Vincent "Vinny" Mellars (born 27 January 1984) is a New Zealand

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

and

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

footballer who plays in the Centres. He has previously played in the

NRL The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

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 w ...

and

Air New Zealand Cup The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

and in the

RFL Championship The Championship, known as the Betfred Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a professional rugby league competition. It is the second-tier competition organised by the Rugby Football League, the governing body for the sport in England, a ...

for

Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England, who play in the Championship. Featherstone is a former coal mining town with a population of around 16,000 and Rovers are one of the last "smal ...

Background

Vinny Mellars was born in

Porirua Porirua, ( mi, Pari-ā-Rua) a city in the Wellington Region of the North Island of New Zealand, is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. The name 'Porirua' is a corruption of 'Pari-rua', meaning "the tide sw ...

, New Zealand. His father,

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

, was a New Zealand international.

Early career

Mellars played his junior

for

Wainuiomata Wainuiomata () is a large suburb of Lower Hutt, in the Wellington Region of New Zealand's North Island. Origin of name The word 'Wainui-o-mata' is a Māori name made up of the words Wai = water, Nui = big, O = of, and Mata – which could refer ...

and

Petone Petone (Māori: ''Pito-one''), a large suburb of Lower Hutt, Wellington, stands at the southern end of the Hutt Valley, on the northern shore of Wellington Harbour. The Māori name means "end of the sand beach". Europeans first settled in P ...

. After being signed by the

New Zealand Warriors The New Zealand Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as ...

he moved to Auckland, playing for Otahuhu in the

2002 Bartercard Cup The 2002 New Zealand rugby league season was the 95th season of rugby league that had been played in New Zealand. The main feature of the year was the third season of the Bartercard Cup competition that was run by the New Zealand Rugby League. T ...

. He also represented

and

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by ...

in the

Bartercard Cup The Bartercard Cup (successor of the Lion Red Cup) was the top level rugby league club competition in New Zealand from 2000 until 2007. For the entire life of the tournament it was sponsored by Bartercard. The cup was administered by the New Zeal ...

New Zealand

Mellars made his

début aged 19, in round 13 of the

2003 NRL season The 2003 NRL premiership was the 96th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the sixth run by the National Rugby League. Fifteen teams competed, with the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles returning in place of their failed join ...

with the

against the

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Cronulla, in the Sutherland Shire, Southern Sydney, New South Wales. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugby leag ...

. Mellars played with the Warriors throughout the 2003 and 2004 seasons.

Cronulla-Sutherland

In 2005, Mellars signed with the

. Mellars scored two tries against Newcastle in 2005 including the winning try in

Golden Point The golden point, a sudden death overtime system, is used to resolve drawn football matches. The term is borrowed from soccer's now-defunct golden goal. Rugby league Australia The golden point is used to determine a winner (where applicable, see ...

extra time.

Sydney Roosters

In round 6 of the

2006 NRL season The 2006 NRL season was the 99th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the ninth run by the National Rugby League. The lineup of teams remained unchanged from the previous year, with fifteen clubs competing for the 2006 ...

, Mellars featured for the

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won fifteen Ne ...

when he was chosen to play against Brisbane on the Wing. Mellars scored his first try of 2006 in round 8 against North Queensland. His second try of 2006, was against Souths in round 11 and his third was against Melbourne in round 13. In round 18, Mellars was called up for the game against Manly-Warringah (to replace

Shaun Foley Shaun Foley (born 29 August 1986 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia) is an Australian former professinoal rugby union player and a former member of the National Rugby League's (NRL) Sydney Roosters squad. Playing career Foley played in the ...

). Mellars played in the 2006

NSW Cup The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserv ...

grand final for Newtown, who were the feeder club for the

at the time. Newtown would lose the final 20-19 against

Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...

Stadium Australia Stadium Australia, currently known as Accor Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Sydney Olympic Park, in Sydney, Australia. The stadium, which in Australia is sometimes referred to as Sydney Olympic Stad ...

Rugby Union

In 2008, Mellars made the switch to

Rugby Union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

, moving to

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

, New Zealand to be with his wife, Charmian Purcell, who plays basketball for the

Christchurch Sirens Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

and who has also represented New Zealand at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He was in the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

wider training squad and played in the

for

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of t ...

Return to League

In 2009 Mellars played with the

Auckland Vulcans The Auckland Vulcans were an Auckland based rugby league club that participated in the New South Wales Cup. They were administered by the Rugby League Development Foundation. The team was selected from the Auckland Rugby League's Fox Memorial C ...

in the

Super League

Just a few weeks before the start of the 2010 Super League season, Mellars signed for Crusaders RLFC. Only fourteen days later, he made his début in 2010's

Super League XV The 2010 Super League season (known as the Engage Super League XV for sponsorship reasons) was the 15th season of the European rugby league football competition, Super League. Fourteen teams competed for the League Leaders' Shield over 27 rounds ( ...

against

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popul ...

where he put

Gareth Raynor Gareth Raynor (born 24 February 1978) is an English former professional rugby union and rugby league footballer who last played for the London Skolars in Kingstone Press Championship 1. He is a former Great Britain international who previously ...

over the line for his first try for the Crusaders. Following the demise of the Crusaders, Mellars joined

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the ...

on a three-year deal, starting in 2012.Mellars makes Wildcats move
''rleague.com'', 1 August 2011 In 2014, Vince signed a contract to play with

Kingstone Press Championship The Championship, known as the Betfred Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a professional rugby league competition. It is the second-tier competition organised by the Rugby Football League, the governing body for the sport in England, a ...

club

References

External links

Canterbury Crusaders Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mellars, Vince 1984 births Living people New Zealand people of Tokelauan descent New Zealand sportspeople of Polynesian descent Auckland rugby league team players Canterbury rugby union players Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks players Crusaders Rugby League players East Coast Bays Barracudas players Featherstone Rovers players Junior Kiwis players New Zealand Māori rugby league players New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand Warriors players Newtown Jets NSW Cup players Otahuhu Leopards players People educated at Bishop Viard College Petone Panthers players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Porirua Rugby league wingers Sydney Roosters players Wainuiomata Lions players Wakefield Trinity players