Matt Nable

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title: "Matt Nable" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1972-births", "living-people", "21st-century-australian-male-actors", "21st-century-australian-novelists", "21st-century-australian-screenwriters", "actors-from-sydney", "australian-book-review-people", "australian-children's-writers", "australian-expatriate-rugby-league-players-in-england", "australian-filmmakers", "australian-male-film-actors", "australian-male-television-actors", "australian-rugby-league-players", "australian-screenwriters", "carlisle-rlfc-players", "london-broncos-players", "manly-warringah-sea-eagles-players", "rugby-league-locks", "rugby-league-players-from-sydney", "south-sydney-rabbitohs-players", "sportsmen-from-new-south-wales", "writers-from-sydney"] description: "Australian rugby league footballer, film maker & actor" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Nable" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Australian rugby league footballer, film maker & actor ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox rugby league biography"]

Field	Value
name	Matt Nable
fullname	Matthew Nable
image	Matthew Nable 2015.jpg
caption	Nable in 2015
birth_date
birth_place	Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
position
club1	Manly Sea Eagles
year1start	1991
year1end	92
appearances1	5
tries1	1
goals1	0
fieldgoals1	0
points1	4
club2	South Sydney
year2start	1995
appearances2	3
tries2	0
goals2	0
fieldgoals2	0
points2	0
club3	Carlisle
year3start	1996
appearances3	16
tries3	4
goals3	0
fieldgoals3	0
points3	16
club4	London Broncos
year4start	1997
appearances4	4
tries4	1
goals4	0
fieldgoals4	0
points4	4
source
module	{{infobox person
embed	yes
relatives	Adam Nable (brother)
::

|name = Matt Nable |fullname = Matthew Nable |nickname = |image = Matthew Nable 2015.jpg |imagesize = |caption = Nable in 2015 |birth_date = |birth_place = Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |retired = |height = |weight = |position = |club1 = Manly Sea Eagles |year1start = 1991 |year1end = 92 |appearances1 = 5 |tries1 = 1 |goals1 = 0 |fieldgoals1 = 0 |points1 = 4 |club2 = South Sydney |year2start = 1995 |year2end = |appearances2 = 3 |tries2 = 0 |goals2 = 0 |fieldgoals2 = 0 |points2 = 0 |club3 = Carlisle |year3start = 1996 |year3end = |appearances3 = 16 |tries3 = 4 |goals3 = 0 |fieldgoals3 = 0 |points3 = 16 |club4 = London Broncos |year4start = 1997 |year4end = |appearances4 = 4 |tries4 = 1 |goals4 = 0 |fieldgoals4 = 0 |points4 = 4 |updated = |source = | module = {{infobox person | embed = yes | father = | mother = | spouse = | education = | alma_mater = | relatives = Adam Nable (brother)

Matthew Nable (born 8 March 1972) is an Australian film and television actor, writer, sports commentator and former professional rugby league player. After playing in the Winfield Cup Premiership during the 1990s for the Manly-Warringah and South Sydney clubs, he wrote and starred in the rugby league-centred drama The Final Winter in 2007. Nable went on to act in films such as Killer Elite and Riddick. He appeared on Mr Inbetween and as Ra's al Ghul in The CW's Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow.

Early life

Nable grew up on the Northern Beaches of Sydney and also, as a young boy, spent two years at Portsea, Victoria, when his father, Dave, a soldier, was stationed there,

Rugby league career

Nable rose through the junior ranks at the Manly-Warringah club and made five appearances for the Graham Lowe-coached team over 1991 and 1992. Following this he didn't appear in the premiership until 1995 when he played three games for the South Sydney Rabbitohs.

After another season in England where he played for Carlisle before moving to the London Broncos, Nable quit football and then tried his hand at boxing, fighting for the state light-heavyweight title as an amateur. He then worked as a beer salesman and personal trainer, but eventually decided to leave paid employment to become a writer.

Writing and acting career

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Matt_Nable_(8284170126).jpg" caption="Nable in 2012"] ::

After encouragement from his mentor, Booker Prize-winning novelist Thomas Keneally, With friends he also managed to raise $1.6m and they worked together to make the film which was released in 2007, and earned critical praise but was a box office failure.

