Jesse Te Ahukaramu Royal (born 22 March 1980) is a 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 from New Zealand who currently plays for the Kurri Kurri Bulldogs in the

Newcastle Rugby League The Newcastle Rugby League is a local rugby league football competition in Newcastle, Australia. It is one of the oldest rugby league competitions in Australia, founded in 1910. A Newcastle representative team was also assembled from players in ...

. He has previously played in the NRL for the

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, th ...

and

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 ...

. Royal's preferred

position is prop forward.

Early years

Royal was born in

Hamilton, New Zealand Hamilton ( mi, Kirikiriroa) is an inland city in the North Island of New Zealand. Located on the banks of the Waikato River, it is the seat and most populous city of the Waikato region. With a territorial population of , it is the country's ...

. He was a chef in the New Zealand Army and has played in the Bartercard Cup for the

Central Falcons The Manawatu rugby league team are a rugby league team that represents the Manawatu Rugby League in New Zealand Rugby League competitions. They have the nickname the Mustangs and between 2002 and 2007 competed in the Bartercard Cup as the Centr ...

and represented

Waikato Waikato () is a local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsul ...

. He captained the 2003 New Zealand A tour of England.

Australia

Royal was signed by the

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith that competes in the NRL. The team is based west of the centre of Sydney, at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Penrit ...

which prompted a move to Australia in 2004 to play for the club's

NSWRL Premier League 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 ...

team. In 2005 he joined the

on a two-year deal, however he was not able to break out of Premier League. His form was good enough however to earn a new two-year deal which eventually led to his

first grade First grade (also called Grade One, called ''Year 2'' in England or Primary 2 in Scotland) is the first grade in elementary school and the first school year after kindergarten. Children are usually 6–7 years old in this grade. Examples by ...

debut in 2007. He went on to play 29 games for the Knights.

Warriors

In 2009, Royal initially decided to explore employment opportunities in the coalmine industry, whilst also playing for the

Kurri Kurri Kurri Kurri is a small town in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, in the Cessnock LGA. At the , its population was 6,044. Kurri Kurri is the largest town in a group of towns and hamlets, including Stanford Merthyr, Pelaw Main, ...

club, in order to spend more time with his young family. However he later signed a two-year deal with the

that same year to provide injury cover for

Evarn Tuimavave Evarn Tuimavave (born 28 June 1984) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who played as a . Playing career Born in Auckland, New Zealand, Tuimavave played his junior football for the Pt Chev Pirates, Richmond Rovers and ...

. He made his Warriors debut in Round Two 2009 against the

Manly Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...

, scoring a try with his first touch of the ball.Jones set to take on defending premiers
''Yahoo!Xtra Sport'', 17 March 2009

Later years

Royal decided to retire after the

2010 NRL season The 2010 NRL season was the 103rd season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the thirteenth run by the National Rugby League. The season commenced on 12 March and ended with the Grand Final, played on 3 Octobe ...

and return to Newcastle resume his employment in the mining industry, and to play for local club Kurri Kurri Bulldogs.Far from a Royal departure, this Warrior is just happy he made the grade
''Sydney Morning Herald'', 4 September 2010

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Royal, Jesse 1980 births Living people Auckland rugby league team players Bay Roskill Vikings players Kurri Kurri Bulldogs players Manawatu rugby league team players New Zealand Army personnel New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand Māori rugby league players New Zealand people of Scottish descent Newcastle Knights players New Zealand Warriors players Rugby league players from Hamilton, New Zealand Rugby league props Waikato rugby league team players