Stuart Lester (born 8 February 1975) 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 11 ...

footballer who played professionally for

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington t ...

. His brother, Aaron, played professionally for the

Auckland 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 ...

and

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle and to the north of Barrow-in-Furness. It i ...

Playing career

Lester made 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 1994 and was part of the side that defeated the Australian Schoolboys side for the first time.''Lion Red Rugby League Annual 1994'',

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 '' ...

, 1994. p.154 In 1995 Lester was signed by the new

franchise and played for the Warriors Colts in the

Lion Red Cup The Lion Red Cup was a New Zealand domestic rugby league competition that ran from 1994 to 1996 sponsored by brewers Lion Nathan. It was created due to the increase in public awareness of domestic rugby league due to the Auckland Warriors being a ...

. He was part of the side that lost the Grand Final that year.''Lion Red Rugby League Annual 1995'',

, 1995. p.75-84 He remained with the Warriors in 1996, however he was limited to reserve grade appearances. In August 1996 he was signed by the

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors are a professional rugby league club in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the Super League. Formed in 1872 as Wigan Football Club, Wigan was a founding member of the Northern Rugby Football Union followin ...

on a three-year contract, however due to a delay in a work permit he was not allowed to join the club until January 1997.Larder looks to former club
''The Independent'', 21 January 1997 Lester played eight games for the club during 1997's Super League II.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lester, Stuart 1975 births Living people Auckland rugby league team players Counties Manukau rugby league team players Ellerslie Eagles players Junior Kiwis players New Zealand rugby league players Rugby league second-rows Wigan Warriors players