Anthony Gelling

Anthony Gelling
Personal information
Born (1990-10-18) 18 October 1990[1]
Auckland, New Zealand
Height 196 cm (6 ft 5 in)[1]
Weight 102 kg (16 st 1 lb)[1]
Playing information
Position Centre, Wing, Second-row

Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2012–17 Wigan Warriors 115 52 0 0 208
2018– New Zealand Warriors 7 2 0 0 8
Total 122 54 0 0 216
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2009–15 Cook Islands 6 1 0 0 4
As of 4 March 2018
Source: [2][3]

Anthony Gelling (born 18 October 1990) is a Cook Islands international rugby league footballer who plays for the New Zealand Warriors in the National Rugby League. He plays in the second-row or as a centre.

He has previously played for the Wigan Warriors in the Super League.

Background

Gelling was born in Auckland, New Zealand. And Is of mixed Māori-Cook Island ancestry.

Early career

Gelling is of Cook Islander and Māori descent. Gelling was a Howick Hornets junior.[4]

In 2009 and 2010 Gelling played for Sydney Roosters in the Toyota Cup. In September 2010 he was sacked by Roosters along with team mate Samuel Brunton after they were accused of defecating in their hotel room.[5][6][7]

In 2011 Gelling returned to New Zealand, joining Auckland Vulcans and his old club, Howick Hornets. Hornets won the 2011 Fox Memorial competition that year.[4] He was named in the Counties Manukau Stingrays side in the 2011 National Competition.[8]

Club career

At the end of the 2011 season, Gelling signed a contract to play for Wigan in the Super League.[9] The Daily Mail reported that he had been recommended to the Wigan head coach, Shaun Wane, by Kevin Iro and Dean Bell, both former Wigan players who were subsequently living overseas.[9]

Gelling was allocated the number 24 jersey on arrival to Wigan's pre-2012 season training in Florida.[10] Gelling has proven himself to be somewhat of a cult hero at Wigan with his eccentric behaviours which include charging down a penalty goal attempt from Brisbane Broncos Corey Parker in golden point extra time of the World Club Series clash between the Broncos and Wigan on 21 February 2015 and riding to and from Wigan's Good Friday victory over local rivals St. Helens on 3 April 2015 on a BMX that he bought from Cash Converters for £100. On 16 June 2015 Gelling signed a new four-year contract with the Warriors.

In 2016 he refused to apologise for saying that some of the refereeing decisions "pissed me off" in a post match interview on Sky Sports, instead declaring "I speak my mind. I like to think of myself as a man of the people". A nickname which has since stuck.

2017

Gelling was part of the Wigan Warriors team that beat the Cronulla Sharks in the World Club Challenge. He scored his first tries of the season against Leigh Centurions with a brace on 3 March. He scored against Warrington Wolves and Huddersfield Giants in the next two fixtures. He didn't score again until the match against Huddersfield Giants on 11 August before finishing the season with a try against rivals St Helens and a brace against Hull FC. He reported back in Wigan for preseason in preparation for the 2018 Super League season but not long after he asked for a release from his contract after his girlfriend was involved in a car crash.[11] He returned home to New Zealand to be closer to his family and signed a one year contract with the New Zealand Warriors.[12]

International career

Gelling was part of the Cook Islands team that made the 2009 Pacific Cup Final. Gelling played for 'the Kukis' in their 28-24 test-match victory over Lebanon, scoring one try in the match. Gelling represented the Cooks in the 2013 Rugby League World Cup playing 2 out of the 3 matches the Cooks played at the Tournament.

On 17 October 2015, Gelling played for the Cook Islands in their Asia-Pacific Qualifier match against Tonga for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Anthony Gelling Wigan Warriors". www.superleague.co.uk. Rugby Football League. 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
  2. ↑ loverugbyleague
  3. ↑ RLP
  4. 1 2 Auckland Vulcans 2011 squad aucklandvulcans.co.nz, 18 February 2011
  5. ↑ New disgrace as Rooster rookies defecate in hotel The Daily Telegraph, 10 September 2010
  6. ↑ "Roosters sacked for defecating over hotel". Stuff.co.nz. 10 September 2010. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  7. ↑ "NSW Cook Islands profile". NSW Cook Islands rugby league. 2009. Archived from the original on 15 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
  8. ↑ Counties Manukau nzrl.co.nz
  9. 1 2 "Wigan snap up Cook Island international Gelling in time for pre-season in Florida". Daily Mail. 12 December 2011. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
  10. ↑ "Anthony Gelling Joins Wigan". Wigan Warriors. 12 December 2011. Archived from the original on 5 June 2012. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
  11. ↑ "Michael McIlorum and Anthony Gelling released by Wigan Warriors". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2018-01-16.
  12. ↑ "Warriors sign former Wigan centre Anthony Gelling to one-year-deal". Newshub. 2018-01-12. Retrieved 2018-01-16.
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