Nable went on to act in the United States as a Los Angeles detective in the 2008 television movie S.I.S..

In 2009, his book We Don't Live Here Anymore was published, in 2011 he published his second book Faces in the Clouds, which won critical praise.

He worked as a writer on Channel 7's rugby league comedy programme, The Matty Johns Show.

Nable appeared in the main cast of critically acclaimed and award-winning SBS drama series, East West 101, and in the 2011 action film Killer Elite alongside Clive Owen, Robert De Niro, Yvonne Strahovski, Jason Statham, and Dominic Purcell.

Nable starred in the 2012 Australian drama series, Bikie Wars: Brothers in Arms. The same year he was announced as a cast member of another Australian TV series, Underbelly: Badness. He also had a role in the film 33 Postcards.

He appeared in the 2013 sci-fi film Riddick alongside Vin Diesel.

In March 2014, it was reported that Nable would appear in the Nine Network's upcoming miniseries Gallipoli.

On 4 September 2014, Stephen Amell announced on Facebook that Nable would portray the role of Ra's al Ghul on the third season of Arrow. Despite Liam Neeson (Ra's al Ghul in The Dark Knight Trilogy) expressing an interest in reprising his role for the television series' third season and the CW Network reaching out to him, he was unavailable and Nable was cast as Ra's instead. IGN's Jesse Scheeden said he brought "charisma and danger to the part". Nable portrayed the character in ten episodes of the third season. He reprised his role in a first season episode of Legends of Tomorrow.

In October 2019, Nable starred in the opening cinematic of the 2019 Bathurst 1000, broadcast on Fox Sports Australia. Nable has since featured in numerous Fox Sports cinematics, promotions and advertisements, primarily for their Rugby League division, Fox League.

From 2018 to 2021 he had a recurring role in the Australian black-comedy crime drama Mr Inbetween.

On 19 November 2024, Nable was named as part of an extended cast for Netflix series Apple Cider Vinegar.

Filmography

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Matthew_Nable.jpg" caption="Nable at the ''[[Killing Them Softly]]'' Australian premiere"] ::

Film

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	**	Mick 'Grub' Henderson	Also writer
2011	33 Postcards	Tommy	As Matthew Nable
Killer Elite	Pennock
2012	K-11	Villalobos	As Matthew Nable
2013	Around the Block	Jack Wood
**	Max
Riddick	Colonel R. 'Boss' Johns
2014	Fell	Thomas
Son of a Gun	Sterlo
2016	Hacksaw Ridge	Lieutenant Colonel Cooney
Incarnate	Dan Sparrow
2017	Jasper Jones	Sergeant
1%	President Knuck	Also writer
2019	Standing Up for Sunny	Male Interviewer
2021	The Dry	Grant Dow
2022	Poker Face	Billy
2023	Transfusion	Johnny	Also writer and director
TBA	In Cold Light	The Inspector	Post-production
TBA	That's Not a Knife	Himself	Documentary; post-production
::

::data[format=table title="Key"]

	Denotes films that have not yet been released
::

Television

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2008	S.I.S.	Melville Atkinson	Television film
2011	East West 101	Detective Neil Travis	Main cast (season 3)
(credited as Matthew Nable)
2012	Bikie Wars: Brothers in Arms	William George "Jock" Ross	Main cast
Underbelly: Badness	Detective Sergeant Gary Jubelin	Main cast
(credited as Matthew Nable)
2014–2015	Arrow	Ra's al Ghul	Recurring role (season 3)
2015	Winter	Federal Agent Jake Harris	Main cast
Gallipoli	Sergeant Harry Perceval	Miniseries
2016	Legends of Tomorrow	Ra's al Ghul	Episode: "Left Behind"
Barracuda	Frank Torma	Miniseries
Quarry	Thurston	2 episodes
Hyde & Seek	Detective Sergeant Gary Hyde	Main cast
2017	Blue Murder: Killer Cop	Detective Mark Standen	Miniseries
2018	Dead Lucky	Matt O'Reilly	Miniseries
2018–2021	Mr Inbetween	Dave	Recurring role
2020	The Sounds	Jack McGregor	Main cast
2022	The Twelve	Nathan Spears	Main cast
2023	Last King of the Cross	"Big Tony" Stone	Main cast
Year Of	Alan Prichard	10 episodes
2023–present	Bay of Fires	Thaddeus	TV series
2024	Plum	Dave	5 episodes
2025	Apple Cider Vinegar	Joe	6 episodes
::

