Dimitri Pelo (born 17 April 1985) is a French 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 who last played for the

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby ...

in the

NRL The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

. He has previously played for

Montpellier Herault RC Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the department of Hérault. In 2018, 290,053 people l ...

after switching codes in 2010 and for the

Catalans Dragons The Catalans Dragons (French: ''Dragons Catalans'', Catalan: ''Dracs Catalans'') are a professional rugby league club from Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales department, France. The team competes in the Super League and are the only team from outs ...

club of the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

. He plays as a or .

Career

Pelo was born in

Nouméa Nouméa () is the capital and largest city of the French special collectivity of New Caledonia and is also the largest francophone city in Oceania. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main island, Grande Terre, a ...

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

, an

overseas territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...

of France. He emigrated to Australia with his parents while still in his adolescence, originally settling in the north-eastern state of

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. While living there, Pelo began playing junior rugby league, catching the eye of

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Cronulla, in the Sutherland Shire, Southern Sydney, New South Wales. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugby leag ...

scouts who signed him to the Sydney club for several years. While at Cronulla-Sutherland, Pelo went on to represent the Australian Schoolboys team for whom he scored two tries in a Test match defeat against the England Academy in 2002, but he could not make his way into the Cronulla first-grade side, instead being relegated to the reserves and lower competitions. During the 2005 season, Pelo was called up by French national team along with fellow clubman Daniel Dumas; during this time his contract with the Cronulla club expired and he left the club. Pelo then moved back to Queensland, originally signing a short-term deal with 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 ...

club 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 four ...

in the hope of securing a longer-term deal with the

Gold Coast Titans The Gold Coast Titans are a professional rugby league football club, based on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australia and New Zealand's national rugby league club competition. The ...

in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

(NRL). During the end of the 2006 season, the Gold Coast club displayed interest in Pelo, selecting him in several early trial matches and a sevens competition but ultimately he was unsuccessful in securing any deal with the club so began to look abroad. For the beginning of the 2007 season Pelo signed a deal with the French club

. He was named in the France training squad for the

2008 Rugby League World Cup The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup since its inauguration in 1954, and the first since the 2000 tournament. The tournament was held in Australia from 26 October, culminating in the final b ...

. He was named in the France squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup. He switched codes for the 2010/11 season, playing for

Montpellier Hérault RC Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the department of Hérault. In 2018, 290,053 people l ...

. In December 2011 he trialled with the

with the hope of gaining a first-grade contract after the departure of

Daniel Vidot Daniel Sean Vidot (; born 8 February 1990) is an Australian professional wrestler and former professional rugby league footballer. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Xyon Quinn. During his t ...

to the

St. George Illawarra Dragons The St. George Illawarra Dragons is an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League since 1999 after a joint-ve ...

. His trial successfully earned him a one-year contract with the Canberra club. He made his debut in the Round 12 36–18 defeat against South Sydney on 12 May 2012.

Career highlights

* 1999-2001: Played for Queensland Juniors * 2001: Signed with the Bull Dogs * 2002: Represented Australian School Boys * 2002–2004: Played for Burleigh Bears – Queensland Cup * 2003: Represented France – Mediterranean Cup - 4 appearances, 1 try * 2004–2006: Played for reserves Cronulla Sharks * 2005: Represented France – Rugby Sevens Cup - 4 appearances, 2 tries * 2006: Played for Burleigh Bears (Gold Coast Titans Reserves) * 2007–2010: Played for Catalans Dragons (Super League) * 2007 – 12 appearances, 5 tries * 2008- 20 appearances, 10 tries * 2009 -24 appearances, 17 tries * 2010- 17 appearances, 4 tries * 2008- (play offs) 2 tries * 2009 – (play-offs) 3 tries * 2008- Carnegie challenge cup – 4 appearances, 1 try * 2009- carnegie challenge cup – 5 appearances, 2 tries * 2010- carnegie challenge cup - 6 appearances, 2 tries * 2008: Represented France – World Cup - 2 appearances * 2009: Represented France – 4 Nations - 2 appearances * 2010- 2011: Played for Montpellier MHR (top 14 rugby union) - 9 appearances, 5 tries ** Amlin challenge cup – 5 appearances, 2 tries * 2012: Played for

(NRL) – 1 appearance

Career playing statistics

Point scoring summary

Matches played

References

External links

Dimitri Pelo Official profile
''(in French)''
Dimitri Pelo Super League profile

Dimitri Pelo playing history

Players to watch - Dimitri Pelo (France)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pelo, Dmitri 1985 births Living people Burleigh Bears players Canberra Raiders players Catalans Dragons players Expatriate rugby league players in Australia France national rugby league team players French expatriate rugby league players French expatriate sportspeople in Australia French rugby league players French rugby union players Montpellier Hérault Rugby players Mount Pritchard Mounties players New Caledonian rugby league players People from Nouméa Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league wingers Rugby union players from Wallis and Futuna