Phillip Shead is a former professional

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 for

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

and represented both New Zealand Māori and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Playing career

Shead was a

Northcote Tigers The Northcote Tigers are a rugby league club based in Northcote, New Zealand. The club was founded in 1910 as the Northcote Warriors though they became known as the Northcote Ramblers shortly afterwards.John Haynes ''From All Blacks to All Go ...

junior along with his younger brother;

Artie Artie is usually a masculine given name, it is also usually a diminutive of Arthur. Notable people with the given name include: People * Artie Bettles (1891–1971), Australian rules footballer * Artie Butler (born 1942), American popular music ...

. In 1992 he represented the New Zealand under-15 side. He went on to represent both

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

and

Taranaki Taranaki is a regions of New Zealand, region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano Mount Taranaki, Taranaki Maunga, formerly known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the ...

alongside his brother. In 1996 he played 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 ...

for the French club

. He represented New Zealand Māori in three "tests" in 1999 and on a tour of France in 2003. On the French tour he played against his brother, who by then had gained French residency. While playing for the

Villeneuve Leopards Villeneuve XIII originally called Sports Athletic Villeneuvois XIII are a semi-professional rugby league team based in Villeneuve-sur-Lot in the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine in south-western France. Formed in 1934, the first French rugby league ...

, Shead himself qualified for

and played at the 2004 Victory Cup. In 2005, while playing for Mount Albert, he was part of a

New Zealand Rugby League The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league, rugby league football in New Zealand.#SPARC-2009, SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a 1910 Great Britain Lions tour o ...

's President selection that played a pre-season trial match against 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 ...

.NZ Presidents Selection / 2005 Tag International Series
''leagueunlimited'', 24 February 2005

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shead, Phillip 1977 births Living people 20th-century New Zealand sportsmen 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen Auckland rugby league team players Expatriate rugby league players in France Mount Albert Lions players Naturalised sports competitors Naturalized citizens of France New Zealand expatriate rugby league players in France New Zealand expatriate rugby league players New Zealand Māori rugby league players New Zealand Māori rugby league team players New Zealand rugby league players Northcote Tigers players Paris Saint-Germain Rugby League players Rugby league second-rows Taranaki rugby league team players Villeneuve Leopards players