Owen Brougham Wright is a New Zealand 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 represented

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 ...

in sixteen Tests, including in matches that counted towards the 1988 World Cup. His brother

Nick Nick may refer to: * Nick (given name) * A cricket term for a slight deviation of the ball off the edge of the bat * British slang for being arrested * British slang for a police station * British slang for stealing * Short for nickname Place ...

also represented New Zealand while his father Owen and his uncles Jack and Joe all represented the New Zealand Māori side.

Playing career

Wright was an

Otahuhu Leopards The Otahuhu Leopards are a rugby league club based in Otahuhu, Auckland. Founded in 1911 Auckland Rugby League season, 1911, the club has produced 49 New Zealand national rugby league team players. The club competes in the Fox Memorial competit ...

player in the

Auckland Rugby League The Auckland Rugby League (ARL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It is responsible for rugby league in the region, including both club and school rugby league. It began in 1910 when the fi ...

competition. He won several trophies while at Otahuhu, including both the Lipscombe Cup for sportsman of the year and

Rothville Trophy The Auckland Rugby League competition has been competed for since 1909 when the first organised match was played between North Shore and City Rovers (won 44–22 by North Shore). The following year an official champion was crowned for the first tim ...

for player of the year in 1984. In 1974 Wright was an Under-17 and Under-19 Auckland representative. He played for the Under-21s in 1975 before making his senior debut for

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 ...

in 1978.Otahuhu Rovers Rugby League Football and Sports Club Inc
''Auckland Rugby League'' Wright represented the New Zealand Māori team, including touring Great Britain and at the 1986 Pacific Cup.A Passport to the World
''The Whitehaven News'', 21 April 2010 Wright remained in Auckland despite having offers from professional clubs in England and Australia. In 1986 he played for the

Manukau Magpies The Manukau Magpies are a rugby league football club based in Mangere, a suburb of Auckland in New Zealand, who compete in the Auckland Rugby League. The club was established in March 1912 after a meeting in Onehunga (where they were originally ...

club.''1986 Lion Red Rugby League Annual'',

New Zealand Rugby Football League The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in New Zealand. SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a tour of Great Britain that same year.Coffey and Wood ''T ...

, 1986. p.101

Coaching career

Between 1991 and 1993 Wright coached

in the national provincial competition.

Later years

Wright now works in radio. He has commentated on

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 ...

matches for

Radio Sport Radio Sport (previously Sports Roundup) was a New Zealand sports radio radio network, network and the talk radio, talkback sister network of Newstalk ZB. It held commentary rights for most cricket matches, international and domestic rugby uni ...

since 1995.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Owen New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand Māori rugby league players New Zealand Māori rugby league team players New Zealand national rugby league team players Otahuhu Leopards players Auckland rugby league team players New Zealand rugby league coaches New Zealand rugby league commentators Auckland rugby league team coaches Manukau Magpies players Living people Rugby league second-rows Year of birth missing (living people)