Nicolas Zisti (born 2 August 1972) is an

Italian Australian Italian Australians ( it, Italiani Australiani) are Australians with Italian ancestry. Italian Australians constitute the sixth largest ancestry group in Australia, and one of the largest groups in the global Italian diaspora. At the 2021 c ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He played club level rugby league (RL) for the

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional Australian rugby league club based in Redfern, a suburb of inner-southern Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and are one of nine existing tea ...

, the

St. George Dragons The St. George Dragons is an Australian rugby league football club from St George District in Sydney, New South Wales that played in the top level New South Wales competition and Australian Rugby League competitions from the 1921 until th ...

, the

Hunter Mariners The Hunter Mariners were an Australian professional rugby league club based in the Hunter Region's largest city, Newcastle. Hunter was formed in mid-1995 and was later disbanded at the end of 1997. The club was formed because of the Super Leag ...

, the

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 ...

and the

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is predom ...

, usually as a , but also as a , and representative level rugby union (RU) for

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, and at club level for

Rugby Roma Olimpic The Rugby Roma Olimpic Club 1930 is an Italian rugby union team, based in Rome. The club won 5 Italian titles, in 1935, 1937, 1948, 1949 and 2000, the Coppa Italia in 1998 and competed in 58 editions of the Italian top tier championship (now, the ...

, as a

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is e ...

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

Background

Nicolas Zisti was born in Sydney,

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia.

Playing career

Rugby League

Nick Zisti began his professional career playing for the

where he made 6 appearances off the bench between 1991 and 1993, scoring no points. From there he went on to play for the

where he scored 19 tries in 18 games for the Dragons between 1994–96. He scored the Dragons only try in their 1996 20–8 Grand Final defeat by the

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...

. In 1997, he signed for the short-lived

(with the club only lasting one season in the premiership). He played 16 games, scoring 9 tries and kicking 20 goals. He is the Mariners leading scorer in what was their only season. He set numerous records for the club including most tries, goals, points in a match and most points in a season. Zisti also played in the Hunter Mariners final game, a 36-12 loss against

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

in the

1997 World Club Challenge The 1997 World Club Championship was an expansion of the World Club Challenge concept by Super League. The rugby competition was restructured to include all 22 clubs from the Australasian Super League and the Super League championships and wa ...

final. Following the club's demise, he moved to the

where he played nine games scoring four tries in the season of 1998. After spending all of his career in Australia he decided to move to England to play in the Super League club the

Rugby Union

In October 1999 he made his international début for the

Italy national rugby union team The Italy national rugby union team (Italian: ''Squadra nazionale italiana di rugby'') represents Italy in men's international rugby union. The team is known as ''gli Azzurri'' (the light-blues). Savoy blue is the common colour of the national ...

in a World Cup match against England national rugby union team. In 1999 he signed a 3-years agreement with

, a

team from

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. He won the Italian championship in 2000. He won his last international cap for Italy during the

2000 Six Nations The 2000 Six Nations Championship was the first series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship, following the addition of Italy to the Five Nations. It was the 106th season of the championship overall. The title was won by England. England won ...

vs.

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 ...

. In December 2001, because of Rugby Roma's financial problems, he asked to be let free and flew back to Australia.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zisti, Nick 1972 births Living people Australian people of Italian descent Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Rugby union players from Sydney Bradford Bulls players Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks players Hunter Mariners players Italian expatriate sportspeople in England Italy international rugby union players Rugby league players from Sydney Rugby league centres Rugby league wingers Rugby union centres Rugby union wings Rugby Roma Olimpic players South Sydney Rabbitohs players St. George Dragons players