Rhys Joseph Wesser (born 31 March 1979) is an Australian 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 as a . During his 14 seasons 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 ...

, he played for 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 ...

, with whom he won the

2003 NRL Premiership The 2003 NRL premiership was the 96th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the sixth run by the National Rugby League. Fifteen teams competed, with the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles returning in place of their failed joint ...

, and 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 ...

. His 113 tries for the Penrith Panthers is a club record. Wesser was also a

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 ...

and Indigenous Dreamtime representative.

Background

Born in

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. In the , the population of Rockhampton was 79,293. A common nickname for Rockhampton is "Rocky", and the demonym of Rockhampton is Rockhamptonite. The Scottish- ...

, Wesser is of Aboriginal and

South Sea Islander South Sea Islanders, formerly referred to as Kanakas, are the Australian descendants of Pacific Islanders from more than 80 islandsincluding the Oceanian archipelagoes of the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji, the Gilbert Islands ...

( Vanuatuan) descent. He played junior rugby league in his hometown with the Rockhampton Brothers. At age 16, Wesser was selected for the Queensland under-17s representative side. Wesser finished his schooling at Emmaus College, Rockhampton, and also helped his School side take out the Mal Meninga Under 19s Cup, being the fourth fastest 19-year-old in the state, running times around 100 metres in 11 seconds.

Professional playing career

Penrith Panthers

Debuting in 1998 Wesser moved from his hometown of Rockhampton to the foot of the Blue Mountains,

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 ...

, to play for the

but he found trouble in pushing for a first-grade spot with Peter Jorgensen holding that title. Three years later Rhys was given the opportunity to play first grade with the departure of Jorgensen. Wesser scored ten tries in his debut season despite Penrith finishing last on the premiership table. In 2002, he scored a Penrith club record of nineteen tries, including three hat-tricks, and was dubbed "Rhys-Lightning" and soon became a crowd favourite with his acceleration and line-breaking ability. The following season Wesser bettered his own record by scoring on 25 occasions, earning the title of the most prolific try-scoring fullback for a season in the history of Australian rugby league. The Panthers won their second premiership title, beat the

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 ...

in the

2003 NRL grand final The 2003 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding match of the 2003 NRL season. In what was a contest of Sydney's east versus west, defending premiers the Sydney Roosters played against minor premiers the Penrith Panthers. T ...

in which Wesser played at fullback. As 2003 NRL premiers, the Penrith travelled to England to face 2003 Super League champions, the

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. The club have won the League Championship six times, the Challenge Cup f ...

in the

2004 World Club Challenge The 2004 World Club Challenge was held on Friday, 13 February 2004, at the Alfred McAlpine Stadium, Huddersfield, England. The game was contested by Bradford Bulls and the Penrith Panthers. Background Bradford Bulls Penrith Panthers Matc ...

. Wesser played at in the Panthers' 22–4 loss. Wesser's try-scoring declined in 2004 with the addition of

Amos Roberts Amos Roberts (born 2 November 1980) is an Indigenous Australian former professional rugby league footballer. A Country New South Wales representative prolific try-scoring back, he played in Australia's National Rugby League for the St. George ...

to the squad but he still scored thirteen tries. Wesser was selected to play for Queensland in the

2004 State of Origin series The 2004 State of Origin series was the 23rd time that the annual three-game series between the Queensland and New South Wales representative rugby league football teams was contested entirely under ' state of origin' selection rules. A pre-ser ...

. Wesser made the Aboriginal selection in the exhibition game against the New Zealand Māori side as part of the official opening of the 2008 World Cup on 26 October. In 2008, Wesser announced that he would be joining the

in 2009 for a two-year deal. Wesser's 113 tries is the most scored by any Penrith player.

South Sydney Rabbitohs

In only the second round of the 2009 season, his first with Souths, Wesser injured his knee. He made his return to the field in 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 (NRL). The season commenced on 12 March and ended with the grand final, played on 3 ...

. On 12 August 2011, Wesser announced that he would be retiring at the end of the season. He was unable to finish his final season of Rugby League due to another knee injury sustained late in the season.

References

External links

Rhys Wesser
at ''Rugby League Tables''
Official Penrith Panthers WebpagePenrith Panthers vs Melbourne Storm Round 5 2005
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wesser, Rhys 1979 births Living people Australian Aboriginal rugby league team players Australian people of Vanuatuan descent Australian rugby league players Indigenous All Stars players North Sydney Bears NSW Cup players Penrith Panthers players Queensland Rugby League State of Origin players Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Rockhampton, Queensland South Sydney Rabbitohs players