Jason Paul Cayless (born 15 January 1980) is a former

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

international

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who played as a

prop A prop, formally known as a (theatrical) property, is an object actors use on stage or screen during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

in the 2000s and 2010s. He played for the

Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and ...

Sydney Roosters Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club, known as the Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs. The club competes in the National Rugby Lea ...

and the

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers is an Australian professional rugby league football team, based in the Inner West of Sydney and South Western Sydney. The Tigers have competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) since being formed at the end of the 1999 N ...

in the

NRL The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

and St Helens in the

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

. 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 R.F.C., St. Helens. 19,807 spectators turned out at Bolton's Reebo ...

with the

Roosters The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

, 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, Franc ...

, 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 appear ...

with the

Saints In Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Anglican, Oriental Orth ...

Background

Cayless was born in

Sydney, New South Wales Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, 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 The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

with the

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

and played for them at prop forward in their 2002 NRL Grand Final win over the

New Zealand Warriors The 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 the Aucklan ...

. Having won the 2002 NRL Premiership, 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 which was lost to the

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Greater Western Sydney suburb of Penrith, New South Wales, Penrith that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The team is based west of the cen ...

. Cayless played for the Roosters at prop forward in their 2004 NRL grand final loss to cross-Sydney rivals, the

Bulldogs The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is a stocky, muscular dog of medium size, with a large head, thick folds of skin around the face and shoulders and a rel ...

St Helens

Cayless played for St Helens as a prop forward in their

Final victory against the

Huddersfield Giants The Huddersfield Giants are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. Huddersfield play their home games at the John Smiths Stadium and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league sy ...

. 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 The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...

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

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

in 2002 and went on to play in ten Test matches for

Highlights

*''First Grade Debut:'' Round 21, Parramatta v

Parramatta Stadium Parramatta Stadium was a sports stadium in Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia, west of Sydney CBD. The stadium was the home ground of several western Sydney-based sports teams, at the time of closure the most notable were the Parramatta E ...

, 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 21st-century Australian sportsmen