Omar Slaimankhel (born 4 March 1992) is a New Zealand former professional

rugby football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union and rugby league. Canadian football and, to a lesser extent, American football were once considered forms of rugby football, but are seldom now referred to as such. The ...

er who last played

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 ...

for Western Suburbs in the

Ron Massey Cup The Ron Massey Cup (formerly known as the Bundaberg Red Cup and Jim Beam Cup) is a semi-professional development level rugby league competition in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, run jointly by the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) and the ...

. Slaimankhel previously played 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 ...

for 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 ...

before switching to

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 ...

and playing for Japanese team,

Canon Eagles The Yokohama Canon Eagles is a Japanese rugby union team founded in 1981 that competes in the Japan Rugby League One and is owned by Canon. The team was previously based in Machida, Tokyo, Japan. According to the official website, it was founde ...

Early life

Slaimankhel was born in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

to Afghan refugees. When he was two years old his family moved to New Zealand. Slaimankhel grew up playing

until he switched codes to join the

development side. He played in the first XV for

Auckland Grammar School Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

, where he was also a track athlete and weightlifter.

Playing career

Slaimankhel made his first grade debut for the Warriors on 16 June 2012 against 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 ...

. He played five games for the Warriors before taking up a lucrative deal with Japanese rugby union club

. This stint in Japanese rugby union would ultimately be Salimankhel's last appearances in top-tier football of either code, as he never cracked another NRL side despite joining their feeder clubs. In mid-2015 Slaimankhel returned to rugby league, signing with the

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional 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 fifteen Ne ...

. He played for the Roosters feeder club, the

Wyong Roos The Wyong Rugby League Football Club are an Australian rugby league club based on the Central Coast of New South Wales. The club competed in the New South Wales Cup from 2013 to 2018 and still competes in the Central Coast Division Rugby Leagu ...

, in the

New South Wales Cup 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 ...

. On 27 September, he was named at fullback in the 2015 New South Wales Cup Team of the Year. Slaimankhel played for the Roosters in the

2016 NRL Auckland Nines The 2016 NRL Auckland Nines (known as the Downer NRL Auckland Nines due to sponsorship) was the third NRL Auckland Nines competition. It was held on 6–7 February 2016 at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand. As with previous tournaments, it was ...

; however, he suffered an arm injury on the second day of competition. Slaimankhel played for The Auburn Warriors in The NSW

competition for two seasons. After Auburn were excluded from the competition he joined The

Mount Pritchard Mounties The Mounties Rugby League Football Club (sponsored by Mounties Group) is an Australian rugby league football club based in Mount Pritchard, New South Wales formed in 1927. They currently play in the NSW Cup, Ron Massey Cup and Sydney Shield. ...

for the 2018 season. In 2019, Slaimankhel joined the Western Suburbs

team. On 6 May 2019, Slaimankhel was selected for the

representative side to play against Newcastle Rebels.

Television appearance

Slaimankhel appeared on the eighteenth season of '' The Block'' along with his friend Oz. On the show they are known as the ‘bathroom kings’ winning all bathroom related rooms.

References

External links

Sydney Roosters profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slaimankhel, Omar 1992 births Living people Afghan emigrants to New Zealand Afghan expatriates in Pakistan Asian Games competitors for Afghanistan Auburn Warriors players Mount Pritchard Mounties players New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand Warriors players People educated at Auckland Grammar School Junior Kiwis players Rugby league wingers Rugby league fullbacks Rugby union players at the 2018 Asian Games Rugby sevens players at the 2022 Asian Games Wyong Roos players Yokohama Canon Eagles players New Zealand people of Afghan descent