1. In rugby league Sailor was a member of the successful Brisbane Broncos team of the 1990s, with whom he won Premierships in 1993,1997,1998 and 2000.
56 Facts About Wendell Sailor
1. 2.
Wendell Sailor represented Queensland in State of Origin and played for Australia 16 times, including winning the 2000 Rugby League World Cup, where he was the top try-scorer and player of the tournament.
3.
Wendell Sailor played 3 times for the Super League Australia side.
4.
Wendell Sailor made his debut for Australia in 2003 and won 37 caps, including at the 2003 Rugby World Cup, where Australia lost in the final.
5.
Wendell Sailor returned to rugby league in May 2008 with NRL club the St George Illawarra Dragons after his ban expired, playing for two seasons, before retiring.
6.
Since retiring, Wendell Sailor has worked in television presenting and has appeared in reality TV shows.
7.
Wendell Sailor is South Sea Islander specifically descendent from the Solomon Islands and West Indies descent.
8.
Wendell Sailor grew up with his adoptive parents in Sarina, Queensland.
9.
Wendell Sailor never knew his father and knew nothing of him apart from his West Indian heritage.
10.
Such a rapid improvement over the course of two seasons saw Wendell Sailor become a regular in the Broncos ranks.
11.
Wendell Sailor quickly became a home crowd favourite in Brisbane because of his speed and power and would soon become a household name in the rugby league world.
12.
Wendell Sailor played in the opening fixture against a Cumbrian side where he scored two tries.
13.
Wendell Sailor then started off the bench in a warm up match against Leeds, before earning a starting wing spot in the next match against Wigan and then playing off the bench again against Castleford.
14.
Wendell Sailor was again promoted to a starting wing position for the match against Halifax, scoring two tries.
15.
Wendell Sailor then spent the Australian summer in England, playing rugby union for Leeds Tykes and scoring 15 tries in 13 games.
16.
Wendell Sailor appeared in two of the Leeds Rhinos trial games, including the 'Festive Challenge' on Boxing Day in 1998.
17.
In 1999 Wendell Sailor put in a man-of-the-match performance in the deciding match of the 1999 State of Origin series which saw Queensland retain the shield.
18.
Wendell Sailor played for the Broncos on the wing and scored a try in their 2000 NRL grand final win over the Sydney Roosters, gaining himself another premiership ring.
19.
Wendell Sailor was named the 2000 Brisbane Broncos season's Player of the Year and Best Back.
20.
Wendell Sailor finished as the tournament's top try-scorer as well as boasting two tries in the victory over the Kiwis in the final.
21.
Shortly before travelling to England with Brisbane for the 2001 World Club Challenge, Wendell Sailor declared he was "leaning towards" switching codes following advice from rugby union convert and former Broncos teammate Peter Ryan.
22.
FC for the 2001 World Club Challenge, with Wendell Sailor playing on the wing in Brisbane's loss.
23.
Wendell Sailor ran 4,452 metres with the ball over the 2001 NRL season, more than any other player in the competition.
24.
Wendell Sailor is one of a handful of elite players to score over 100 tries for the club.
25.
Wendell Sailor became the record co-holder of most tries in a Broncos match, with four.
26.
On 7 February 2001, it was announced by the Australian Rugby Union that they had reached an agreement with Wendell Sailor regarding a switch to Rugby union.
27.
Wendell Sailor scored his first try in the Super 12 in his seventh match, where he scored twice and narrowly missed out on a hat-trick.
28.
Wendell Sailor made his Wallaby debut with former Queensland Maroons teammate and league convert Mat Rogers in a Test match against France in June 2002.
29.
Wendell Sailor then released his book, Crossing Over which details the troubles he had in changing codes and describes the differences between the two.
30.
In 2003, Wendell Sailor was selected for the Wallabies to participate in that year's World Cup.
31.
Wendell Sailor played in the opening match between Australia and Argentina, where he scored the first try of the tournament.
32.
Wendell Sailor played several games during the World Cup including the final.
33.
Wendell Sailor came off contract with the Reds after the 2005 Super 12 season, the media speculated that he would either move to Japan or sign with new franchise Western Force.
34.
On 13 May 2006, hours before the final pool match of the Super 14 competition, it was announced that Wendell Sailor was to be suspended indefinitely from representing either the NSW Waratahs or Australian Rugby Team after returning a positive drug test for cocaine.
35.
Wendell Sailor's manager confirmed in a statement it was a doping offence.
36.
Wendell Sailor further argued that he received no performance-enhancing benefits from cocaine, and that the clear scientific evidence is that cocaine is a short-acting stimulant that has effect for no more than two hours at most and that neither it nor its metabolites could have any performance enhancing benefit if taken more than 96 hours before a match.
37.
When quizzed by counsel for the ARU, Wendell Sailor admitted that during previous drug tests he had received anti-doping information cards which carry the warning that all elite athletes are responsible for any banned substance in their system.
38.
The ARU upheld that whether Wendell Sailor considered the substance performance-enhancing or not, Wendell Sailor was aware that cocaine was a banned substance at the time of ingestion, and refused to reduce or overturn the ban.
39.
Wendell Sailor appeared on the television series, Dancing with the Stars.
40.
Many former NRL players supported the move, believing that Wendell Sailor would have a positive impact on the young Dragons squad.
41.
On Monday, 12 May 2008, Wendell Sailor officially commenced his contract with the St George Illawarra Dragons.
42.
Wendell Sailor returned to rugby league playing initially for the Shellharbour Marlins in the New South Wales Cup.
43.
Wendell Sailor played there for a further two weeks before moving up to the Dragons' NRL team.
44.
Wendell Sailor played a few more games for the Dragons as well as the Burleigh Bears in the Queensland Cup whenever he did not make the St George Illawarra NRL side.
45.
Wendell Sailor scored his first NRL try since he left the League in 2001 against his former team the Brisbane Broncos in round 23.
46.
Wendell Sailor was named in the 70-man Indigenous Australia squad alongside fellow Dragon Jamie Soward for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.
47.
Wendell Sailor was an influential figure in the Dragons side as he helped his side finish first in the regular season to gain the Minor Premiership.
48.
Wendell Sailor was recognised for his efforts as one of four nominees for the Dally M Winger of the year.
49.
Coincidentally, his first game for the Dragons was against the Broncos in a match won by the Dragons, but Wendell Sailor was injured in that match.
50.
Wendell Sailor scored the opening try for the inaugural match and celebrated the try by picking up the corner post and played it like a didgeridoo with teammates dancing in the way of a corroboree.
51.
Wendell Sailor was a contestant on Dancing with the Stars in 2006.
52.
In 2010, Wendell Sailor became a regular panelist on Channel Nine's The NRL Footy Show and was contestant on Australia's Greatest Athlete.
53.
In 2012, Wendell Sailor appeared Monday and Friday mornings on Channel Ten Breakfast to preview and review all the NRL action.
54.
On 11 June 2015, Wendell Sailor appeared on an episode of The NRL Footy Show, where he competed in an 'Iron Arm Challenge' to raise money for charity, against former NRL player Ben Ross.
55.
In 2018, Wendell Sailor is to be sideline reporter on sports entertainment series Australian Spartan.
56.
In 2019, Wendell Sailor appeared as 'the Rhino' in the first season of Network 10's The Masked Singer Australia.