Jason Paul Cayless (born 15 January 1980) is a former New Zealand international rugby league footballer who played as a prop in the 2000s and 2010s. He played for the Parramatta Eels, Sydney Roosters and the Wests Tigers in the NRL and St Helens in the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

. He won the 2002 Telstra Premiership and the

2003 World Club Challenge The 2003 World Club Challenge match was contested on Sunday, 16 February by National Rugby League season 2002 premiers, the Sydney Roosters and Super League VII premiers, St. Helens. 19,807 spectators turned out at Bolton's Reebok Stadium for th ...

with the Roosters, and the

2006 Challenge Cup The 2006 Challenge Cup (also known as the Powergen Challenge Cup due to sponsorship from Powergen) was the 105th tournament played for rugby league's Challenge Cup. It features teams from across Europe including England, Scotland, Wales, France ...

, 2006 Super League Grand Final, 2007 Challenge Cup and the

2007 World Club Challenge The 2007 Carnegie World Club Challenge was played between Super League XI champions, St. Helens and 2006 National Rugby League premiers, the Brisbane Broncos. It was a replay of the 2001 World Club Challenge, and both clubs' fifth WCC appearanc ...

with the

Saints In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual res ...

Background

Cayless was born in

Sydney, New South Wales Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountains ...

, Australia. He is of Maori descent. He is the younger brother of Nathan Cayless.

Club career

Parramatta Eels

Cayless started his career in the National Rugby League with the Parramatta Eels alongside his older brother, Nathan Cayless, who had already been with the club for three years. In 2001 he made his representative début for New South Wales Country Origin.

Sydney Roosters

The following year Cayless moved to the Sydney Roosters and played for them at prop forward in their

2002 NRL Grand Final The 2002 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2002 NRL season. It took place on Sunday, 6 October 2002, at Sydney's Telstra Stadium. 80,130 people saw the Sydney Roosters beat the New Zealand Warriors 30–8. T ...

win over the New Zealand Warriors. Having won the

2002 NRL Premiership The 2002 NRL season was the 95th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the fifth to be run by the National Rugby League. The season was affected by the competition-leading Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs' salary cap breach fi ...

, the Roosters traveled to England to play the

against

champions, St Helens. Cayless played at prop forward in Sydney's victory. He played at prop for the Sydney Roosters in the

2003 NRL grand final The 2003 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding match of the 2003 NRL season. In what was a contest of Sydney's east versus west, defending premiers the Sydney Roosters played against minor premiers the Penrith Panthers. The ...

which was lost to the Penrith Panthers. Cayless played for the Roosters at prop forward in their

2004 NRL grand final The 2004 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2004 NRL season. It was contested by the Sydney Roosters, who had finished the regular season in 1st place, and the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, who had finished ...

loss to cross-Sydney rivals, the Bulldogs.

St Helens

Cayless played for St Helens as a prop forward in their

Final victory against the Huddersfield Giants. St Helens reached the 2006 Super League Grand final to be contested against Hull F.C. and Cayless played as a prop forward in Saints' 26–4 victory. As 2006 Super League champions, St Helens faced 2006 NRL Premiers the Brisbane Broncos in the

. Cayless played at prop forward in the Saints' 18–14 victory. Jason Cayless

Wests Tigers

After spending four seasons in the

, in October 2009 Cayless signed with the Wests Tigers on a two-year contract starting in 2010. He started the first three games of the season from the bench, but injuries saw him make no further appearances for the Tigers in 2010. He announced his retirement before the start of the 2011 season.

International career

He made his international début for New Zealand in 2002 and went on to play in ten Test matches for New Zealand.

Highlights

*''First Grade Debut:'' Round 21, Parramatta v Wests Tigers at

Parramatta Stadium Parramatta Stadium was a sports stadium in Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia, 23 kilometres west of Sydney's central business district. The stadium was the home ground of several western Sydney-based sports teams, at the time of closure t ...

, 25 June 2000 *''National Representation:'' 11 Tests for New Zealand *''NRL Premiership Winner:'' 2002 for Sydney Roosters *''Super League Championship Winner:'' 2006 for St Helens *''Carnegie Challenge Cup Winner:'' 2006 for St Helens *''World Club Challenge Winner:'' 2007 for St Helens

References

External links

Wests Tigers profileJason Cayless St Helens profileSaints Heritage Society profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cayless, Jason 1980 births Living people Australian people of Māori descent Australian rugby league players New South Wales City Origin rugby league team players New Zealand Māori rugby league players New Zealand national rugby league team players Parramatta Eels players Rugby league players from Sydney Rugby league props St Helens R.F.C. players Sydney Roosters players Wests Tigers players