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| Full name | David Klemmer | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1993-12-22)22 December 1993 (age 31) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 198 cm (6 ft 6 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 116 kg (18 st 4 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Prop, Lock | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source:[1] As of 6 September 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
David Klemmer (born 22 December 1993) is an Australian professionalrugby league footballer who plays as aprop for theSt. George Illawarra Dragons in theNational Rugby League (NRL) andAustralia international level.
He previously played for theCanterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and theNewcastle Knights in the NRL. Klemmer has played forCity Origin andNew South Wales in theState of Origin series.
Klemmer was born inSydney, New South Wales, Australia and is ofGerman descent.[2]
He played his junior rugby league for theAll Saints Toongabbie Tigers, before being signed by theCanterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs. He also playedAustralian rules football and played for theSydney Swans academy.[3]
At 15 years of age, Klemmer signed with theCanterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.[4] In 2010 and 2011, Klemmer played for the Australian Schoolboys.[5] In 2011, Klemmer also played for the New South Wales under 18s team.[6]
He played for Canterbury-Bankstown'sNYC team in 2011 and 2012, scoring 6 tries in 28 games.[7]
In 2012, Klemmer was named on the interchange bench forNew South Wales in the inaugural under 20s State of Origin match atPenrith Stadium.[8]
At the end of 2012, Klemmer was named NYC Player of the Year and also named at startingprop in the 2012 NYC Team of the Year.[9][4]
On 5 March 2013, Klemmer re-signed with the Canterbury-Bankstown club on a three-year contract.[10] In round 1 of the2013 NRL season, Klemmer made hisNRL debut for Canterbury-Bankstown against theNorth Queensland Cowboys off the interchange bench in Canterbury's 12–24 loss atCentral Coast Stadium.[11][12] In round 3, against theMelbourne Storm atAAMI Park, Klemmer made headlines after he was at the end of receiving a high flying karate style kick from Melbourne's fullbackBilly Slater to the head in Canterbury's 18–22 loss.[13][14]
On 20 April 2013, Klemmer was named captain of the New South Wales team in the under 20s State of Origin match, leading the team to a 36–12 victory over Queensland at Penrith Stadium.[15] Klemmer debut season ended early after he sustained a knee injury. Klemmer finished his debut year with him playing 4 matches forCanterbury-Bankstown.
In round 4 against the Melbourne Storm, Klemmer scored his first NRL career try in the Canterbury club's 40–12 win atnib Stadium inPerth.[16] On 26 April 2014, Klemmer was selected to play for City Origin for theCity vs Country Origin match at Apex Oval inDubbo.[17] Klemmer played off the interchange bench in the 26-all draw on 4 May 2014.[18] On 5 October 2014, in Canterbury's2014 NRL Grand Final against theSouth Sydney Rabbitohs, Klemmer played off the bench in the club's 6–30 loss.[19][20] Klemmer finished the Canterbury club's2014 season with him playing 23 matches and scoring a try. Klemmer made his international debut forAustralia, playing againstEngland atAAMI Park in Australia's 16–12 win.[21][22]
In round 5 of the2015 NRL season, in the Grand Final re-match against theSouth Sydney Rabbitohs, Klemmer was sin binned after crowding in on refereeGerard Sutton alongside Canterbury captain James Graham and yelling "You're off your f***ing face". The Canterbury club were leading 17–16 at the time, but lost 17–18 atANZ Stadium.[23] After full-time was blown, some members of the Canterbury fan base pelted referee Gerard Sutton and match officials with plastic bottles, causing an investigation to find out and ban the misbehaving members from attending rugby league matches for life.[24][25][26] Klemmer was later hit with a three-week suspension for contrary conduct. He returned in round 9, against theNorth Queensland Cowboys, in Canterbury's 23–16 loss at1300SMILES Stadium.[27][28][29] On 3 May, Klemmer played forNew South Wales City, playing at prop in the 34–22 loss toNew South Wales Country atWagga Wagga.[30] On 27 May, he was selected to make his State of Origin debut forNew South Wales in game 1 againstQueensland. He played of the interchange bench in the Blues' 11–10 loss at ANZ Stadium.[31][32] In game 2 of the2015 State of Origin series, he again made headlines after a heated exchange with the oldest member of the Queensland team,Corey Parker. Parker told Klemmer (the youngest member of the New South Wales team) to "show some respect" and Klemmer replied "get f***d you c**t".[33][34] Klemmer also played in game 3, off the interchange bench, in the Blues' 52–6 record loss atSuncorp Stadium.[35][36] He finished off the 2015 season having played in 21 matches and scoring a try for Canterbury-Bankstown.[37]
