Ellia Green

Ellia Tiriseyani Green OAM (born 20 February 1993) is an Australian rugby union and rugby league player. He[lower-alpha 2] was formerly a member of the Australia rugby sevens team that won the gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. He also played for the New Zealand Warriors in the NRLW.

Ellia Green
OAM
Green in 2017
Birth nameEllia Tiriseyani Green
Date of birth (1993-02-20) 20 February 1993
Place of birthSuva, Fiji
Height172 cm (5 ft 8 in)[lower-alpha 1]
Weight78 kg (172 lb)[lower-alpha 1]
Rugby union career
Position(s) Back
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
Warringah ()
National sevens team(s)
Years Team Comps
2013–2021 Australia
Rugby league career
Playing information
PositionWing
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2020 New Zealand Warriors 3 2 0 0 8
Medal record
Women's rugby sevens
Representing  Australia
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place2016 Rio de JaneiroTeam competition
Commonwealth Games
Silver medal – second place2018 Gold CoastTeam competition

Early life

Assigned female at birth,[4] Green was born in Suva, Fiji, and moved to Australia's Central Coast, New South Wales with his adoptive parents at the age of five.[5][6] His adoptive father was Polish[7] and died when Green was young.[5] His adoptive mother, Yolanta, was English[7] and died of cancer in 2018.[8]

Green started Little Athletics at the age of six and excelled in sprinting. He spent 10 years in athletics, representing Australia in the 100m, 200m and long jump at the World Junior Championships, until his cousins convinced him to try rugby sevens.[9] First playing for Warringah at club level and going on to debut for Australia in February 2013.

Career

Rugby sevens

Green scored an 80-metre try against Canada in the three-match exhibition series at the Gold Coast Sevens, a match broadcast live on Fox Sports. Green was recruited by the Australian Rugby Sevens program after attending a Pathway to Gold Talent ID camp in Melbourne in 2012. Green was a sprinter, having previously represented Australia in athletics at the World School Games in Qatar in 2009 and scored the winning try after the siren against Canada at Twickenham in the Sevens World Series in May 2015. Representative Honours include Victoria.[10][11] Green was a member of Australia's team at the 2016 Olympics, defeating New Zealand in the final to win the inaugural Olympic gold medal in the sport.[12][13][14][15][16][17][18]

Before the 2020 Olympic Sevens took place, Green had been hampered by a knee injury for which he was not ruled out. Coach John Manenti left Green out of the squad, saying: "[it is the] toughest call of his career", adding: "[Green] just can't run as quick as [he] once could. Ultimately that's [his] weapon and strength are [his] X-factors and [he] just wasn't producing that with any consistency."[19] Green, on Instagram said: "The past few days have been pretty long and dark since being told I haven't been selected for the Tokyo Olympics."[20]

On 9 November 2021, Green announced his retirement from rugby sevens.[21] He finished his career in the Sevens Series Rugby Sevens competition with 149 appearances (26th), 94 tackles, 141 tries (4th), 739 points (6th), 90 clean breaks (10th), and 244 runs (27th).[22][23]

Rugby league

In September 2020, Green, along with Australia sevens teammate Evania Pelite,[24] signed for NRL Women's Premiership (NRLW) team the New Zealand Warriors. Green was poised to sign for the Brisbane Broncos, however did not want to spend the four-week period operating under COVID-19 quarantine requirements in Queensland.[25][26]

On his debut, Green scored a side-line try against the Broncos in the 8th minute. He did not score again, however remained a dangerous presence throughout the match on the wing.[27][28] Green scored again in round three against the St. George Illawarra Dragons, and set up teammate Evania Pelite in a 10–22 win.[29][30]

Personal life

Green lives in the Sydney suburb of Lane Cove.[6] He has a daughter with his partner Vanessa Turnbull-Roberts.[4][31]

On 16 August 2022, Green came out as a transgender man.[4][31] He did not change his name.[4] The announcement made him the first Olympian to come out as a trans man.[7][31] He retired from rugby to focus on his transition and said, "I knew I couldn't do hormone therapy or surgery during my career".[8] He uses they/them and he/him pronouns.[3]

See also

Notes
  2. Green uses both they/them and he/him pronouns.[3] This article uses he/him pronouns for consistency.

