Ciriaco Mescia

Ciriaco Mescia
Personal information
Nickname Cherry
Born (1973-01-14) January 14, 1973
Australia
Height 173 cm
Weight 81kg
Playing information
Position Hooker
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1994–99 Western Suburbs Magpies 90 9 0 0 36
2000–01 Wests Tigers 38 8 0 0 32
Total 128 17 0 0 68
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1995–97 Country Origin 3 0 0 0 0
As of 3 May 2010
Source: RLP NRL Stats

Ciriaco Mescia (born 14 January 1973[1]) is an Australian former professional rugby league player for the Western Suburbs Magpies and Wests Tigers. He played primarily at hooker.

Club career

Mescia played junior football with Batlow.[2] He gained attention playing for Riverina against Newcastle in 1990[3] before joining the Magpies in 1991.[4] He made his first grade debut for the club in round 7 of 1994,[5] but it was his sole appearance for that year.

Making his second appearance in round 4 of 1995, Mescia played lock behind hooker Jim Serdaris. In round 5, Mescia was moved to hooker and Serdaris to the second row, and Mescia scored his first career try in a 44-16 win over the Sydney City Roosters. Mescia remained at hooker for most of the rest of the season, barring a two-game stint at halfback near the end of the year.

The Magpies made the semi-finals in 1996, with Mescia playing in the first 18 rounds before being injured. Roy Masters considered him a possible future Kangaroo.[6] In 1997, after "being troubled by headaches for most of the season", he was dropped to reserves mid-year, but still played in 17 games.[7]

Mescia played a career-high 23 games in 1999, but the Magpies conceded the most points in NRL history and won just 3 games. He was ranked second for most tackles for the regular season.[8]

When the Magpies merged with the Balmain Tigers, Mescia became a member of the Wests Tigers squad from the 2000 season, but was often chosen on the bench behind starting hooker Darren Senter. With a new coach in Terry Lamb in 2001, Mescia won back the position of hooker,[9] but it was to be his last season as a player, retiring due to a fracture to his lower back in the 2002 pre-season.[4]

Mescia has been made a life member of the Western Suburbs club.[10]

Representative

Mescia played for Country Origin for three straight seasons from 1995.[11]

Coaching

Mescia became High Performance Manager for his former club the Wests Tigers from 2003 to 2009.[12] In 2010, he joined the high-performance unit at the Sydney Roosters.[13] He later became the strength and conditioning coach at the Parramatta Eels.[14] In 2015, he filled the same position at the St. George-Illawarra Dragons.[15] Mescia has also been Head Trainer for the National Italian Rugby League Team during various tournaments and fixtures

References

  1. ↑ "NRL Stats - Ciriaco Mescia". Retrieved 3 May 2010.
  2. ↑ "Bidgee Region". SportingPulse. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
  3. ↑ Whiticker, Alan; Hudson, Glen (2005). The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players - Wests Tigers. Melbourne, Victoria: Bas Publishing. p. 173. ISBN 1-920910-61-1.
  4. 1 2 "Mescia winds up career". encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
  5. ↑ "Ciriaco Mescia". NRLstats.com. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
  6. ↑ Roy Masters (11 April 1996). "League's smokin' young guns". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  7. ↑ Tony Adams (11 July 1997). "LITTLE BIG MAN / BRETT WILL PROVE TO BE MAGPIES' MR VERSATILE.". Daily Telegraph.
  8. ↑ Danny Weidler (29 August 1999). "Storm given finals boost". Sun Herald. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  9. ↑ "Ciriaco Mescia - Matches played in matches for the Wests Tigers". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
  10. ↑ "2009 Pratten Park Reunion". Noel Kelly's Kids. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
  11. ↑ "Ciriaco Mescia Matches played at hooker for NSW Country Origin". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
  12. ↑ "STEVE FOLKES JOINS WESTS TIGERS". weststigers.com.au. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
  13. ↑ Andrew Webster (22 January 2010). "Senior Roosters confront Todd Carney in highly emotional meeting". Fox Sports. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
  14. ↑ Daniel Lane (12 June 2013). "Where there's Will there's a way for Eels". The Wimmera mail-Times. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  15. ↑ "Dragons confirm Football Department changes for 2016". Leafue Unlimited. Retrieved 18 December 2015.

Sources

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