Dean Widders

Dean Widders
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**Dean Widders**
Personal information
Full name	Dean Widders
Date of birth	25 October 1979 (1979-10-25) (age 28)
Place of birth	Armidale, Australia
Height	180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	94 kg (14 st 11 lb)
Nickname(s)	Ralph
Club information
Position(s)	Second Row
Current club	South Sydney Rabbitohs
Number	15
Youth clubs
Years	Club
	Armidale, Narwan
Senior clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (points)
2000–2001 2002–2006 2007–	Sydney Roosters Parramatta Eels South Sydney Rabbitohs	13 (4) 112 (112) 25 (20)
Representative teams
2006	Country	1 (0)
* Professional club appearances and points counted for domestic first grade only and correct as at 17:05, 1 January 2008 (UTC).

Dean Richard Widders (born 25 October 1979 in Armidale, New South Wales), an Indigenous Australian, is a professional rugby league player in the Australian National Rugby League (NRL). He will join European Super League side Castleford Tigers for the 2009 season.^[1]

1 Biography
2 Literacy program
3 Playing career
4 Career highlights
5 Footnotes
6 External links

Biography

Childhood Dean Widders played his first game of rugby league at the age of six, he tried many other sports but excelled especially in rugby league. Widders was also an avid reader during his childhood, a skill that he continues to promote.

Teenage Years During Widders' teenage years he honed his rugby league skills and became well-known in the local area as a lock playing for the Armidale greens. During this time a Sydney Roosters selector flew to Armidale to see Widders' play. When Widders' was 14, in 1993, he was invited to a selection trial and proved to be one of the best players. At the age of 17, in 1996, Widders' moved to Sydney to play with the Sydney Roosters, in this year he captained an Aboriginal side. In 1997 Widders' returned to Duval High School in Armidale to complete his Higher School Certificate.

Adult Life Widders' played NRL Premier League for the Roosters, occasionally playing in NRL matches. In 2002 Widders' signed with the Parramatta Eels, he finished with this club at the end of 2006.

Widders' is very well respected in his hometown of Armidale, New South Wales: in 2004 he was awarded the NRL's Ken Stephen's Medal for his positive work with youth in the community and in 2006 he was appointed to the Federal Government's National Indigenous Council. Widders is also an Ambassador for the National Aboriginal Sports Corporation Australia (NASCA).^[2]

Literacy program

When Widders' was a child he had access to reading material, in a context where not many Aboriginal children did. Widders' now travels around Australia distributing books to indigenous children and indigenous communities. He also helps indigenous children with their writing skills via email.^{citation needed}

Playing career

Widders' was involved in a racial vilification incident in July 2005 when South Sydney Rabbitohs captain Bryan Fletcher racially abused him [1]. In 2006 he signed a three year contract to play for the South Sydney Rabbitohs starting in 2007, where he hopes to cement a starting position and move on to higher representative achievement. He has just signed a 3 year deal with Castleford Tigers to end his career.