Matthew Dawson

It was a bat-and-ball sport Matthew pursued at a young age but it wasn’t the sport of his Australian representative mother, cricketer Trish Dawson.

Instead, Matthew followed his sister into hockey when he was eight years-old. At just 13 years old, the hockey player moved from the Central Coast to Newcastle to pursue the sport and continue his development.

Less than two years after making his Australian debut in 2014, Matthew was named on his first Olympic team and on his way to Rio 2016.

In Rio, the green and gold favourites were knocked out of the Olympic competition early and finished up with a sixth place finish.

The young-gun helped the Kookaburras win back-to-back gold medals at the 2015 and 2017 World League Finals, where he scored the game winning goal in 2015 and in 2017 earned himself a runners-up finish at the Australian Player of the Year Awards.

It was a rough 2018 for Matthew as a serious eye injury in training threatened not only his sight but his chances of a Commonwealth Games medal. Fortunately, he recovered in time for the event and wore protective eyewear throughout the competition.

Matthew was one of two scorers in the 2-0 win over New Zealand in the final, and the Kookaburras took home the Commonwealth Games gold medal. This was a record-sixth gold medal for the men’s team at the Commonwealth Games.

Matthew became a two-time Olympian at Tokyo 2020. The Kookaburras were undefeated throughout the tournament's group stage and defeated the Netherlands and Germany to qualify for the gold medal match against Belgium. Australia's first men's Olympic hockey gold medal match since 2004, the Kookaburras lost to Belgium in a dramatic penalty shootout after the game ended 1-1 in regular time.

A rock-solid defender who also gives the Kookaburras a more-than-adequate alternative option at penalty corners, Matthew played in every match of Australia’s successful 2022 Commonwealth Games campaign in Birmingham.

The Birmingham victory, which culminated in a 7-0 thrashing of India in the gold medal match, was an emphatic statement from a team that is near unstoppable when at the peak of their powers. The result continued the Kookaburras’ remarkable record of winning every Commonwealth Games gold medal since men’s hockey was introduced to the Games in 1998.

Matthew played a key role at the 2023 Hockey World Cup in India, where Australia lost 3-1 to the Netherlands in the bronze medal match, and was in the Kookaburras squad for the 2023 Pro League series.

The Kookaburras qualified for Paris when they ground out a 3-1 win over traditional rivals New Zealand to retain the Oceania Cup in Whangarei.

At the Paris 2024 Olympics Matthew and the Kookaburras defeated Argentina (1-0), Ireland (2-1) and New Zealand (5-0) in the group stage, which included losses to India (3-2) and Belgium (6-2).

Through to the quarter-finals, that's where their campaign ended with a 2-0 loss to the eventual Olympic gold medallists, the Netherlands.

In November 2024 Matt Dawson announced his retirement from hockey.