On 22 May 2016, Klemmer extended his contract with Canterbury-Bankstown until the end of the 2020 season.[38] Klemmer played in all 3 matches forNew South Wales off the interchange bench in the Blues 2–1 series loss in the2016 State of Origin series.[39][40] After Game 2, Klemmer got into some trouble after the Blues 26–16 loss to Queensland after he punched a wall in frustration in the toilets off theSuncorp Stadium changing rooms.[41] Klemmer finished the2016 NRL season with him playing in 22 matches and scoring a try for Canterbury-Bankstown. On 24 September 2016, Klemmer played forPrime Minister's XIII againstPapua New Guinea, playing off the interchange bench in the 58–0 win atPort Moresby.[42]
On 3 October 2016, Klemmer was selected in the 24-man Australian Kangaroos squad for the2016 Four Nations.[43] Klemmer played in all 5 matches of the tournament, including playing off the interchange bench in the Kangaroos 34-8 Four Nations final win againstNew Zealand atAnfield.[44]
In February, Klemmer was selected in Canterbury's2017 NRL Auckland Nines squad.[45] On 5 May, he played for Australia in the2017 ANZAC Test where he started at prop in the 30–12 win atCanberra Stadium.[46] In June 2017, it was rumoured that Klemmer requested a release from his contract from Canterbury-Bankstown due to a financial dispute stemming from his decision to split with long-time manager David Riolo.[47] Klemmer later commented saying that he never wanted to leave Canterbury.[48] For the2017 State of Origin series, Klemmer played in all 3 matches off the interchange bench in the Blues 2–1 series loss.[49] In the lead-up to Game 3, Klemmer was set to start at prop by coachLaurie Daley and withAndrew Fifita to come off the bench but rumours that Fifita blew up at Daley about the switch and he later reversed that decision and the Blues would later go on to lose the match 22–6.[50][51] Klemmer was named as the winner of theBrad Fittler Medal for being the Blues Best Player of the series. Klemmer was the second player to receive the award by playing all 3 matches of the interchange bench.[52] Klemmer finished the2017 NRL season with him playing in 21 matches and scoring 1 try for the Bulldogs. On 3 October 2017, Klemmer was selected in the 24-man Australia Kangaroos2017 Rugby League World Cup squad.[53] Klemmer played in all 6 matches of the tournament, including starting at prop in the World Cup Final match againstEngland in the hard-fought 6–0 victory atSuncorp Stadium.[54][55]
In 2018, Klemmer was selected to play for New South Wales in the2018 State of Origin series which The Blues emerged victorious winning 2–1. In game 3, Klemmer was placed on report for an attempted trip on Queensland player Ben Hunt. Klemmer was later fined $1350 but escaped suspension.[56]
Late in the year, Klemmer asked for a release from the final two years of his Canterbury contract.[57][58] He was granted the release in November, signing a five-year contract with theNewcastle Knights starting in 2019.[59][60]
On 7 October 2019, Klemmer was named in the Australian side for the upcomingOceania Cup fixtures.[citation needed]
Klemmer played 21 games for Newcastle in the2020 NRL season. He played in Newcastle's first finals game since 2013 which was a 46–20 loss againstSouth Sydney in the elimination final.[61]
Klemmer made 21 appearances for Newcastle in the2021 NRL season as the club qualified for the finals. Klemmer played in Newcastle's elimination final loss toParramatta.[62]
In round 17 of the2022 NRL season, Klemmer was sent off in Newcastle's 40–28 loss toSouth Sydney.[63]On 2 August, Klemmer was stood down by the Newcastle club for an on-field incident which happened during the clubs round 20 loss toCanterbury. It was alleged that Klemmer refused to be substituted towards the end of the match and verbally abused a Newcastle trainer.[64]On 16 November, Klemmer joined theWests Tigers on a three-year deal in a player swap withJackson Hastings.[65]
Klemmer played in all 24 of the Wests Tigers games for 2023. He was 9th in the competition for post-contact metres[66] and 20th for run metres,[67] leading the club in both statistics. The Wests Tigers would end up finishing with thewooden spoon for a second straight year.[68]
In round 4 of the2024 NRL season, Wests Tigers won 17-16 over Parramatta at theWestern Sydney Stadium. Parramatta'sClinton Gutherson had a penalty conversion after the full-time siren to win the match for Parramatta however he missed the kick with camera footage showing Klemmer doing aBras d'honneur at Gutherson after the ball sailed wide of the posts. Klemmer was alleged by some fans online of cheating as he waved his arms and jumped in front of the goalposts as Gutherson moved to kick the ball, a distraction which is against the rules.[69]Klemmer made 20 appearances for the Wests Tigers throughout the season as the club finished with the wooden spoon for a third consecutive season.[70]
On 13 March, Klemmer had signed a deal with theSt. George Illawarra Dragons for the rest of the 2025 season.[71]