Awards and nominations

::data[format=table title=""]

Year	Title	Award	Category	Result	Ref
2025	Apple Cider Vinegar	Logie Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Pending
2022	Mr Inbetween	Logie Awards	Most Outstanding Supporting Actor
2021	Mr Inbetween	AACTA Awards	Best Supporting Actor Drama
2017	Blue Murder: Killer Cop	AACTA Awards	Guest or Supporting Actor in Television Drama
::

Bibliography

Books

• We Don't Live Here Anymore (2009)
• Faces in the Clouds (2011)
• Guilt (2015)
• Still (2021)

References

References

1. [http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/players/matthew-nable/summary.html Rugby League Project]
2. Purcell, Charles. (6 September 2007). "Final whistle". Fairfax Media.
3. Mathieson, Craig. (31 August 2007). "The field of broken dreams". Fairfax.
4. Cohen, Joanna. (14 February 2008). "Matt Nable on The Final Winter: The RT Interview". Flixster, Inc..
5. AMNRL. (2007). "New York Knights star Adam Nable welcomes brother Matt and his hit rugby league movie ''The Final Winter'' for its US premiere in Manhattan on October 10". Super League America, Inc..
6. (13 March 1997). "Club-by-club guide to the Super League". independent.co.uk.
7. Maddox, Garry. (1 September 2007). "A league of his own". Fairfax Media.
8. Chester, Rodney. (6 September 2007). "Hard yards for Final Winter". News Limited.
9. Williams, Daniel. (31 August 2007). "Footy for Thought". Time Inc..
10. Maddox, Garry. (4 December 2007). "Comeback of the day". Fairfax Media.
11. Shattuck, Kathryn. (24 August 2008). "What's on Today". The New York Times.
12. Penguin Books. (2010). "Matt Nable". Penguin.
13. Flynn, Chris. (18 June 2011). "Matt Nable's sibling story a class act". [[The Australian]].
14. Ritchie, Dean. (5 July 2010). "Afternoon of hot dogs and heroes". News Limited.
15. (7 June 2011). "Matt Nable on writing and acting". Radio National.
16. "Matt Nable as Detective Neil Travis". SBS.
17. (11 December 2013). "From running on rugby league fields to acting on the Hollywood big screen". [[Fox Sports (Australia).
18. (3 March 2014). "Rising star Kodi Smit-McPhee set to headline epic Gallipoli TV drama". news.com.au.
19. Ng, Philiana. (September 4, 2014). "'Arrow' Finds Its Ra's al Ghul". [[The Hollywood Reporter]].
20. (11 October 2014). "Liam Neeson Actually WAS Offered the Role of Ra's Al Ghul for Arrow". Movie Pilot.
21. (10 December 2014). "Arrow: "The Climb" Review". [[IGN]].
22. "'Legends of Tomorrow' recap: Too little, two years too late".
23. (10 October 2019). "Bathurst, home to the most adored mountain of them all {{!}} Supercars".
24. Staff Writer. (19 November 2024). "Apple Cider Vinegar cast plot photos".
25. Knox, David. (2025-06-16). "2025 Logie Awards: nominees {{!}} TV Tonight".
26. Knox, David. (2022-05-15). "Logie Awards 2022: nominees {{!}} TV Tonight".
27. Knox, David. (2021-10-31). "AACTA Awards 2021: nominations {{!}} TV Tonight".
28. Knox, David. (2017-10-30). "AACTA Awards 2017: nominees {{!}} TV Tonight".

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