William Leyshon is an Australian 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 played in the 1990s and 2000s. He played for North Sydney,

Northern Eagles The Northern Eagles were a rugby league team, that competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) between 2000 and 2002. The club was formed during the rationalisation process of the NRL by the merger of the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles and the Nort ...

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm are a rugby league club based in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia that participates in the National Rugby League. The first fully professional rugby league team based in the state, the Storm entered the competition in 1998. ...

and finally

Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...

Playing career

Leyshon made his first grade debut as an 18 year old for the North Sydney Bears against

in round 14 of the

1995 ARL season The 1995 ARL premiership was the 88th season of professional rugby league football in Australia, and the first to be run by the Australian Rugby League following the hand-over of the Premiership's administration by the New South Wales Rugby Leagu ...

North Sydney Oval North Sydney Oval is a multi-use sporting facility in North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, owned and operated by North Sydney Council. First used as a cricket ground in 1867, it is also used for Australian rules football, rugby league, rug ...

. In the

1998 NRL season 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

, Leyshon made 24 appearances as Norths finished 5th on the table but were eliminated from the finals series after losing both matches against

and

Canterbury-Bankstown Canterbury-Bankstown is a customary region of Sydney, Australia, in the south-western suburbs. The area is located around the Bankstown railway line, to the west of the St George region and to the south of the Inner West region. The suburbs o ...

. Leyshon played with the club up until their controversial merger with arch rivals Manly-Warringah to form the

. Leyshon was one of the few Norths players offered a contract to play for the new side. While with the Northern Eagles, Leyshon struggled with knee injuries and after three ACL reconstructions was limited to only 11 appearances over three seasons. In 2002, Leyshon joined Melbourne and played one season with them before announcing his retirement from rugby league just before the start of the

2003 NRL season The 2003 NRL premiership was the 96th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the sixth run by the National Rugby League. Fifteen teams competed, with the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles returning in place of their failed joint ...

Leyshon would later join Parramatta during the 2003 season, but managed only two appearances for the Eels, retiring again at the end of the season.

Coaching career

On 11 October 2017, Leyshon was announced as the inaugural coach for the new

North Sydney Bears The North Sydney Bears is an Australian rugby league football club based in North Sydney, New South Wales. The club competes in the New South Wales Cup, having exited the National Rugby League following the 1999 NRL season after 90 years in the ...

Under 20's side.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leyshon, William 1976 births Living people Australian rugby league coaches Australian rugby league players North Sydney Bears players Northern Eagles players Parramatta Eels players Melbourne Storm players Rugby league second-rows Rugby league locks Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from Blacktown