Tony Puletua
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| Full name | Anthony Puletua | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 25 June 1979 Auckland, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.92 m (6 ft 3+1⁄2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 112 kg (17 st 9 lb)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Second-row, Prop | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: RLP As of 20 July 2013 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Anthony (Tony) Puletua (born 25 June 1979 in Auckland, New Zealand) is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer for Hull Kingston Rovers in the Super League. A New Zealand and Samoan international, Puletua previously played for the Penrith Panthers in the National Rugby League competition. He primarily plays as a Prop in the second row.
Puletua joined Hull Kingston Rovers, on loan in 2015 from the Salford Red Devils. He made 13 appearances, scoring one try for Hull KR.
Then on Friday 18 September 2015, TP played his final game of a long and illustrious career.
Retiring after Hull Kingston Rovers, Super 8s, The Qualifiers victory away against Sheffield Eagles.
Tony received a Guard of Honour, from both teams as he made his way off the pitch as a player, for the very last time.
Penrith Panthers
Puletua played his junior rugby league with the St Mary's Saints before being signed by the Penrith Panthers. Puletua made his debut for the Penrith Panthers in 1997 and played at second row in the Panthers team which defeated the Sydney Roosters in the 2003 NRL Grand final. As 2003 NRL premiers, the Panthers travelled to England to face Super League VIII champions, the Bradford Bulls in the 2004 World Club Challenge. Puletua played at second-row forward in the Panthers' 22-4 loss. He was captain of the team from January, 2006. Puletua's brother, Frank, also played for the Penrith Panthers, retiring from professional rugby league on April 2011. On October 4, 2006, TP was selected to be apart of the Perinth Panthers' Team Legends. Used to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Panthers, Puletua was alongside Penrith legends Mark Geyer, Brad Fitler and Rhys Wesser.
St Helens
Puletua joined St. Helens at the end of the 2008 season on a three-year deal.[2][3][4][5]
Salford Red Devils
Puletua joined the Salford Red Devils for the 2014 season. He made 26 appearances for the club in 2014, but was not registered as a player for the 2015 season due to salary cap issues.
Hull KR
Puletua joined Hull Kingston Rovers mid-season in 2015 on a season-long loan from Salford, and announced that he would retire from the game following his spell with Hull KR.[6]
Representative football
Puletua represented the New Zealand national team on 22 occasions following his debut in 1998, including the 2000 World Cup. His last selection was for New Zealand against Australia in the ANZAC Test on the 20 April 2007 as a replacement for the injured David Kidwell. After that, he switched his allegiance to Samoa.
Puletua was named in the Samoa squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup and played in three matches.[7] In 2009 he was named as part of the Samoan side for the Pacific Cup.[8]
Puletua was called up to the Samoan squad as an injury replacement during the 2013 World Cup.[9]
Career highlights
- First Grade Debut: 1997 - Round 10, Penrith v Perth Reds at the WACA, 4 May
- Representative Debut: 1998 - Australia vs New Zealand, Suncorp Stadium, 9 October
- Premierships: 2003 - member of the Grand final winning Panthers team that defeated the Sydney Roosters, 18–6
References
- ^ "Meet the Teams First Team Players". web page. Saints RFC. 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
- ^ "St Helens bring in Kiwi Puletua". BBC. 2008-04-23. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
- ^ "Dragons chasing Puletua". Fox Sports. 2008-03-21. Retrieved 2008-03-20.
- ^ "Penrith players in coaching meltdown". Fox Sports. 2008-03-29. Retrieved 2008-03-29.
- ^ "Lewis set to become bunny". Fox Sports. 2008-04-02. Retrieved 2008-04-02.
- ^ Puletua joins Robins on loan
- ^ "Samoa, Tonga and Fiji name squads". BBC. 2008-10-08. Retrieved 2008-10-09.
- ^ Poching names strong Samoan squad therhinos.co.uk, 6 October 2009
- ^ Samoa call up new Salford star Tony Puletua skysports.com, 5 November 2013
External links
- 1979 births
- Living people
- Sportspeople from Auckland
- New Zealand rugby league players
- New Zealand people of Samoan descent
- New Zealand national rugby league team players
- Samoa national rugby league team players
- Samoan rugby league players
- Salford Red Devils players
- Hull Kingston Rovers players
- St Helens RLFC players
- Penrith Panthers players
- Exiles rugby league team players
- Junior Kiwis players
- Rugby league second-rows
- Rugby league props