Esan Marsters (born 17 August 1996) is a 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 plays as a for the

Huddersfield Giants Huddersfield Giants are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, the birthplace of rugby league, who play in the Super League competition. They play their home games at the John Smiths Stadium which is sh ...

in 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 has played for the

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New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and the New Zealand Māori at international level. He previously played for the

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers are an Australian professional Rugby league, rugby league football team, based in the Inner West and South West Sydney. They have competed in the National Rugby League since being formed at the end of the 1999 NRL season as a j ...

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest town in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...

and 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 ...

Background

Marsters was born in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, New Zealand, and is of Cook Island and

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

descent. He played for

Mount 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. ...

in New Zealand, later saying, "I played in the halves growing up. I was a five-eighth, like

Benji Benji is a fictional character created by Joe Camp. He has been the focus of several movies from 1974 through the 2000s. It is also the title of the first film in the ''Benji'' franchise. Benji is a small, lovable mixed-breed dog with an un ...

. That’s where I get my ball skills from. Then I moved over to Sydney from Auckland when I was 17 and got switched to the centres. I was bigger than a lot of the other kids and they wanted to use me out wide." Marsters picked up a contract with the

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby league, Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won ...

to train with their

SG Ball The S. G. Ball Cup is a junior rugby league football competition played predominantly in New South Wales, between teams made up of players aged under 19. Teams from Canberra and Melbourne (Victoria Thunderbolts) also participate. Prior to the C ...

team. After spending a season with Roosters SG Ball team he was cut and signed a contract with the

NYC New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Uni ...

team.

Playing career

Early career

In 2015 and 2016, Marsters played for the Wests Tigers'

team.

Marsters played for the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

in their 2015 match against Tonga. In 2016 he represented the

Junior Kiwis 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 Super ...

in a match against the Junior Kangaroos. He graduated to the Wests Tigers'

Intrust Super Premiership NSW The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserv ...

team in 2017.

2017

On 6 May, Marsters represented the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

in their

2017 Pacific Rugby League Tests The 2017 Pacific Rugby League Tests, known commercially as the Mesh & Bar Pacific Tests, are a group of rugby league test matches that were played on 6 May 2017 at Campbelltown Stadium in Sydney, Australia. Papua New Guinea played against the Cook I ...

match. In Round 13, Marsters made his

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 ...

debut for the Wests Tigers against 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- ...

, playing off the interchange bench in the 16–12 loss at

ANZ Stadium ANZ may refer to: People * Anz (musician), a British DJ and electronic musician Banks * ANZ (bank), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, the fourth-largest bank in Australia ** ANZ Bank New Zealand, the largest bank in New Zealand ...

. After playing on the bench for his first 2 games, he was in the starting team for the rest of the season, where he was described as, "a revelation at right centre". He scored 5 tries from 13 games in his rookie year.

2018

Marsters was said to be one of the most improved players in the game in 2018, and, "has been stellar in 2018, to the point he made his New Zealand Test debut and has claims on being one of the form centres right across the NRL." He was one of two players to appear in every game for the Tigers and was their top point-scorer with 124.

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

named in their team of the year, saying, "he was the only centre to crack 3000 metres gained and his 126 metres per match was the biggest average of any centre who played at least 15 games. He also lead all centres in offloads with 49 and was fifth in tackle busts with 65."

2019

In round 4, Marsters missed all three attempts at goal in a 9–8 loss to the

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith that competes in the NRL. The team is based west of the centre of Sydney, at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Penrith ...

, despite the

scoring two tries to Penrith's one. In round 9, Marsters scored two tries and kicked 3 goals in a 30–4 win over Penrith. In Round 20, he scored two tries in a 28–4 win over

North Queensland North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its tropical northern part has been ...

Leichhardt Oval Leichhardt Oval is a rugby league and soccer stadium in Lilyfield, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently one of three home grounds for the Wests Tigers National Rugby League (NRL) team, along with Campbelltown Stadium and Western Sydney S ...

. On 10 October, the

released Marsters from the final year of his contract. On 14 October, he signed a three-year deal with the

2020

In February, Marsters was a member of the North Queensland

2020 NRL Nines The 2020 NRL Nines was the fifth edition of the NRL Nines rugby league nines and the first one hosted outside of Auckland. It was played at HBF Park, Perth on 14–15 February 2020. Just like previous tournaments, it was contested by all 16 Nat ...

winning squad. In round 1, he made his debut for North Queensland in their 21–28 loss to the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite com ...

. In Round 6, he scored his first try for North Queensland in a 20–36 loss to the

. Following their round 10 loss to the

, Marsters was dropped by interim head coach

Josh Hannay Josh Hannay (born 11 January 1980) is an Australian professional rugby league coach who is an assistant coach of the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the NRL and a former professional rugby league footballer who played as a in the 1990s and 2000s ...

. It was said, "Brought to Townsville to sharpen the Cowboys lacking backline and provide more attacking threats on the edges, Marsters struggled to live up to the hype. Defensive lapses plagued his start at the club, with his combination on the right side with Kyle Feldt the worst in the competition for conceding tries." He made just two more appearances for the North Queensland in 2020, scoring a try in their round 18 loss to the

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm are a rugby league club based in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia that participates in the National Rugby League. The first fully professional rugby league team based in the state, the Storm entered the competition in 1998. ...

. Interim coach

explaining his absence by saying, "He is an extremely gifted player, Esan, but he can clock off at times out on the field. We have had some honest discussions around his work rate and consistency in that area."

2021

On 4 May, after just three games for the North Queensland club in the

2021 NRL season The 2021 NRL season was the 114th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 24th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 15th consecutive year. Regular season Ladd ...

, Marsters was released from his contract and signed with the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

until the end of the 2022 season.

2022

On 17 September, Marsters signed a contract to join English side

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

starting in 2023.

Achievements and accolades

Individual

Best New Talent Award: 2018

Team

: North Queensland Cowboys – Winners

Statistics

NRL

: ''Statistics are correct to the end of the 2020 season''

International

Personal life

Marsters' cousin,

Steven Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

, is a professional rugby league player for the

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional Australian 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 pla ...

References

External links

North Queensland Cowboys profileNRL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marsters, Essan 1996 births Living people Cook Islands national rugby league team players Huddersfield Giants players New Zealand people of Cook Island descent New Zealand people of British descent New Zealand Māori rugby league team players North Queensland Cowboys players Gold Coast Titans players Junior Kiwis players Rugby league second-rows New Zealand sportsmen Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Auckland Esan Wests Tigers NSW Cup players Wests Tigers players