Josh Mansour
Josh Mansour is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a er for the Penrith Panthers in the NRL. He has played for Lebanon and Australia at international level.
He has played for the Prime Minister's XIII, NSW City Origin and New South Wales in the State of Origin series.
Early life
Mansour was born in Sydney, Australia. He is of Lebanese descent through his father, Fidel, who was born north of Beirut, Lebanon, and is of Portuguese and Cuban descent through his mother, Angie, who was born in the Madeira archipelago.He played junior rugby league for the St Johns Eagles and the Kingsgrove Colts, and attended Holy Spirit College in Lakemba during his high school years.
Playing career
After being cut from the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs' S. G. Ball Cup side, Mansour attended an open trial for the North Sydney Bears and was subsequently signed by the South Sydney Rabbitohs, playing in their NYC team between 2008 and 2010. Mansour was selected in 2010 as Winger of the Year NYC and was chosen as the NYC Player of the Year at the Rabbitohs. He represented Lebanon in the 2009 European Cup, and played for the Junior Kangaroos in 2010. Mansour graduated to South Sydney's full-time training squad in 2011, playing for their feeder team, the North Sydney Bears, in the New South Wales Cup. After a number of strong performances for Norths, Mansour caught the attention of the Penrith Panthers who offered him a contract for the 2012 season.2012
In round 9, Mansour made his NRL debut for the Penrith Panthers at Penrith Stadium on the wing in the 10–44 loss against the Melbourne Storm. Mansour scored a try on debut. He was named the Panthers rookie of the year after playing in 14 matches and scoring 7 tries in his debut year.2013
On 5 March, Mansour extended his contract with the club to the end of the 2014 season. In round 23, against the New Zealand Warriors, Mansour scored a spectacular put down of the ball just before going into the in goal in the 28–24 win at Mt Smart Stadium. Mansour played in 14 matches and scored 4 tries in 2013.2014
In February, Mansour played in the Panthers inaugural Auckland Nines squad. On 3 June, he re-signed, keeping him at the Panthers until the end of the 2016 season after declining a lucrative offer from the Canberra Raiders. Mansour finished the season as the Panthers highest tryscorer with 15 tries in 22 matches.On 12 October, Mansour played on the wing and scored a try for Prime Minister's XIII in the 34–16 win over Papua New Guinea. He made his Australian international debut against New Zealand national rugby league team on 25 October in the Four Nations, where the Kiwis won 30–12 at Suncorp Stadium. Mansour scored his first try in the green and gold of Australia against Samoa in Australia's 44–18 victory at WIN Stadium, and played in the 22–18 Four Nations final loss against New Zealand.
2015
Mansour scored 6 tries from 12 games in 2015. He was named in the Lebanon 48-man train-on squad ahead of two 2017 Rugby League World Cup qualifiers against South Africa, however he didn't take part in either match.2016
In February, Mansour played in the Panthers Auckland Nines. On 8 May, he played for NSW City Origin against Country, scoring a try in the 44–30 win, and was soon after rewarded with selection in the New South Wales State of Origin squad. On 1 June, Mansour made his debut for New South Wales against Queensland, playing on the wing in the 4–6 loss at ANZ Stadium. Mansour featured in all 3 matches for Blues on the wing in their 2–1 series loss in the 2016 State of Origin series. At the 2016 Dally M Awards night, Mansour was awarded as the Winger of the Year. Mansour finished the season with 25 matches and being the Panthers highest try-scorer with 16 tries. At the end of the year, Mansour was named in the Australian 2016 Four Nations 24-man squad. Mansour played in one match of the tournament, in the first round against Scotland, where he played on the wing and scored 2 tries in the 54–12 win at Craven Park in Hull. On 3 November, Mansour suffered a serious knee injury during a freak mishap at training during a game of touch footy when he collided with Dragons star Josh Dugan, ruling Mansour from the tournament and the first half of the 2017 season.2017
On 4 June 2017, Mansour played his first game for the season after returning from a serious knee injury. He scored a try in Penrith's 38–0 demolition of Canterbury at Stadium Australia. On 2 September 2017, Mansour played his 100th NRL game against the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. At the end of the season, Mansour was chosen in The Australian squad for The 2017 Rugby League World Cup. Mansour played in a match against France and then played in the match against Lebanon where he marked up against lookalike Abbas Miski. Australia went on to win The 2017 World Cup but Mansour did not feature in the final.2018
Mansour started the season well for Penrith until suffering a shocking facial injury in Round 6 against the Gold Coast Titans when he was accidentally kneed in the face by Gold Coast winger Anthony Don. After having surgery on his badly fractured face, Mansour said "The biggest risk was obviously losing my eye, My surgeon has done over 2000 people and he reckons he has only seen a dozen like this, and they are all from motor accidents and soldiers". On 17 April, Mansour signed a three-year contract extension to stay at Penrith until the end of the 2021 season.2019
Mansour started the 2019 NRL season as one of the club's first choice wingers. Mansour scored his first try of the season in Round 5 against the Gold Coast in a 30–24 defeat. On 14 May 2019, Mansour was demoted to reserve grade by coach Ivan Cleary as Penrith had only won 2 out of 9 matches to start the season.Mansour only spent the 1 week in reserve grade for Penrith before being recalled back to the first team. Mansour subsequently played on the wing as Penrith defeated Parramatta 16–10 at the new Western Sydney Stadium.
Mansour made a total of 19 appearances for Penrith in the 2019 NRL season and scored one try as the club finished 10th on the table and missed out on the finals for the first time since 2015.