Odell Manuel

Odell Manuel

Personal information
Born	12 January 1978 (1978-01-12) (age 33) New Zealand
Playing information
Height	185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	104 kg (16 st 5 lb)
Position	Wing
Club
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
1999–2000	New Zealand Warriors	39	13	0	0	52
2001–2002	Canberra Raiders	19	6	0	0	24
	Total	58	19	0	0	76
Representative
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
1997	Junior Kiwis
1998–2008	New Zealand Māori	2	0	0	0	0
Source: RLP

Odell Manuel is a former New Zealand rugby league player and almost the Australian Powerlifting champion.

Early years

Growing up in Auckland, Manuel was a Otahuhu Leopards junior and in 1997 was selected for the Junior Kiwis.

Rugby league career

Manuel played for the Warriors for two seasons, winning the Rookie of the Year award in 1999.^[1] In 2000 he represented the New Zealand Māori at the World Cup. He then spent two years at Canberra which were much less successful. Mid way through his first season he was injured in a collision with Lesley Vainikolo in training and he spent much of his second year in reserve grade.^[2]

He then returned to New Zealand to play for the Hibiscus Coast Raiders in the Bartercard Cup before a swansong season in Australia with the Central Comets.^[3] However after only six games he was diagnosed with arthritis and forced to retire.^[2]

Powerlifting career

In January 2009 Manuel entered his first powerlifting event. In March he won the Queensland title at the Queensland Open in Brisbane, lifting 892.5 kg, and in July 2009 he won the Australian national title by lifting 916 kg to break the Australian record by more than 20 kg and claim the overall title.^[2]

However Manuel tested positive to methylhexanamine at the Australian Powerlifting National Championships and was disqualified from the powerlifting events he competed in at the 2009 National Championships.^[4] He was banned for three months for the use of a banned substance, instead of the usual two-year suspension due to the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) being satisfied that he used the substance as part of a supplement and not to boost his performance in the sport.

References

1. ^ Odell Manuel Rugby League in New Zealand
2. ^ ^{a b c} Deane, Steve (14 August 2009). "Weightlifting: Former Warrior powers way to top in new sport". The New Zealand Herald. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10590616. Retrieved 1 November 2011. 
3. ^ Keeping the Faith Queensland Rugby League
4. ^ Powerlifters banned for stimulant use The Age, 24 December 2009

Persondata
Name	Manuel, Odell
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	12 January 1978
Place of birth	New Zealand
Date of death
Place of death