Kaysa Pritchard (born 5 May 1994) is a former

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

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 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 ...

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 ...

Background

Pritchard was born in

Campbelltown, New South Wales Campbelltown is a suburb located on the outskirts of the metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is located in Greater Western Sydney south-west of the Sydney central business district by road. Campbelltown is the adminis ...

, Australia. He is of

Samoan Samoan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Samoan Islands, an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean ** Something of, from, or related to Samoa, a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands ** Something of, from, ...

and

Pākehā ''Pākehā'' (or ''Pakeha''; ; ) is a Māori language, Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesians, Polynesian New Zealanders, New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zeala ...

(Anglo-Saxon) New Zealand descent. He played his junior football for the

Cabramatta Two Blues Cabramatta Two Blues, colloquially known as ''Cabra'', is an Australian rugby league football club that was originally formed in 1919 and then later completely formed as the Two Blues in 1939. They have always based from the Parramatta Junior Le ...

, and attended Hoxton Park High School before being signed by the

. Pritchard is the younger brother of retired

player

Frank Pritchard Frank Semu Pritchard (born 3 November 1983), also known by the nicknames "Cranky" and "Frank the Tank", is a former professional rugby league footballer who represented New Zealand national rugby league team, New Zealand and Samoa national rug ...

Playing career

Early career

In 2012, Pritchard played for the Parramatta Eels'

NYC New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive wit ...

team.

2013

In Round 8, Pritchard made his

debut for Parramatta against the

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest city in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...

. On 5 July, he re-signed with the Eels on a two-year contract.

2014

On 3 May, Pritchard played for the

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 ...

Under-20s team against the

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Under-20s team. On 8 September, he was named in the

train-on squad for the 2014 Four Nations, but didn't make the final 24-man squad.

2015

On 14 May 2015, it was revealed that Kaysa Pritchard let fellow Parramatta player

Kenny Edwards Kenneth Michael Edwards (February 10, 1946 – August 18, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter, bassist, guitarist, mandolinist, and session musician. He was a founding member of the Stone Poneys and Bryndle and a long-time collaborator ...

take a urine sample for Pritchard on his behalf. Pritchard was temporarily stood down by the club. On 11 July, Pritchard re-signed with the Eels on a one-year contract.

2016

On 26 February, Pritchard re-signed with the Parramatta club on a two-year contract. On 7 May, he made his international debut for

against

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

in the 2016

Polynesian Cup The Polynesian Cup is a rugby league football test match played between Samoa and Tonga first played in 2010. The matches in 2015, 2016 and 2018 were played as double-headers with the Melanesian Cup. Results See also *Polynesia Cup – sim ...

. Later in the year he represented Samoa in their historical test match against Fiji in Apia.

2017

Pritchard started the 2017 season at hooker for Parramatta in round 1. He went on to play a further 15 games before suffering a season-ending knee injury against

St. George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

. After being ruled out for the season, Pritchard made a shock return to The Parramatta side in their elimination final loss to North Queensland.

2018

On 29 April 2018, Pritchard was awarded the anzac medal for being voted best player on ground in Parramatta's 24–22 victory over 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 Round 10, Pritchard suffered a groin injury in the match against Canterbury and was ruled out for 3–4 weeks. On 19 July, Pritchard scored a try in Parramatta's 14–8 victory over arch rivals Canterbury in which the media dubbed the match the "spoon bowl" as both sides were sitting last and second last on the table. On 28 July, Pritchard was ruled out for the rest of the season after suffering a dislocated shoulder in Parramatta's 26–20 loss to South Sydney. In total, Pritchard only managed to feature in 8 games for Parramatta in season 2018 as the club endured a horror year on and off the field claiming its 14th wooden spoon and Pritchard's second wooden spoon as a player since he joined the Eels in 2013. On 30 October 2018, Pritchard signed a one-year contract extension to stay at Parramatta until the end of the 2019 season.

2019

In February, Pritchard was granted indefinite leave by Parramatta after the player declared that he was struggling to recover from an ongoing injury suffered from the 2018 season. On 14 June, Pritchard announced his retirement as a player.

References

External links

Parramatta Eels profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pritchard, Kaysa 1994 births Living people Australian rugby league players Australian people of New Zealand descent Australian sportspeople of Samoan descent Cabramatta Two Blues players Parramatta Eels players Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from Sydney Samoa national rugby league team players Samoan rugby league players Wentworthville Magpies players 21st-century Australian sportsmen