Ben Ellis (rugby league)

Ben Ellis (born 14 September 1982) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s. A New Zealand Māori representative hooker, he played in the National Rugby League for Australian club St. George Illawarra Dragons.

Ben Ellis
Personal information
Full nameBen Ellis
Born (1982-09-14) 14 September 1982 (age 42)
Tūrangi, New Zealand
Playing information
Height180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight90 kg (14 st 2 lb; 200 lb)
PositionHooker
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2007–08 St George Illawarra 21 2 0 0 8
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2008 New Zealand Māori 1 0 0 0 0
Source: [1]

Background

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Born in Tūrangi, Ellis is of Māori, Welsh, and Lebanese descent.[2]

Playing career

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A former Junior Kiwi, in 2006 Ellis played for the North Sydney Bears, making a record 1,066 tackles in the NSWRL Premier League season.[3]

In 2007 Ellis joined the St. George Illawarra Dragons in the NRL. Ellis captained the New Zealand Māori rugby league team in the opening match of the 2008 World Cup.

At the end of the 2008 season Ellis was released by the Dragons, and signed with the Cabramatta Two-Blues club in the Bundaberg Cup.[4] In 2009 Ellis was named to play in the New South Wales Residents team.[5] Ellis later played for the Cabramatta Two-Blues in the Ron Massey Cup.

Ellis then played representative Oztag, and was selected to represent Australia at the 2018 World Cup.

References

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  1. ^ "Ben Ellis - Career Stats & Summary - Rugby League Project". Rugbyleagueproject.org.
  2. ^ Jessup, Peter (13 July 2007). "League: Kiwi Dragons chase their dream". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 19 September 2011.
  3. ^ Norths Ben Ellis breaks new record Archived 3 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine rleague.com, 28 September 2006
  4. ^ "Dragons utility joins the Two Blues". Cabramatta RLC. 27 January 2009. Archived from the original on 25 December 2008. Retrieved 28 January 2009.
  5. ^ Ellis shows why he's got the guernsey Archived 6 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Fairfield City Champion, 15 July 2009
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