Ben Lythe (born 14 October 1975 in New Zealand) is a 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 11 ...

footballer. His position of preference was at Halfback. He was also a noted goalkicker.

Early years

Hailing from West Auckland, Lythe played for the

Mt Albert Lions The Mount Albert Lions are a rugby league club based in Mount Albert, New Zealand. The Lions home ground is at Fowlds Park. Their patron is the former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark. In 2008 and 2009 the Lions won the Fox Memorial. ...

and

Glenora Bears The Glenora Bears are a rugby league football club based in Glen Eden, New Zealand who compete in Auckland Rugby League's Fox Memorial competition. History The club was established in 1931 when the Auckland Rugby League Junior Management Com ...

in the Auckland Rugby League competition and also played for the

Waitakere City Raiders The Waitakere City Raiders were a New Zealand rugby league club that represented Waitakere City in the Lion Red Cup from 1994 to 1996. Notable players Notable players included;Rick Andrew Anthony Edwards, Boycie Nelson, David Bailey, Ben Ly ...

in the national

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 ...

. He was part of the team that lost the 1996 Lion Red Cup Grand Final, although he kicked three goals in that game. In the Auckland competition he also had some game time at hooker, swapping positions with

Duane Mann Duane Darrin Mann (born 28 June 1965) is a New Zealand former rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s, and coached in the 2000s. A Tonga and New Zealand international representative , he captained both sides. Mann played his ...

. His good performances earned him minor rep honours in 1996, being selected for both the North Zone in the inter zone challenge and the New Zealand XIII in the Pacific Challenge. He was also part of the Lion Red Cup selection that embarrassed the touring

Great Britain Lions The Great Britain national rugby league team represents Great Britain in rugby league. Administered by the Rugby Football League (RFL), the team is nicknamed The Lions. For most of the 20th century, the Great Britain team toured overseas, ...

, drawing with the much more powerful side. In 1997 he joined the

Widnes Vikings The Widnes Vikings are an English rugby league club in Widnes, Cheshire, which competes in the Betfred Championship. The club plays home matches at the Halton Stadium. Founded as Widnes Football Club, they are one of the original twenty-two r ...

in England, linking up with former Raiders teammate Boycie Nelson. He then returned to New Zealand in 1998 and led the Glenora Bears to the Fox Memorial title, scoring 324 points (more than 130 clear of the next best on the points-scoring list). He also was involved in the Auckland representative side, scoring 98 points in only five games. He married Mardie Harkness in November 1998, however the honeymoon had to be postponed due to an Auckland-

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

match the next day.

Australian competitions

In 1999 his point scoring reputation earned him interest from overseas and he joined the

Burleigh Bears The Burleigh Bears are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Gold Coast, Australia. They compete in Queensland's top rugby league competition, the Queensland Cup. Since their admission to the competition in 1997, th ...

in the

Queensland Cup The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by fou ...

. The Bears won the competition that year and Lythe was the competition's leading scorer, with over 200 points. He was signed to a one-year contract in 2000 by the

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 ...

, who needed a replacement for the injured

Stacey Jones Stacey William Jones (born 7 May 1976) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer, who has been named amongst the greatest New Zealand has ever produced. He played as a , but he has also briefly played at during his disting ...

. He played five games for the club, however after Jones returned from injury he found himself surplus to requirements at the Warriors. Due to the Warriors feeder agreements, when he was not selected by the first grade side he was sent to Brisbane Souths to play in the Queensland Cup. He toured Australia with the New Zealand Residents in 2000.

Return to domestic competition

In 2000 he joined the

in the new Bartercard Cup competition. At Mt Albert he formed a strong halves combination with Steve Buckingham and the pair led the Lions to three Bartercard Cup titles. His return to domestic competitions again earned him representative selections and he was part of the New Zealand 'A' side that toured

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in 2002 and was selected for the New Zealand 'A' 2003 tour of Great Britain. However he ended up withdrawing from the 2003 tour due to family reasons. In 2005 he was selected to be part of a Presidents XIII that played a warm up game against the

New Zealand 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 ...

. He changed codes in 2007, joining the Mahurangi

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

club as a

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

.North Harbour Rugby Union update
''harbourrugby.co.nz'', 30 April 2007 Mahurangi compete in the North Harbour competition.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lythe, Ben 1975 births Living people Auckland rugby league team players Burleigh Bears players Glenora Bears players Junior Kiwis players Mount Albert Lions players New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand Warriors players Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from the Auckland Region Souths Logan Magpies players Waitakere rugby league team players Widnes Vikings players