William Warbrick
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Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | William Warbrick | |||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Kawerau, New Zealand | 6 March 1998|||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 193 cm (6 ft 4 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 105 kg (16 st 7 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Rugby league | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Position | Wing | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: RLP As of 5 September 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Medals
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William Warbrick (born 6 March 1998) is a New Zealand professional rugby league rugby player who plays for the Melbourne Storm in the National Rugby League (NRL).
Early life
[edit]Warbrick was born and raised in Kawerau, New Zealand, of Māori descent. As a junior, he participated in athletics and also played soccer. He was educated at Rotorua Boys' High School and excelled in athletics, Rugby Union and League. Warbrick played junior rugby league for Ngongotaha Chiefs in the Bay of Plenty Rugby League.[1]
Career
[edit]Australian rules football
[edit]He began playing Australian rules football as a junior in 2016 on the recommendation of his junior rugby league coach and played for the Western Crows in the AFL New Zealand premiership where he won the Rising Star award[2] and developed as a strong marking forward/midfielder.[3] He was later selected for the New Zealand national Australian rules football team (U18 and senior) and toured Melbourne with the national team to play against the Australian AFL/AIS Academy team.[4] Warbrick has been quoted as saying that he had aspired to follow the professional Australian Football League pathway that was in place for New Zealanders to the St Kilda Football Club.[5] However he lacked confidence in the accuracy of his kicking and prior to joining New Zealand's Rugby Sevens team, he was approached by the Melbourne Storm with an offer before the AFL which put an end to his aspirations.[5]
Rugby sevens
[edit]Warbrick made his debut for the New Zealand national rugby sevens team in 2019. In 2021, he won a silver medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics.[6][7]
Professional Rugby league
[edit]On 4 November 2021, Warbrick signed with the Melbourne Storm on a two-year contract.[8] He spent the majority of the 2022 season playing for Melbourne's affiliate club Sunshine Coast Falcons, scoring ten tries from 14 appearances in the Queensland Cup.
In round 1 of the 2023 NRL season, Warbrick made his NRL and Melbourne Storm debut against the Parramatta Eels. He had his Storm debut jersey (cap 225) presented to him by his sister.[9] Warbrick played a total of 25 games for Melbourne in the 2023 NRL season and scored 17 tries as Melbourne finished third on the table. In the semi-final against the Sydney Roosters, he scored a try with two minutes remaining to win the game for Melbourne. The following week, Warbrick played in the clubs preliminary final loss against Penrith.[10]
NRL statistics
[edit]Year | Team | Games | Tries | Pts |
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2023 | ![]() |
25 | 17 | 68 |
2024 | 13 | 6 | 24 | |
Totals | 38 | 23 | 92 |
References
[edit]- ^ "Will Warbrick Profile – Melbourne Storm". melbournestorm.com.au. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
- ^ "From AFL to rugby sevens, Warbrick finds league home". Yahoo! Sports. Australian Associated Press. 9 March 2023. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
- ^ Western Crows retain Stevens, Warbrick and Burdett AFL New Zealand 15 November 2016
- ^ Huge ANZAC Day weekend for AFLNZ from World Footy News 20 April 2016
- ^ a b ‘Always a dream’: How the AFL almost won over a rising Storm star by Roy Ward 9 March 2023
- ^ "Warbrick William". Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 26 July 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
- ^ "William Warbrick". New Zealand Rugby. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
- ^ "Storm sign Olympic Games medal winner". Melbourne Storm. 4 November 2021.
- ^ "Will Warbrick debut jersey presentation". melbournestorm.com.au. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
- ^ "NRL 2023: Melbourne Storm season review". sportingnews.com.
External links
[edit]
- 1998 births
- Living people
- Melbourne Storm players
- New Zealand rugby league players
- New Zealand rugby union players
- Rugby union flankers
- People from Kawerau
- New Zealand international rugby sevens players
- Olympic rugby sevens players for New Zealand
- New Zealand male rugby sevens players
- Rugby sevens players at the 2020 Summer Olympics
- Olympic medalists in rugby sevens
- Olympic silver medalists for New Zealand
- Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics
- Rugby league players from the Bay of Plenty Region
- Rugby union players from the Bay of Plenty Region
- People educated at Rotorua Boys' High School
- New Zealand rugby league biography stubs
- New Zealand rugby union biography, 1990s birth stubs