Frank Winterstein

Frank Winterstein (born 17 December 1986) is a Samoa international rugby league footballer who plays as a second-row forward for Toulouse Olympique in the Betfred Championship.

Frankie Winterstein
Personal information
Full nameFrank Winterstein
Born (1986-12-17) 17 December 1986
Canterbury, New South Wales, Australia
Height1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)
Weight105 kg (16 st 7 lb; 231 lb)
Playing information
Rugby league
PositionSecond-row
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2008 Canterbury Bulldogs 5 0 0 0 0
2009 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 6 0 0 0 0
2010–11 Crusaders RL 48 5 0 0 20
2012–13 Widnes Vikings 50 15 0 0 60
2016–18 Manly Sea Eagles 42 3 0 0 12
2019 Penrith Panthers 12 1 0 0 4
2020–21 Toulouse Olympique 0 0 0 0 0
Total 163 24 0 0 96
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2006–17 Samoa 9 2 0 0 8
Rugby union
PositionCentre
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2014–15 Kintetsu Liners 19 0 0 0 0
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2016 Australia 7s 15 1 0 0 5
As of 23 January 2021

Winterstein previously played for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles and the Penrith Panthers in the NRL, and for the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, Crusaders RL and the Widnes Vikings in the Super League.

He played rugby union for the Kintetsu Liners in the Top League and the Australian rugby sevens team.

Background

He was born in Canterbury, New South Wales, Australia.

Playing career

Winterstein previously played for Wakefield Trinity and the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the NRL. Winterstein made his first grade debut for Canterbury-Bankstown in Round 13 2008 at ANZ Stadium against the Newcastle Knights. Winterstein made 5 appearances in his debut season as Canterbury endured a horror season on the field finishing last on the table and claimed the wooden spoon.[6][7][8]

Winterstein later signed a 2-year deal at Super League newcomers Widnes.

Bradford Bulls

In October 2013, Winterstein signed a one-year deal with the Bradford Bulls while he was playing in the 2013 Rugby League World Cup with Samoa.[9][10] He was released by mutual consent in January 2014, without having appeared for the club.[11][12]

Rugby union

In March 2016, Winterstein joined the Australian rugby sevens squad.[13] He appeared at the 2016 Hong Kong Sevens, 2016 Singapore Sevens and 2016 London Sevens.[4]

Manly Warringah Sea Eagles

Winterstein returned to rugby league in August 2016, signing with the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles effective immediately until the end of 2017.[14] In July 2017, Winterstein extended his contract with the Sea Eagles until the end of 2019.[15]

Penrith Panthers

At the start of the 2019 NRL season, Winterstein was released by Manly-Warringah and he signed a contract to join Penrith. Winterstein made his debut for Penrith in Round 2 against Newcastle, scoring a try in a 16-14 victory at the Newcastle International Sports Centre.[16]

On 16 September 2019, it was revealed that Winterstein was one of ten players who were to be released by the Penrith club at the end of the 2019 NRL season.[17]

Toulouse Olympique

At the end of the 2019 season the 32-year-old was not offered another Australian contract. He then signed a two-year deal with the French rugby league team Toulouse Olympique for the European 2020/21 seasons.[18][19]

On 22 Jan 2021 it was reported that he had left the club by mutual consent[20]

Representative career

Winterstein has represented Samoa internationally, first playing in the Federation Shield in 2005.[21]

Personal life

Winterstein is the cousin of North Queensland Cowboys winger Antonio Winterstein.[14] He is married to social media influencer and anti-vaccination activist Taylor Winterstein.[22] Frank is also active in the anti-vaccination activist movement.[23]

References
  1. "Frank Winterstein". crusadersrfl.com. Archived from the original on 26 May 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
  2. "Frank Winterstein". Love Rugby League.
  3. "Frank Winterstein". Rugby League Project.
  4. "Winterstein Frank". It's Rugby.
  5. "Frankie Winterstein". World Rugby.
  6. "WAKEFIELD WILDCATS: Winterstein poised for Crusaders". Yorkshire Evening Post. 30 October 2009. Archived from the original on 9 October 2017.
  7. Fisher, Michael (1 April 2009). "'Squeaky clean' Winterstein eager to make mark for Wakefield". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
  8. Hadfield, Dave (2 April 2009). "Warriors and Wolves silent over future of Gleeson". The Independent. London. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
  9. "Frank Winterstein: Bradford Bulls sign Samoa's ex-Widnes forward". BBC. 29 October 2013. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  10. Wilson, Jack (29 October 2013). "Bradford snap up Samoan forward Frank Winterstein". Daily Star. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  11. "Frank Winterstein released by Bradford Bulls". BBC. 6 January 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  12. "Bradford Bulls release Winterstein". SBS. 6 January 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  13. "Winterstein joins Australian Sevens program". rugby.com.au. 18 March 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  14. "Manly sign Frank Winterstein". seaeagles.com.au. 20 August 2016. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
  15. "Winterstein signs new Manly NRL deal". SBS. 11 July 2017. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  16. "Winterstein set for Penrith switch after Manly release". NRL.
  17. "Tribute to Departing Players". Penrith Panthers.
  18. Coates, Sally (6 May 2020). "Anti-vax WAG Taylor Winterstein claims there is a 'strong core' of anti-vaxxing families in the NRL". Daily Telegraph. News Corp Australia. Archived from the original on 6 May 2020. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  19. Darbyshire, Drew (24 October 2019). "Frank Winterstein joins Toulouse". Love Rugby League. UK: Ole Media Group. Archived from the original on 23 December 2019.
  20. "Frank Winterstein leaves Toulouse". Love Rugby League. 22 January 2021. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  21. "England 38-14 Samoa". BBC. 5 November 2006. Retrieved 30 July 2008.
  22. Molloy, Shannon (19 April 2019). "Doctor lashes anti-vaxxer's 'miracle' cure". The Daily Telegraph. News Corp Australia. Archived from the original on 2 December 2019.
  23. Winterstein, Taylor (12 January 2020). "(@tays_way_) Protest photo of Taylor & Frank Winterstein". Archive; Instagram. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
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