Richard Villasanti
Encyclopedia
Richard Villasanti is an Australian former professional rugby league
player. Villasanti previously played for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, Wests Tigers
, the Balmain Tigers
and the New Zealand Warriors
in the National Rugby League
competition and also for Australia. His usual position was at prop forward.
Villasanti was contracted to Harlequins RL but retired in 2007 due to a persistent knee problem.
In February 2007, he secured his release from the Cronulla club
, signing a two year deal with Harlequins RL but never played a first-grade game for the London based club.
Villasanti was signed by the Londoners in as a replacement for Solomon Haumono
after having surgery on his knee in Australia. He passed a medical on his arrival in London and was expected to be available after four to six weeks but the knee failed to respond to rehabilitation.
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
player. Villasanti previously played for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, Wests Tigers
Wests Tigers
The Wests Tigers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's mid-western suburbs. They have competed in the National Rugby League since they were formed at the end of the 1999 season as a joint-venture club between the Balmain Tigers and the Western Suburbs...
, the Balmain Tigers
Balmain Tigers
The Balmain Tigers are a rugby league football club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and one of the most successful in the history of the premiership, with eleven titles...
and the New Zealand Warriors
New Zealand Warriors
The New Zealand Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand. They compete in the National Rugby League premiership and are the League's only team from outside Australia...
in the National Rugby League
National Rugby League
The National Rugby League is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. The NRL's main competition, called the Telstra Premiership , is contested by sixteen teams, fifteen of which are based in Australia with one based in New Zealand...
competition and also for Australia. His usual position was at prop forward.
Villasanti was contracted to Harlequins RL but retired in 2007 due to a persistent knee problem.
In February 2007, he secured his release from the Cronulla club
Cronulla Sharks
The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are Australian professional Rugby league team based in Cronulla, in the Sutherland Shire, Southern Sydney, New South Wales...
, signing a two year deal with Harlequins RL but never played a first-grade game for the London based club.
Villasanti was signed by the Londoners in as a replacement for Solomon Haumono
Solomon Haumono
Solomon Haumono is a professional boxer and former rugby league player of Tongan descent. He attended Christian Brothers' High School, Lewisham and represented them in the New South Wales Combined Catholic Colleges Australian Schoolboys team 1993.-League career:In rugby league, his preferred...
after having surgery on his knee in Australia. He passed a medical on his arrival in London and was expected to be available after four to six weeks but the knee failed to respond to rehabilitation.
Career highlights
- Junior Club: Erindale College, Canberra
- First Grade Debut: Round 7, Balmain v Manly at Leichhardt Oval, 18 April 1999
- First Grade Record: 116 appearances scoring 24 tries