Clint Newton

Clint Newton is the General Manager of Player Relations at the Rugby League Players’ Association (RLPA), a former professional Rugby League player and proud and passionate advocate for community causes.

His fellow players elected him RLPA General President in 2013 and in 2015 he assumed the additional role of Chair before embracing his current role which sees him provide leadership, representation and advocacy for RLPA members and other key stakeholders on a range of football, employment and membership matters.

Clint was born in America, where his father Jack Newton OAM was one of Australia’s leading professional golfers, before his family relocated to Newcastle in 1983. Clint is grateful for the illustrious professional Rugby League career he achieved over a 15-year period. Debuting for the Newcastle Knights in 2001 (Newcastle’s Premiership year) at 19 years of age, he played 173 first grade appearances in the NRL across 3 Clubs – Newcastle Knights, Melbourne Storm and Penrith Panthers whilst also reaching 100 English Super League games during a four-year stint with Hull Kingston Rovers. His highest honours include an NRL Premiership win with the Melbourne Storm (2007) and NSW Cup Newcastle Knights (2015) in a side he captained. Clint represented Australia in the Prime Minister XIII (2005), Country Origin (2006) and played four Tests for the USA Tomahawks at the 2013 Rugby League World Cup where they reached the quarter finals in their first ever appearance at a RLWC.

Clint’s strengths lie in his ability to intimately understand the complexities of managing talent and the holistic development of players and can offer valuable insight into the current climate of the professional sports landscape. He has assumed a leading role throughout the RLPA’s negotiations in the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and continues to work tirelessly to increase, improve and protect the rights, benefits, safety, wellness and entitlements of Rugby League players, both men and women in the NRL.

He champions the rights and interests of players while holding an acute understanding of their commercial value to the code. He has a unique ability to bring people together, deliver fair and innovative solutions and is known for his highly developed conflict resolution and stakeholder engagement skills which have seen deliver positive outcomes in an often-challenging environment.

Clint is motivated by being a positive influence in his community. He’s proven himself as a selfless and passionate campaigner for a range of community causes including being a White Ribbon Ambassador since 2012 where he’s played an important leadership role in preventing men’s violence against women and as a proud Ambassador of the Australian Childhood Foundation since 2015 supporting its work to save children from the trauma, violence, abuse and neglect.