Blake Lazarus (born 9 June 1988) indigenous Australian,a former professional

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 ...

footballer who played for the

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers are an Australian professional rugby league football team, based in the Inner West and South West Sydney. They have competed in the National Rugby League since being formed at the end of the 1999 NRL season as a joint-venture ...

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 ...

competition, later expanding his career playing in the French elite competition for Avignon Bisons. In 2011, he returned to Australia continuing his career with the

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby league, 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 ...

and

Newtown Newtown may refer to: Places Australia *Newtown, New South Wales *Newtown, Queensland (Ipswich) *Newtown, Queensland (Toowoomba) *Newtown, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong *Newtown, Victoria (Golden Plains Shire), a locality near Ballarat Canada * ...

Background

Lazarus was born in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. He is of Greek, Irish and Australian Aboriginal heritage.

Playing career

Lazarus played junior football with Eagle Vale St Andrews. His uncle is five time rugby league

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...

winner

Glenn Lazarus Glenn Patrick Lazarus (born 11 December 1965) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer, and a former Australian Senator. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative , Lazarus won premi ...

. After injuries to

Tim Moltzen Tim Moltzen (born 15 September 1988) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played for the Wests Tigers in the National Rugby League. He mostly played at and , but could also fill in at . Wests Tigers, 2008–2011 Mo ...

and

Robert Lui Robert Lui (born 23 February 1990) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a or for the Townsville Blackhawks in the Queensland Cup. He has previously played for the Wests Tigers and the North Queensland Cowboys in ...

, Lazarus was chosen to make his debut in round six of the

2010 NRL season The 2010 NRL season was the 103rd season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the thirteenth run by the National Rugby League. The season commenced on 12 March and ended with the Grand Final, played on 3 Octobe ...

. He had one more appearance for the season against the Penrith Panthers. Having been released by Wests Tigers, Lazarus joined the

Avignon Bisons Sporting Olympique Avignon also known as Avignon XIII or SO Avignon are a semi-professional rugby league team based in Avignon in the south of France. They currently play in the Elite One Championship. The club was formed in 1916 and they enjoyed ...

in France at the end of the 2010 season. In 2011 Lazarus played for

in the

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 ...

and also represented the Greek national side against

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...

. Lazarus again represented Greece in 2014, scoring 3 tries and kicking 8 goals from 9 attempts in a game against Thailand.

References

External links

Wests Tigers profileNSWRL profileNRL profileBlake Lazarus
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lazarus, Blake 1988 births Living people Australian people of Greek descent Australian rugby league players Balmain Ryde-Eastwood Tigers players Greece national rugby league team players Newtown Jets NSW Cup players Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from New South Wales Sporting Olympique Avignon players Sportspeople of Greek descent Wests Tigers players 21st-century Australian sportsmen