Josh Mantellato (born 21 April 1987) is a former

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

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 most recently played on the for The Entrance Tigers in the Denton Engineering Cup. He previously played for the Wyong Roos in the Central Coast Division Rugby League competition,

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league team based in Newcastle, New South Wales that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, the Knights joined the top-tier competition in New ...

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 ...

and the

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers (often abbreviated to Hull KR) are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Craven Park, Hull, Craven Park and compete in Super League, the top tier of B ...

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 ...

Background

Mantellato was born in

Gosford Gosford is a waterfront city at the northern end of Brisbane Water on the Central Coast in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Gosford Waterfront is known for its boating and scenic views on the shores of Brisbane Water. Gosford is ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, Australia and is of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

descent. He played his junior rugby league for the Wyong Roos.

Playing career

Early career

Up until 2011, Mantellato played for the Wyong Roos in the

Newcastle Rugby League The Newcastle Rugby League is a local rugby league football competition in Newcastle, Australia. It is one of the oldest rugby league competitions in Australia, founded in 1910. A Newcastle rugby league team, Newcastle representative team was al ...

2010

In 2010, Mantellato made his international debut for

2012

In 2012, Mantellato joined 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 reserve ...

team, finishing the season as the competition's highest point-scorer, with 306 points. On 12 September 2012, he was named on the wing in the 2012

Team of the Year. He then signed a one-year contract with the Newcastle outfit.

2013

In round 12 of the

2013 NRL season The 2013 NRL season was the 106th season of professional rugby league club competition in Australia. The National Rugby League's main competition, named the 2013 Telstra Premiership after major sponsors Telstra Corporation, was contested by sixt ...

, Mantellato made his

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 ...

debut for Newcastle against the

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney District Rugby League Football Club, also known as the South Sydney Rabbitohs, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Maroubra, New South Wales, Maroubra that competes in the Nat ...

. He scored a try and kicked three goals on debut. On 20 August 2013, he re-signed with the Novocastrians on a one-year contract. On 22 September 2013, he was again named on the wing in the 2013

Team of the Year. During 2013, he featured in Italy's successful

2013 Rugby League World Cup qualifying Of the fourteen teams that would participate in the 2013 Rugby League World Cup, only two were not automatic inclusions, so must win qualifying matches to enter the tournament, which was held in Wales and England. Originally around twenty teams w ...

tournament and was selected in the 24-man squad for the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

campaign. On 19 October 2013, he kicked the winning field goal in Italy's 15-14 warm up game win over

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

2014

On 21 September 2014, Mantellato was named on the wing in the 2014

Team of the Year for the third year in a row.

2015

On 11 August 2014, Mantellato signed a three-year contract with

club,

, starting in 2015. He made his Super League debut in round 1 against the

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home games at Headingley Rugby Stadium, AMT Headingley Rugby Stadium and compete in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby lea ...

. He kicked off his Super League points tally by kicking five goals in their 30-40 first round defeat. He scored his first two Super League tries against the

Warrington Wolves Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league club based in Warrington, England. They play home games at the Halliwell Jones Stadium and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league system, British rugby league. Warringto ...

in round 3.

2017

In January, Mantellato returned to Australia to play for

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 ...

feeder club, Wyong Roos on a one-year contract following the relegation of Hull Kingston Rovers to the Kingstone Press Championship.

2018

Mantellato spent 2018 playing for Wyong in the Intrust Super Premiership NSW. At the end of the season it was announced that Wyong would not be competing in the competition in 2019 as the

ended their agreement for Wyong to be their feeder side instead choosing foundation club

North Sydney North Sydney is a suburb and commercial district on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. And is the administrative centre for the local government area of North Sydney Council. History The Indigenous people on the s ...

as the new feeder side.

2021

After exiting the Wyong Roos, Mantellato joined the Entrance Tigers for Season 2021. At the advice of medical professionals, Mantellato would go on to retire after sustaining a throat fracture.

References

External links

Hull Kingston Rovers profile2017 RLWC profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mantellato, Josh 1987 births Living people Australian people of Italian descent Sportspeople of Italian descent Australian rugby league players Hull Kingston Rovers players Italy national rugby league team players New South Wales Residents rugby league team players Newcastle Knights players Rugby league players from Gosford, New South Wales Rugby league wingers Wyong Roos players 21st-century Australian sportsmen