists, he was awarded the 2007 player of the tournament award for the ARC. In June 2013, Beale was named to play for Randwick while on leave from the Melbourne Rebels following a spell in rehabilitation for alcohol related issues. He had previously played for Randwick against Gordon in 2010. He played at inside centre in every game for the Waratahs during the 2014 Super Rugby season. Beale's combination with Israel Folau at fullback, Adam Ashley-Cooper at outside centre and Bernard Foley at fly-half was instrumental to the team's success. Playing in the final against the Crusaders, he set up the 2 tries to Adam Ashley-Cooper which helped guide the Waratahs to a 33–32 win over the 7-time champions, securing the Super Rugby title. Third homecoming 2022–23 In February 2022, it was confirmed by Rugby Australia that Beale would return to the New South Wales Waratahs at the conclusion of his stay in Paris with Racing 92 in the 2021–22 Top 14 season. This would allow Beale to play at a fourth world cup for Australia. Beale would then return to play for the Waratahs beginning at the 2023 Super Rugby Pacific season. Melbourne Rebels 2012–13 Beale signed a two-year deal to play for the Melbourne Rebels starting in 2012. Beale made his debut for Racing against Lyon on 6 September 2020 at Stade de Gerland. After fifty-six minutes, Beale was subbed off, however Racing won the match 23–27. In Beale's third appearance for Racing, he was subbed on in the sixty-fifth minute of the 2020 European Rugby Champions Cup Final against the Exeter Chiefs, racing were down 28–27. Racing failed to score and lost (31–27) their third European Rugby Champions Cup Final appearance in five years. Overall Beale played an important role for Racing in his first season for the club. Beale played twenty-five matches and scored a total of thirty-eight points (seven tries, one penalty goal), almost exclusively playing at full-back. 2021–22 In his second season for Racing, Beale had less of an attacking impact than his first. In round one of the 2021–22 European Rugby Champions Cup (10 December 2021) against Northampton Saints, Beale made a quick, darting line-break and off-load, leading to a try in the eighth minute of the first half. Later in the match he followed that up with a try assist, helping Racing to a 14–45 win in Franklin's Gardens Stadium. He is yet to score any points in seventeen matches, however. Western Force 2024 After being on the sideline since returning back home to Australia for 2023, Beale signed for the Perth-based Super Rugby team the Western Force in April 2024 on an injury replacement deal, until the end of the 2024 season. Much of the speculation around Beale's future, following his court battles (2023/24), was centred around a possible code-switch to the National Rugby League (NRL). ==International rugby==

. Early career: 2007–11 Beale made his Australia A debut in the 2007 Pacific Nations Cup. He scored his first try in a 27–15 defeat of Samoa. Soon after, Beale narrowly missed out on being chosen for the Rugby World Cup in 2007, with the selectors opting instead for Berrick Barnes as the backup flyhalf for the Wallabies squad coached by John Connolly. Beale made his test debut on the 2009 Spring Tour to the Home Nations when he appeared on the wing as a substitute in Australia's 34–12 victory over Wales. He made a number of mid-week match appearances on the tour at fly-half. 2010 was a groundbreaking year for Beale in terms of his international career. He started the test season scoring two tries against Fiji and finished the year with a respectable record of seven tries from 12 tests. In 2011 Beale received the John Eales Medal, awarded to Australia's best rugby player of the year, and was nominated for the IRB International Player of the Year Award. He was named as part of the Australian squad for the 2011 Rugby World Cup, and was favoured as the starting fullback when fit to play. However, he missed the Wallabies semi-final against the All Blacks due to a hamstring injury suffered in the previous game against South Africa. Later test career: 2012–19 Beale played fullback for the third test against Wales in Sydney in 2012. He later played in three tests of the 2012 Rugby Championship, against the All Blacks in Sydney and Auckland, and against the Springboks in Perth. After his poor performances at fullback, he was benched the following week for the game against Argentina played at the Gold Coast. Following a knee injury to Quade Cooper, coach Robbie Deans shifted him from fullback to fly-half. He played fly-half in the Wallabies loss to the Springboks in Pretoria, and was selected again at fly-half against Argentina in Rosario where he set up a try for Digby Ioane. Beale also played fly-half in the 18-all draw against the All Blacks in the third Bledisloe Cup Test in Brisbane, kicking two penalty goals successfully. On the 2012 Spring Tour, he played fly-half for all of the Wallabies games. Kurtley made his comeback against Japan, in a 63–30 rout and also helped to extend the Wallabies' winning streak against Wales. Unfortunately, they experienced defeat at Twickenham, where England dismantled Australia 6–30. Another disappointing loss was against Scotland, however Beale did score in a 24–53 loss. He then played inside centre against Ireland in 2018, but the Wallabies were shocked in a 2–1 series loss. Australia then lost the Bledisloe Cup to the All Blacks for a 16th consecutive year, with huge defeats in Sydney, Auckland and Oita respectively. Kurtley was picked for the 2019 Rugby World Cup, in which the Wallabies disappointingly bowed out in the quarter-final against England. Beale then signed with Racing 92 in the Top 14, leaving Super Rugby. Return to test rugby: 2020–21 Beale was consistent at Racing 92. He was not picked in 2020 for the Wallabies, despite meeting the Giteau's law criteria. However in 2021 due to an injury of Reece Hodge, Beale was called back up to the Wallabies and named on the bench against Scotland. == Personal life ==

