Jacob Kiraz
Jacob Kiraz (born 23 November 2001) is a Lebanon international rugby league footballer who plays as a centre. He is contracted to the North Queensland Cowboys in the NRL.
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Born | Sydney, Australia | 23 November 2001||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Position | Centre | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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As of 20 October 2019 Source: [1] |
Background
Kiraz was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia and is of Lebanese descent.
He played his junior rugby league for the St Johns Eagles.
Playing career
Early career
In 2015, Kiraz was a member of the Canterbury Bulldogs under-15 Summer Development Squad. In 2018, he was a member of the under-17 Winter Development squad.[2][3] In November 2018, he was named in the St George Dragons SG Ball Cup train-on squad. On 6 February 2019, he was named in the team's final squad, and played eight games and scored three tries during the season.[4][5]
2019
In June, Kiraz signed a three-year contract with the North Queensland Cowboys, beginning in 2020.[6]
On 22 June, at 17-years old, Kiraz made his international Test debut for Lebanon, coming off the bench in their 58–14 loss to Fiji at Leichhardt Oval. He set up his side's third try just two minutes after coming onto the field.[7][8]
On 10 October, he was named in Lebanon's 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s squad.[9] Kiraz played just one game in the tournament before being disqualified for being under the age of 18. While the International Rugby League allows players 16 or older to play in Test matches, the National Rugby League, who ran the tournament, stipulates that you must be 18 to play. Kiraz, who would not turn 18 until November.[10][11]
References
- Rugby League Project
- "Development Squads Announced". Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs. 19 November 2015.
- "Bulldogs Under 17 Winter Development Squad". Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs. 9 July 2018.
- "St George, Illawarra junior representative train-on squads announced". St George Illawarra Dragons. 22 November 2018.
- "Junior representatives squads announced". St George Illawarra Dragons. 6 February 2019.
- "Subscribe to the Townsville Bulletin". www.townsvillebulletin.com.au.
- "2019 Representative round teams: State of Origin, Test squads, NSW v Queensland". National Rugby League. 22 June 2019.
- "Maika Sivo and Suliasi Vunivalu fire as Fiji Bati overpower Lebanon". National Rugby League. 22 June 2019.
- https://www.nrl.com/news/2019/10/09/2019-world-cup-nines-squads/
- https://www.nrl.com/news/2019/10/19/cedars-fall-short-of-semis-after-having-two-players-disqualified/
- https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/world-nines-world-9s-lebanon-points-stripped-vs-france-wales-fight-video-rugby-league-nrl-2019/news-story/3786f9dd0dd1eefb768d6b279d3ef853