Jesse Te Ahukaramu Royal (born 22 March 1980) is a professional rugby league footballer from New Zealand who currently plays for the Kurri Kurri Bulldogs in the Newcastle Rugby League. He has previously played in the NRL for the Newcastle Knights and New Zealand Warriors. Royal's preferred rugby league position is prop forward.
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Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Jesse Te Ahukaramu Royal[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 22 March 1980 Hamilton, New Zealand | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 191 cm (6 ft 3 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 107 kg (16 st 12 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Prop | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: [2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Early years
editRoyal was born in Hamilton, New Zealand.[1] He was a chef in the New Zealand Army and has played in the Bartercard Cup for the Central Falcons[1] and represented Waikato.[3] He captained the 2003 New Zealand A tour of England.[4]
Australia
editRoyal was signed by the Penrith Panthers which prompted a move to Australia in 2004 to play for the club's NSWRL Premier League team. In 2005 he joined the Newcastle Knights on a two-year deal, however he was not able to break out of Premier League. His form was good enough however to earn a new two-year deal which eventually led to his first grade debut in 2007. He went on to play 29 games for the Knights.
Warriors
editIn 2009, Royal initially decided to explore employment opportunities in the coalmine industry, whilst also playing for the Kurri Kurri club, in order to spend more time with his young family.[5] However he later signed a two-year deal with the New Zealand Warriors that same year to provide injury cover for Evarn Tuimavave.[1][6] He made his Warriors debut in round 2 of the 2009 NRL season against the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles, scoring a try with his first touch of the ball.[7]
Later years
editRoyal decided to retire after the 2010 NRL season and return to Newcastle resume his employment in the mining industry, and to play for local club Kurri Kurri Bulldogs.[4]
References
edit- ^ a b c d "Warriors sign Jesse Royal". rleague.com. 19 February 2009. Archived from the original on 26 October 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
- ^ RLP
- ^ Brown, Michael (29 March 2009). "NRL: Royal tour of duty lands at Warriors". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
- ^ a b Far from a Royal departure, this Warrior is just happy he made the grade Sydney Morning Herald, 4 September 2010
- ^ "2009 NRL Player Movements". NRL Live. 4 October 2008. Archived from the original on 5 October 2008. Retrieved 4 October 2008.
- ^ Royal leaves the mines to join Warriors AAP, 17 February 2009
- ^ Jones set to take on defending premiers Yahoo!Xtra Sport, 17 March 2009