Ciriaco Mescia

Ciriaco Mescia nicknamed "Cherry" is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s for the Western Suburbs Magpies and Wests Tigers. He played primarily at hooker.

Ciriaco Mescia
Personal information
Full nameCiriaco Mescia
Born (1973-01-14) 14 January 1973
Australia
Playing information
Height173 cm (5 ft 8 in)
Weight81 kg (12 st 11 lb)
PositionHooker
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1994–99 Western Suburbs 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 NSW Country 3 0 0 0 0
Source: [1][2]

Playing career

Mescia played junior football with Batlow.[3] He gained attention playing for Riverina against Newcastle in 1990[4] before joining the Magpies in 1991.[5] He made his first grade debut for the club in round 7 of 1994,[6] 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.[7] 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.[8]

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. Mescia played in the club's final ever game as a first grade side which was a 60-16 loss against Auckland at Campbelltown Stadium.[9]

When Western Suburbs 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,[10] 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.[5]

In 2009, Mescia was made a life member of the Western Suburbs club.[11]

Representative

Mescia played for Country Origin for three straight seasons from 1995.[12]

Coaching

Mescia became High Performance Manager for his former club the Wests Tigers from 2003 to 2009.[13] In 2010, he joined the high-performance unit at the Sydney Roosters.[14] He later became the strength and conditioning coach at the Parramatta Eels.[15] In 2015, he filled the same position at the St. George-Illawarra Dragons.[16] Mescia has also been Head Trainer for the National Italian Rugby League Team during various tournaments and fixtures

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References
  1. RLP
  2. NRL Stats
  3. "Bidgee Region". SportingPulse. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
  4. Whiticker, Alan; Hudson, Glen (2005). The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players - Wests Tigers. Melbourne, Victoria: Bas Publishing. p. 173. ISBN 1-920910-61-1.
  5. "Mescia winds up career". encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
  6. "Ciriaco Mescia". NRLstats.com. Archived from the original on 16 September 2009. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
  7. Roy Masters (11 April 1996). "League's smokin' young guns". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  8. Tony Adams (11 July 1997). "LITTLE BIG MAN / BRETT WILL PROVE TO BE MAGPIES' MR VERSATILE". Daily Telegraph.
  9. Danny Weidler (29 August 1999). "Storm given finals boost". Sun Herald. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  10. "Ciriaco Mescia - Matches played in matches for the Wests Tigers". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
  11. "2009 Pratten Park Reunion". Noel Kelly's Kids. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
  12. "Ciriaco Mescia Matches played at hooker for NSW Country Origin". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
  13. "STEVE FOLKES JOINS WESTS TIGERS". weststigers.com.au. Archived from the original on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
  14. Andrew Webster (22 January 2010). "Senior Roosters confront Todd Carney in highly emotional meeting". Fox Sports. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
  15. Daniel Lane (12 June 2013). "Where there's Will there's a way for Eels". The Wimmera mail-Times. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  16. "Dragons confirm Football Department changes for 2016". Leafue Unlimited. Retrieved 18 December 2015.

Sources
  • Alan Whiticker; Glen Hudson (2007). The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players. Wetherill Park, New South Wales: Gary Allen Pty Ltd. ISBN 978-1-877082-93-1.
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