Josh Mantellato (born 21 April 1987) is a former Italy international rugby league footballer who most recently played on the wing for The Entrance Tigers in the Denton Engineering Cup. He previously played for the Wyong Roos in the Central Coast Division Rugby League competition, Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League and the Hull Kingston Rovers in the Super League.

Josh Mantellato
Mantellato playing for the Knights in 2013.
Personal information
Born (1987-04-21) 21 April 1987 (age 36)
Gosford, New South Wales, Australia
Height196 cm (6 ft 5 in)[1]
Weight94 kg (14 st 11 lb)[1]
Playing information
PositionWing
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2013–14 Newcastle Knights 2 1 6 0 16
2015–16 Hull KR 44 33 172 0 476
Total 46 34 178 0 492
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2011–18 Italy 9 7 44 0 116
2013 NSW Residents 1 1 3 0 10
Source: [2][3]
As of 9 January 2024

Background edit

 
Mantellato playing for Italy in the 2013 Rugby League World Cup.

Mantellato was born in Gosford, New South Wales, Australia and is of Italian descent.

He played his junior rugby league for the Wyong Roos.

Playing career edit

Early career edit

Up until 2011, Mantellato played for the Wyong Roos in the Newcastle Rugby League.

2010 edit

In 2010, Mantellato made his international debut for Italy.

2012 edit

In 2012, Mantellato joined the Newcastle Knights' NSW Cup team, finishing the season as the competition's highest point-scorer, with 306 points. On 12 September 2012, he was named on the wing in the 2012 NSW Cup Team of the Year.[5] He then signed a one-year contract with the Newcastle outfit.[6]

2013 edit

In round 12 of the 2013 NRL season, Mantellato made his NRL debut for Newcastle against the South Sydney Rabbitohs.[7] He scored a try and kicked three goals on debut.[8] On 20 August 2013, he re-signed with the Novocastrians on a one-year contract.[9] On 22 September 2013, he was again named on the wing in the 2013 NSW Cup Team of the Year.[10] During 2013, he featured in Italy's successful 2013 Rugby League World Cup qualifying tournament and was selected in the 24-man squad for the World Cup campaign.[11][12] On 19 October 2013, he kicked the winning field goal in Italy's 15-14 warm up game win over England.[13]

2014 edit

On 21 September 2014, Mantellato was named on the wing in the 2014 NSW Cup Team of the Year for the third year in a row.[14]

2015 edit

On 11 August 2014, Mantellato signed a three-year contract with Super League club, Hull Kingston Rovers, starting in 2015.[15] He made his Super League debut in round 1 against the Leeds Rhinos. He kicked off his Super League points tally by kicking five goals in their 30-40 first round defeat. He scored his first two Super League tries against the Warrington Wolves in round 3.

2017 edit

In January, Mantellato returned to Australia to play for Sydney Roosters feeder club, Wyong Roos on a one-year contract following the relegation of Hull Kingston Rovers to the Kingstone Press Championship.[16]

2018 edit

Mantellato spent 2018 playing for Wyong in the Intrust Super Premiership NSW. At the end of the season it was announced that Wyong would not be competing in the competition in 2019 as the Sydney Roosters ended their agreement for Wyong to be their feeder side instead choosing foundation club North Sydney as the new feeder side.[17][18]

2021 edit

After exiting the Wyong Roos, Mantellato joined the Entrance Tigers for Season 2021. At the advice of medical professionals, Mantellato would go on to retire after sustaining a throat fracture.[19]

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Josh Mantellato Hull Kingston Rovers". superleague.co.uk. Rugby Football League. 2011. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  2. ^ "Players – Love Rugby League". Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  3. ^ "Josh Mantellato – Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  4. ^ "Josh Mantellato (@josh24mantree)". Retrieved 18 June 2015 – via Twitter.
  5. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20121010140055/http://www.nswrl.com.au/default.aspx?s=article-display&id=63751&title=2012-nswrlcomau-vb-nsw-cup-team-of-the-year---announcement. Archived from the original on 10 October 2012. Retrieved 16 June 2015. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. ^ Dillon, Robert (2 June 2013). "Mantellato's Knights debut | Newcastle Herald". Theherald.com.au. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  7. ^ "Mantellato to debut – Newcastle Knights". Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  8. ^ "NRL 2013 – Round 12". Rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  9. ^ "Mantellato re-signs for 2014 – Newcastle Knights". Archived from the original on 6 December 2013. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  10. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20140111155627/http://www.nswrl.com.au/default.aspx?s=article-display&id=84880&title=2013-nswrlcomau-vb-nsw-cup-team-of-the-year---announcement. Archived from the original on 11 January 2014. Retrieved 4 February 2016. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  11. ^ Leeson, Josh (22 September 2011). "Wyong fullback Josh Mantellato in line for Italian selection | Newcastle Herald". Theherald.com.au. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  12. ^ "Rugby League World Cup 2013". Rlwc2013.com. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  13. ^ "Italy pull-off shock victory over England in Rugby League World Cup warm-up match". Foxsports.com.au. 20 October 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  14. ^ "2014 VB NSW Cup Team of the Year". NSWRL.com.au. Archived from the original on 8 July 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  15. ^ "Mantellato to join Hull KR – Knights". Newcastleknights.com.au. 11 August 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  16. ^ "Josh Mantellato Joins Sydney Roosters Feeder Club". 5th Tackle. 18 January 2017. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  17. ^ "Rip Taylor returns to Wentworthville". NSWRL. 5 November 2018.
  18. ^ "Josh Mantellato's Epic Adventure". NSWRL. 12 April 2018.
  19. ^ "Life after League with Josh Mantellato: Representing Italy, time at Hull KR & growing the game". 26 July 2021.

External links edit