References
  1. "Ellia Green". world.rugby. World Rugby. Archived from the original on 6 December 2021.
  2. "Ellia Green – Winger". warriors.kiwi. National Rugby League (NRL). Archived from the original on 6 December 2021.
  3. Green, Ellia. "Ellia Tiriseyani Green's (@elliagreen) profile on Instagram". Instagram. Archived from the original on 16 August 2022. Retrieved 17 August 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. Associated Press (16 August 2022). "Olympic Rugby Gold Medalist Ellia Green Transitions To Male And Finds It 'Liberating'". HuffPost. Archived from the original on 16 August 2022. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  5. Evans, Will (9 August 2016). "Rio Olympics 2016: The truly inspiring story of Sevens star Ellia Green". Archived from the original on 3 February 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  6. Baker, Kelly (14 December 2020). "Rugby star Ellia Green tells us a few of her favourite things". North Shore Times. Archived from the original on 6 December 2021.
  7. Foster, Matt (16 August 2022). "Australian rugby player Ellia Green becomes first Olympian to transition to a man". CNN. Archived from the original on 16 August 2022. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
  8. "Australian Ellia Green, Rio Olympics gold medallist, talks gender transition". ESPN. 16 August 2022. Archived from the original on 17 August 2022. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
  9. "RUPA :: Player profile – Ellia Green". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  10. "Ellia Green". rugby.com.au. Archived from the original on 7 August 2016. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  11. Nicholson, Larissa (28 November 2015). "From sprinting to rugby for Melbourne athlete". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 18 December 2015. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  12. "Australia wins gold in women's rugby sevens". Sky News. 9 August 2016. Archived from the original on 9 August 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  13. Newman, Beth (14 July 2016). "Rio Olympics: Australian Sevens teams announced". www.rugby.com.au. Archived from the original on 12 September 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  14. "Rio Olympics: Australia's men's and women's sevens squads unveiled". foxsports.com.au. 14 July 2016. Archived from the original on 29 October 2017. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  15. "Rio 2016: Olympic squads named by Australia for rugby sevens debut at Games". ABC.net.au. 14 July 2016. Archived from the original on 18 September 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  16. "Australia's Olympic Sevens squads announced". Rugby News.net.au. 2016. Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  17. "Australia name a mix of veterans, young guns for men's, women's Olympic sevens squads". ESPN.com.au. 15 July 2016. Archived from the original on 23 July 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  18. "Key players return as Australia name Olympic sevens squads". worldrugby.org. 2016. Archived from the original on 30 October 2017. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  19. Doran, Christy (3 July 2021). "Biggest selection call since leaving Giteau out of World Cup – Green dumped from Olympics team". Fox Sports Australia. Archived from the original on 6 December 2021.
  20. "Kerevi makes Australia's sevens squad, Green left out". Reuters. 3 July 2021. Archived from the original on 6 December 2021.
  21. Williamson, Nathan (9 November 2021). "Ellia Green announces retirement from Sevens". Rugby Australia. Archived from the original on 6 December 2021.
  22. "Stats Centre". world.rugby. World Rugby. Archived from the original on 15 August 2016.
  23. "Ellia Green – World RugbyProfile". World Rugby. Archived from the original on 6 December 2021.
  24. Airth, Jocelyn (3 October 2020). "NRLW 2020: Charlotte Caslick and Elsie Albert among Ruan Sims' players to watch". The Daily Telegraph.
  25. Newton, Alicia (18 September 2020). "Warriors leave rivals Green with envy after signing rugby star". nrl.com. Archived from the original on 6 December 2021.
  26. "Australian rugby sevens stars Ellia Green and Evania Pelite join Kiwi Ferns and Jillaroos in Warriors NRLW squad". Stuff. 18 September 2020. Archived from the original on 6 December 2021.
  27. Gabor, Martin (3 October 2020). "NRLW 2020: Charlotte Caslick sounds warning with stellar debut". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 17 April 2021.
  28. "Broncos v Warriors". nrl.com. 3 October 2020. Archived from the original on 6 December 2021.
  29. Encarnacion, Matt (17 October 2020). "Sevens pair unlikely to play NRLW Origin". Perth Now. Archived from the original on 6 December 2021.
  30. "Dragons v Warriors". nrl.com. 17 October 2020. Archived from the original on 6 December 2021.
  31. Milton, Josh (16 August 2022). "Brave rugby star Ellia Green makes history as first Olympian to come out as a trans man". PinkNews. Archived from the original on 16 August 2022. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
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