Anthony Minichiello
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
Please see the discussion on the talk page. |
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Anthony Minichiello | |
| Date of birth | May 24, 1980 | |
| Place of birth | Sydney, Australia | |
| Height | 1.81 m | |
| Weight | 88 kg | |
| Nickname | Mini | |
| Position | Fullback | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Sydney Roosters | |
| Number | 1 | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| East Valley United | ||
| Professional clubs* | ||
| Years | Club | Apps (points) |
| 2000–present | Sydney | 154 (332) |
| Representative teams** | ||
| 2001–2003 2003–2005 2003–2005 |
City Origin New South Wales Australia |
2 8 (24) 18 |
|
* Professional club appearances and points |
||
Anthony Minichiello (born 24 May 1980 in Sydney, New South Wales) is an Australian rugby league player of Italian descent who plays for the Sydney Roosters in the National Rugby League competition. He originally played at wing, but the retirement of Luke Phillips in 2003 prompted Roosters coach Ricky Stuart to move Minichiello to Fullback.
He was a part of the Sydney Roosters Grand Final win in 2002 against the New Zealand Warriors where he played on the wing.
When Luke Phillips, the former fullback for the Sydney Roosters struggled with injury, Minichiello was shifted to fullback by coach Ricky Stuart in 2003. Minichiello's rapid improvement in the role hastened Phillips's demise.
Anthony also has a younger brother, Mark Minichiello, who plays for the Gold Coast Titans.
Minichiello, when without injury, has been a standard fixture of the Australian and New South Wales sides and won the Golden Boot Award for the world's greatest player in 2005. His 2006 back injury allowed several younger fullbacks to stake claims for the Australian jersey, particularly Brisbane Broncos fullback Karmichael Hunt, and his stated aim for 2007 is to win back his representative jerseys.
Anthony was a finalist in the Sexiest Man in League contest for 2006, where he finished sixth with 7% of the vote. He was crowned the NRL's Most Wanted on The Footy Show in 2003, and with his brother Mark, posed for Cosmopolitan magazine's Boys With Balls '06 feature.
In his early days in first grade he had "bad hands" which he quickly overcame to progress to the level he is now and then rose steadily to become arguably the most popular and best player in the NRL today.
He was originally a gymnast which accounts for his impressive leg strength and speed plus the ability to break tackles and perform freakish actions on field so much so that the lead commentator of the NRL 'Ray Warren' quoted "this guy should be in the circus".
Until late in 2005 he was without injury and had the longest injury/suspension free period of any player in the modern era. He is a loyal club man even though he could make more of a career and name for himself in worldwide sport he continues to remain humble and support his team the Sydney Roosters.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Minichiello"
[edit] Career Highlights
Played 4 Grand Finals(2000, 2002, 2003 & 2004, Won 1 Grand Final)
Played 2 Games for City vs. Country(2001 & 2002)
Played 8 Games for New South Wales(2003-2005 & Scored 6 Tries for 24 Points)
Played 18 Games for Australia(2003-2005 & Scored 9 Tries for 36 Points)
Dally M Fullback of the Year in 2004
Golden Boot Award in 2005
Harry Sunderland Medal in 2004 & 2005
Played 154 First Grade Games(Scored 73 Tries for 332 Points)
Named Fullback of the Sydney Roosters Team 100
