Villasanti, Richard

Richard VILLASANTI [Player Stats]


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Richard Villasanti forced into early retirement
Wed June 20, 2007
by Matthew O'Neill
Former Warriors, Sharks and Australian Test forward Richard Villasanti has announced his retirement due to a knee injury where he was unable to get on the field for Harlequins.

Villasanti created headlines in 2003 when he produced his finest performance destroying the Bulldogs in a semi-final. Such was his power and brutality in that game he was being talked about as a possible selection for Australia's end of season Test matches against New Zealand and Great Britain.

New Zealand had wanted Villasanti in their Test side, but missed out on his services to the Australian's who selected him in the one-off Test against the Kiwis after the NRL Grand Final in 2003 and was subquently chosen on the tour of Great Britain where he didn't feature in the Tests.

Villasanti's career went downhill after the brief high in 2003 and he played last year at Cronulla. He sought a release from the Sharks to join Harlequins, but never got on the field in the first side.

The Harlequins website )www.quins.co.uk) when announcing that Villasanti had announced his retirement said, "It was agreed that the minor surgery had been successful and that Villa would be back to playing at the end of the standard rehabilitation period of 4-6 weeks. The club was aware that his training load would need to be monitored (as is the case with a number of players) and also that he might have a further problem in 2/3 years time.

"Given the loss of 2 influential forwards, the scarcity of available replacements and the positive medical report, the club decided that this was a good option. Unfortunately, the knee has just not responded to rehabilitation, despite the best efforts of both the medical team and Villa himself. His contract was structured to minimise the impact of such an occurance.

"The club would like to commend Villa on the outstanding way he has conducted himself in the club during this difficult time. It is never easy for a player with such talent not to be able to do the job he asks of himself.

"The end of a career at such a young age is a particularly hard thing to accept. With the support of his family, he has done so manfully. We wish him all the best in the future."

Villasanti is currently 27 and his career whilst short did contain highlights and lowlights where he was the first Warriors player selected for Australia.


Villasanti and Hopkins omitted from Harlequins Good Friday squad
Fri April 6, 2007
Source: www.quins.co.uk

Harlequins RL head Coach Brian McDermott has omitted Richard Villasanti and Lee Hopkins from his original 20-man squad for Good Friday's, clash with Hull FC at the Twickenham Stoop. They join Jonny Grayshon who has been ruled out with a hamstring strain.

Jon Wells, David Tootill and Karl Temata have all been added to the team which won so convincingly in Pia last weekend. On Sunday the team will return to the south of France for the second time inside one week, in preparation for Easter Monday's game with Catalans Dragons.

Supporters not traveling to France can stay in touch with all the action with live web commentary on the BBC London website - www.bbc.co.uk/london

Harlequins RL v Hull FC, 3pm Friday 6th April, Twickenham Stoop

Harlequins RL 18:

Gafa, Heckenberg, Hill, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, McLinden, Melling, Mills, Orr, Paul, Purdham, Randall, Rinaldi, A. Smith, T. Smith, Sykes, Temata, Tootill, Wells.

Hull FC 18:

Briscoe, Domic, Dowes, Godwin, Hall, G. Horne, R. Horne, King, Maiava, Manu, Raynor, Radford, Sing, Swain, Tony, Washbrook, Wheeldon, Yeaman

Referee: I Smith. Kick off is 3pm.

Match tickets for all home games start at just 12 pounds. Book online or on the phone 020 8410 6000.

News sent by: www.quins.co.uk

Sat February 17, 2007
• Harlequins sign Richard Villasanti
  
Tue May 16, 2006
• Kimmorley and Villasanti named in Sharks squad
  

====================================================================================================== 2006 VB NSWRL Premier League Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 1 tries, 4 points. ====================================================================================================== 2006 NRL Telstra Premiership Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 7 games; 1 tries, 4 points. [View] Round 12 [27 May 06] W 34-20 v Warriors (H). [BE] [View] Round 19 [16 Jul 06] L 32-38 v Roosters (A). [BE] [View] Round 20 [21 Jul 06] L 12-28 v Storm (A). [BE] 4 Pts; 1t [View] Round 22 [05 Aug 06] L 10-12 v Warriors (A). [BE] [View] Round 23 [12 Aug 06] L 14-34 v Eels (H). [PR] [View] Round 24 [19 Aug 06] L 28-32 v Panthers (H). [PR] [View] Round 25 [26 Aug 06] L 4-18 v Dragons (A). [PR] ====================================================================================================== 2006 NRL Telstra Premiership New Zealand Warriors 1 games; [View] Round 5 [09 Apr 06] L 8-22 v Sea Eagles (H). [BE] ====================================================================================================== 2005 NRL Telstra Premiership New Zealand Warriors 19 games; 4 tries, 16 points. [View] Round 1 [13 Mar 05] L 20-26 v Sea Eagles (H). [BE] [View] Round 4 [03 Apr 05] W 46-14 v Souths (H). [BE] [View] Round 6 [17 Apr 05] W 30-26 v Knights (A). [BE] [View] Round 8 [01 May 05] L 14-16 v Panthers (H). [BE] [View] Round 9 [07 May 05] L 24-28 v Sharks (A). [BE] 4 Pts; 1t (53rd) [View] Round 10 [15 May 05] L 6-10 v Roosters (H). [SR] [View] Round 11 [21 May 05] W 34-16 v Souths (A). [PR] 4 Pts; 1t (36th) [View] Round 12 [29 May 05] W 21-4 v Tigers (H). [BE] 4 Pts; 1t (80th) [View] Round 13 [04 Jun 05] L 18-32 v Dragons (A). [PR] [View] Round 14 [12 Jun 05] W 24-16 v Storm (H). [PR] [View] Round 15 [18 Jun 05] L 18-28 v Eels (A). [PR] 4 Pts; 1t (12th) [View] Round 16 [26 Jun 05] W 30-18 v Broncos (H). [BE] [View] Round 17 [02 Jul 05] L 16-24 v Cowboys (A). [BE] [View] Round 18 [10 Jul 05] L 24-26 v Bulldogs (H). [PR] [View] Round 19 [16 Jul 05] W 24-22 v Roosters (A). [BE] [View] Round 20 [23 Jul 05] W 24-16 v Raiders (H). [BE] [View] Round 21 [30 Jul 05] L 34-42 v Panthers (A). [BE] [View] Round 22 [06 Aug 05] L 20-38 v Eels (H). [BE] [View] Round 23 [13 Aug 05] L 10-22 v Storm (A). [BE] ====================================================================================================== 2004 NRL Telstra Premiership New Zealand Warriors ======================================================================================================

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