Richard Villasanti
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Personal information
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| Nickname | Vila the Gorilla | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
20 May 1980 Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia |
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Playing information
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| Height | 187 cm (6 ft 2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 111 kg (17 st 7 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Prop | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: Rugby League Project
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Richard Villasanti (born 20 May 1980) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer of the 2000s. An Australia national representative forward, he played his club football in the National Rugby League for the Balmain Tigers, Wests Tigers, New Zealand Warriors and Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks.
Villasanti made his debut with the Balmain Tigers in 1999, making 6 appearances from the bench. He remained with the club when they merged to become the Wests Tigers the next season, and made a number of appearances in the team towards the end of the year. A Junior Kiwi, Villasanti was included in the wider Tonga squad for the 2000 World Cup but did not play in the tournament.
Joining the Warriors in 2001, Villasanti was a regular in the team for the next 5 years. The following year, he was in the team that made the 2002 NRL Grand Final, the club's first grand final appearance. He gained a level of infamy for a tackle made in the game, a "head-first hit, which left Fittler bloodied and bandaged."
At the end of the 2003 NRL season Villasanti had gained a reputation as a big-hitting impact player, and became the first New Zealand based player to be chosen to represent Australia at the end of the year, though he was to make only one test appearance on the 2003 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France, helping Australia to victory over Great Britain in what would be the last time the two nations contested an Ashes series.
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