Odell Manuel 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 and the Australian

Powerlifting Powerlifting is a strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athlete attempting a maximal weight single-lift effor ...

champion.

Early years

Growing up 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 ...

, Manuel was an

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

junior and in 1997 was selected for the

Junior Kiwi 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 Supe ...

Rugby league career

Manuel played for the Warriors for two seasons, winning the Rookie of the Year award in 1999. In 2000 he represented the New Zealand Māori at the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

. He then spent two years at

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

which were much less successful. Mid way through his first season he was injured in a collision with

Lesley Vainikolo Lesley Paea 'I'muli Vainikolo (born 4 May 1979) is a former professional rugby league and rugby union footballer. A dual code international, he has played for the New Zealand Kiwis in rugby league and England in rugby union. He began his caree ...

in training and he spent much of his second year in reserve grade. He then returned to New Zealand to play for the

Hibiscus Coast Raiders The Hibiscus Coast Raiders are a rugby league club based on the Hibiscus Coast, New Zealand. They compete in Auckland Rugby League's Fox Memorial competition and between 2000 and 2005 were also involved in the Bartercard Cup competition. History ...

in the

Bartercard Cup The Bartercard Cup (successor of the Lion Red Cup) was the top level rugby league club competition in New Zealand from 2000 until 2007. For the entire life of the tournament it was sponsored by Bartercard. The cup was administered by the New Zeala ...

before a swansong season in Australia with the

Central Comets Central Queensland Capras are a semi-professional rugby league football club primarily based in Rockhampton, Queensland and representing Central Queensland. They currently play in the Queensland Cup, the premier rugby league competition in Quee ...

.Keeping the Faith
''Queensland Rugby League'' However, after only six games he was diagnosed with arthritis and forced to retire.

Powerlifting career

In January 2009 Manuel entered his first powerlifting event. In March he won the Queensland title at the Queensland Open in Brisbane, lifting 892.5 kg, and in July 2009 he won the Australian national title by lifting 916 kg to break the Australian record by more than 20 kg and claim the overall title. However Manuel tested positive to methylhexanamine at the Australian Powerlifting National Championships and was disqualified from the powerlifting events he competed in at the 2009 National Championships.
''The Age'', 24 December 2009 He was banned for three months for the use of a banned substance, instead of the usual two-year suspension due to the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) being satisfied that he used the substance as part of a supplement and not to boost his performance in the sport. November 2012 after time off with knee injury Manuel returned to competition mode in Melbourne's ProRaw powerlifting event posting a huge 932.5 kg raw total made up of a 350 kg (squat) 215 kg (bench) 367.5 kg (deadlift) @129 kg body weight. This event made him the first man in Australian history to go over 900 kg raw in his weight class. In June 2013 Manuel made history again at the GPC Australia National Powerlifting titles. He squatted 390 kg, bench pressed 230 kg and deadlifted 400 kg at 137 kg body weight raw. This added up to a 1020 kg total, making him the first Australian to total over 1000 kg raw, across any powerlifting federation. In October 2018 Manual took part in Big Dogs 3 event where he took 2nd place with 1115 kg Total.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manuel, Odell 1978 births New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand Māori rugby league players New Zealand Māori rugby league team players New Zealand Warriors players Canberra Raiders players Hibiscus Coast Raiders players Otahuhu Leopards players Junior Kiwis players Rugby league wingers New Zealand powerlifters New Zealand male weightlifters Living people