Matt Gonzalez

Matt Gonzalez watched the Tokyo Olympics Sevens tournament from his couch, never dreaming that within a year he would be a key part of the Australian team.

A speedy halfback, Matt had played more 70 games for Sydney club side Eastwood and was in his late twenties when he got a call from Australian men’s sevens coach John Manenti.

“I didn’t think it was in the realm of possibility,” Matt said. “I thought my time with sevens had passed, didn’t think such an opportunity would come.

“Then I got this phone call from John Manenti asking me if I’d like to trial and play Fiji and New Zealand.

“I said yes straight away. I didn’t hesitate. I would have been mad not to take it. I didn’t think an opportunity would ever arise for me again. I’m a bit older, I didn’t think it was going to happen.”

Although he was known as one of the fastest men in Shute Shield rugby, Matt’s career had been blighted by a series of quad injuries – what he calls “multiple injuries year after year.”

However, hard work to improve his running technique and strength work in the gym have helped get him back to the field and ensured he flourished as a sevens player.

Matt, a fitness trainer from Castle Hill in Sydney’s north-west, made his debut for Australia at the age of 27 at the Singapore leg of the World Series Sevens in April 2022, before being one of six players with no Olympic or Commonwealth Games experience who played for Australia at Birmingham 2022.

He scored twice in that tournament, where Australian finished fourth, losing to New Zealand in the play-off for bronze.

He was also in the Australian team that claimed their first World Rugby Sevens Series title in 2021-22, before finishing fourth at the Sevens World Cup in Cape Town.

Despite his late start, Matt has developed into a key member of the sevens squad.

At Paris 2024 Matt played a part in the men's rugby sevens team's best-ever finish at an Olympic Games.

After going undefeated against Samoa (21-14), Kenya (21-7) and Argentina (22-14) in the pool stage they booked a spot in the semi-finals with an 18-0 shutout of the USA. The Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion Fiji side awaited in the quarter-finals, where the Aussie's run was halted with a 7-31 loss.

There was another chance at a medal in the battle for bronze against South Africa hours later, with South Africa winning 26-19 to put Australia in fourth place.