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| Full name | Rhys Joseph Wesser | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1979-03-31)31 March 1979 (age 46) Rockhampton,Queensland, Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Height | 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 86 kg (13 st 8 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Fullback, Wing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Rhys Joseph Wesser (born 31 March 1979) is an Australian former professionalrugby league footballer who played as afullback. During his 14 seasons in theNRL, he played for thePenrith Panthers, with whom he won the2003 NRL Premiership, and theSouth Sydney Rabbitohs. His 113 tries for the Penrith Panthers is a club record. Wesser was also aQueensland andIndigenous Dreamtime representative.
Born inRockhampton,Queensland, Wesser is ofAboriginal andSouth Sea Islander (Vanuatuan) descent. He played junior rugby league in his hometown with theRockhampton Brothers.
At age 16, Wesser was selected for the Queensland under-17s representative side. Wesser finished his schooling atEmmaus 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.[citation needed]
Debuting in 1998 Wesser moved from his hometown of Rockhampton to the foot of theBlue Mountains,New South Wales, to play for thePenrith Panthers but he found trouble in pushing for a first-grade spot withPeter Jorgensen holding that title.[citation needed]
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 theSydney Roosters in the2003 NRL grand final in which Wesser played at fullback.[citation needed]
As 2003 NRL premiers, the Penrith travelled to England to face 2003 Super League champions, theBradford Bulls in the2004 World Club Challenge. Wesser played atfullback in the Panthers' 22–4 loss. Wesser's try-scoring declined in 2004 with the addition ofAmos Roberts to the squad but he still scored thirteen tries.
Wesser was selected to play for Queensland in the2004 State of Origin series.
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Wesser made theAboriginal selection in the exhibition game against theNew Zealand Māori side as part of the official opening of the 2008 World Cup on 26 October.[2]
In 2008, Wesser announced that he would be joining theSouth Sydney Rabbitohs in 2009 for a two-year deal.[3] Wesser's 113 tries is the most scored by any Penrith player.
In only the second round of the 2009 season, his first with Souths, Wesser injured his knee.[4] He made his return to the field in the2010 NRL season.
On 12 August 2011, Wesser announced that he would be retiring at the end of the season.[5] He was unable to finish his final season of Rugby League due to another knee injury sustained late in the season.