Indigenous heritage Beale has ascribed his Aboriginal identity to being born and raised in Dharug country, with his mother being from the Kamilaroi nation of NSW. Beale grew up playing rugby league and idolised indigenous players such as Greg Inglis and Johnathan Thurston, and has commented to the media about the contrast between rugby union and both NRL and AFL, which have much more integrated indigenous participation in their sports. Beale has admitted that he needed to work to connect to his heritage. He has stated that he found it difficult to follow his family tree and to find elders. However, Beale ascribed a 2011 visit to the Tiwi Islands to support an initiative by former Australian cricketer Matthew Hayden (The Tiwi College Project) as an "awakening" to learning more about his heritage. Beale unveiled the Wallabies' first ever indigenous jersey in 2017, which also made rugby union the first sport in Australia with an indigenous jersey at the national level. He also introduced the Waratahs' indigenous jersey in 2019. Relationships In 2017, the affair of Kurtley Beale's then-girlfriend with AFL executive Simon Lethlean led to his resignation, which was part of a wider sex scandal at the AFL. Beale married long-time partner Maddi Bloomberg in 2020. ==Controversy==

Di Patston text controversy On 29 September 2014, it was announced that Kurtley Beale would be investigated by the ARU over an alleged heated argument between Beale and a Wallabies team official, Di Patston, on a 10-hour flight from Johannesburg to São Paulo. The incident led to Patston leaving the tour early, and she resigned from her position shortly afterwards under stress. According to Iain Payten in The Courier-Mail, Patston had agreed to not report the texts to ARU management to give Beale second chance, but that "in the presence of three other Wallabies, Patston spoke to Beale in a Brisbane hotel before the first Test against France and told him she would reveal the contents of the texts if another incident arose". Reports had appeared in the media that some players had become uneasy with Patston's role in the team and how much power McKenzie had given her, McKenzie announced his resignation as coach of Australia after the final Bledisloe test. From the outcome of the independent tribunal, Beale admitted to sending an offensive photo and was fined $45,000 for a serious violation of the ARU Code of Conduct. On 20 January 2023, it was revealed that Beale was stopped by the New South Wales Police Force in Kingsford in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs on the same day (Friday, 20 January) following a training session with the New South Wales Waratahs. Beale was taken to a police station in Waverley for questioning over an alleged incident he was involved in with a 28-year-old woman that took place on 17 December 2022 at the Beach Road Hotel in Sydney's Eastern Suburb of Bondi. Beale was refused bail to appear in Parramatta bail court the following day (21 January) after being charged with "two counts of sexually touching another person without consent, inciting another to sexually touch them without consent and sexual intercourse without consent." On 21 January, Beale denied the charges and was granted bail, however he was ordered to surrender his passport, not contact witnesses and to report to police daily. On the same day, Beale was charged (20 January), Rugby Australia (RA), Beale's employer, had released a statement confirming that Beale has "been suspended from all forms of Rugby with immediate effect pending the conclusion of legal proceedings, as well as Rugby Australia's own investigations." After Beale's legal proceedings continued in the Waverley Local Court throughout March and April, in which Beale was not required to attend, on 15 June, he entered a not guilty plea to all three charges brought against him (one of the prior charges being withdrawn) after appearing at the Downing Centre Local Court. Beale stated outside court: "I am devastated to be here. The allegation has been falsely [made] against me and the truth will come out." Beale once again plead not guilty in another court appearance late in 2023 (December), before attending court again in January 2024, being informed that a trial before a jury would commence the following week (22 January 2024). ==References==