Aaron Lester (born 16 May 1973) is a New Zealand former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer. His preferred position was hooker. His brother, Stuart, played for

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

New Zealand

Junior Kiwi The Junior Kiwis side represents New Zealand in the sport of rugby league. They are commonly known as the Junior Kiwis, after the native bird of that name. Since 2010, they are an under-20s side, with players selected from the NRL, Intrust Supe ...

in 1992, Lester went on to play for the

New Zealand Residents The New Zealand Residents (also previously known as New Zealand 'A', New Zealand XIII, the Lion Red Cup XIII and currently known as the Bartercard Premiership Selection) are a New Zealand rugby league football representative side that is selected f ...

in 1994. An Ellerslie junior, he played for the

Auckland City Vulcans The Auckland City Vulcans were a New Zealand rugby league club that represented Auckland City in the 1994 Lion Red Cup. They were replaced in 1995 by the Auckland Warriors' Colts team. Notable players Notable players included Stacey Jones, Vinn ...

in the

Lion Red Cup The Lion Red Cup was a New Zealand domestic rugby league competition that ran from 1994 to 1996 sponsored by brewers Lion Nathan. It was created due to the increase in public awareness of domestic rugby league due to the Auckland Warriors being a ...

in 1994 before being signed to an

Auckland Warriors The New Zealand Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as ...

development contract. He debuted for the Warriors in the

Australian Rugby League The Australian Rugby League Commission (ARL), formerly the Australian Rugby Football League known as the Australian Rugby League is an Australian rugby league football competition operator. It was founded in 1986 as the Australian Rugby Footbal ...

competition in 1996. He played 3 first grade games for the club, starting all of them at Hooker, however he was not re-signed for the 1997 season.

Whitehaven

Instead Lester moved to England, signing for the

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle and to the north of Barrow-in-Furness. It is th ...

where he was to become a legend. He went on play for the club for over ten years and formed a strong combination with fellow Kiwis David Fatialofa and

Leroy Joe Leroy Joe is a former Cook Islands international rugby league footballer who played as a in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. He played at club level in England for Whitehaven ( League 1), and Hull Kingston Rovers. Background Joe was born in New Zea ...

. Lester was the captain of the side from 2000 until his retirement. He led the side to their first ever final in 2004 when Whitehaven made the National League One Grand Final. Injury, including a broken arm in 2006, slowed him down in later years. He finally announced his retirement at the end of the 2007 season. New coach Ged Stokes talked to Lester about coming out of retirement for the 2008 season, however he decided against it.Stokes talking to Lester about coming back
''Getnoticedonline'', 9 May 2008

Honoured at Whitehaven

Aaron Lester is a Whitehaven Hall Of Fame Inductee. He was named at hooker in Whitehaven's Immortals team.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lester, Aaron 1973 births Living people Auckland rugby league team players Ellerslie Eagles players New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand Warriors players Rugby league hookers Place of birth missing (living people) Junior Kiwis players Whitehaven R.L.F.C. players