Nathan Cayless

Nathan Cayless

Cayless in 2008
Personal information
Full name	Nathan Frederick Cayless
Born	(1978-03-28) 28 March 1978 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
Height	185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	106 kg (16 st 9 lb)
Position	Prop
Club
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
1997–10	Parramatta Eels	259	28	0	1	113
Representative
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
1998–08	New Zealand	39	3	0	0	12
Source: Rugby League Project

Nathan Frederick Cayless (born 28 March 1978 in Sydney, New South Wales) is a New Zealand-Australian former professional rugby league footballer of Maori descent, who was a long-time captain for the Parramatta Eels of the National Rugby League. His position of choice was prop forward. He is also a former captain of the New Zealand national team, whom he led to World Cup glory against Australia in 2008. He is the older brother of fellow New Zealand international Jason Cayless.

Background

While attending Parramatta Marist High School, Nathan played for the Australian Schoolboys team in 1995 and 1996.^[1] However, he later chose to represent New Zealand at senior level.

Playing career

Cayless was selected for the New Zealand team to compete in the end of season 1999 Rugby League Tri-Nations tournament. In the final against Australia he played from the interchange bench in the Kiwis' 22-20 loss. Cayless was part of the Kiwis squad for the 2000 Rugby League World Cup, in which they reached the final.

Cayless was selected to play for the New Zealand national team as a prop forward in the 2007 ANZAC Test loss against Australia.^[2]

Cayless captained New Zealand to victory in the 2008 Rugby League World Cup. Cayless became one of the New Zealand Kiwis' most-capped players, having appeared on 38 occasions by April 2009 when he retired from international rugby league, stating that he wanted to focus the rest of his football career on the Eels.^[3] With the Eels, he holds the record for the most games as captain of any team in the NRL. Cayless was never a prolific try-scorer; the most he ever scored in a season was 5. He also endured a scoring drought spanning over 80 games in his last several NRL seasons. In the final game of his career, Cayless finally brought the drought to an end, touching down in front of his home crowd. He also kicked a Field Goal in 2008 against the Newcastle Knights to send the match into extra time. Luke Burt then kicked the winning Field Goal.

Highlights

• Junior Club: Wentworthville Magpies
• Career Stats: 259 career games to date scoring 28 tries, 1 Field Goal
• National: 38 tests for New Zealand. World Cup winning captain 2008.
• Most capped Captain in the NRL: 217 Games captained.

References