Matt Minto

Matthew Paul Minto (born 18 December 1990) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who has previously played for the Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League. He also played for the Central Queensland Capras and Souths Logan Magpies in the Queensland Cup. He played at and .

Playing career Early career

Minto played his junior rugby league for the North Knights, before being signed by the Central Queensland Comets in the Queensland Cup.

At the end of 2007, Minto signed with the Penrith Panthers. He was a part of the Panthers' inaugural NYC squad in 2008, but returned to Queensland due to homesickness before he could play a game. In 2009, he signed a two-year contract with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs. He played for Canterbury's NYC team in 2009. In 2010, Minto returned to the Central Queensland Comets, after finding out his partner was pregnant, In 2012, he joined the Mackay Cutters while doing a pre-season with the North Queensland Cowboys. After impressing in the pre-season, his Knights contract was upgraded from train and trial to a full-time one-year contract.

2015 In round 2 of the 2014 NRL season, Minto made his NRL debut for Newcastle against the Canberra Raiders. At the conclusion of the 2014 NRL season, he was released by the Newcastle club. On 3 November 2014, he signed a contract with Queensland Cup team Central Queensland Capras for 2015.

2016 Minto continued to play for the Capras for the remainder of the 2016 season before he was released at the end of the season after he was charged with trespassing in what the Capras board described as his second off-field incident that year. He attracted offers from several NRL clubs but turned them down to stay in Queensland.

2017 Minto joined the Souths Logan Magpies in 2017.

Personal life Minto was born in Rockhampton, Queensland.

In March 2010, Minto pleaded guilty in Yeppoon Magistrates Court to drink driving after recording a blood alcohol reading of 0.04 on the morning of 7 February 2010. At the time Minto held a provisional driver's license. After the court was told Minto had no traffic history of a similar nature since 2011, he was fined $650 and disqualified from driving for five months.

In late October 2024, Minto assaulted two men occasioning bodily harm in two unprovoked attacks while intoxicated in Yeppoon for which he pleaded guilty to in Rockhampton Magistrates Court on 24 January 2025. In the first incident, Minto assaulted a man at the doorway of a local hotel as he attempted to enforce a banning order whih had been imposed on Minto, prompting Minto to punch him in the face causing the man to fall. In the second incident, Minto assaulted a taxi driver after leaning forward from the back seat mid-journey and punching the driver several times upon becoming annoyed at a conversation which was taking place. According to his defence lawyer, Minto claimed he does not recall the assaults and asked about the welfare of the victims when he learned he had assaulted them. He was sentenced to a two-year probation order, ordered to complete 80 hours of community service and pay compensation and restitution to the victims. He was also banned from licensed venues in Yeppoon for 12 months. However, no convictions were recorded.