Ava Seumanufagai

Ava Seumanufagai (born 3 June 1991) is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who currently plays for Leigh Leopards in the Betfred Super League. He previously played for the Wests Tigers, Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks and Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the NRL and the Leeds Rhinos in the European Super League.

Ava Seumanufagai
Personal information
Full nameAva Seumanufagai[1]
Born (1991-06-03) 3 June 1991
Wellington, New Zealand
Height189 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight115 kg (18 st 2 lb)
Playing information
PositionProp
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2013–17 Wests Tigers 105 5 0 0 20
2018–19 Cronulla Sharks 13 0 0 0 0
2019–20 Leeds Rhinos 31 4 0 0 16
2021–22 Canterbury Bulldogs 23 0 0 0 0
2023– Leigh Leopards 13 1 0 0 4
Total 185 10 0 0 40
Source: [2][3][4]
As of 23 January 2023

Background

Seumanufagai was born in Wellington, New Zealand and is of Tokelau and Samoan descent.

He played his junior football for the Wainuiomata Lions and the Hills District Bulls before being signed by the Parramatta Eels.

Playing career

Early career

Seumanufagai played for the Parramatta Eels NYC team in 2010 and 2011, scoring 2 tries in 43 games.[5] In 2012, Seumanufagai joined the Wests Tigers. Seumanufagai spent his first season playing NSW Cup, and was a member of the Balmain Ryde Eastwood Tigers side that lost the NSW Cup grand final to the Newtown Jets.[6][7]

Seumanufagai playing for the Balmain Tigers

2013

In Round 3, Seumanufagai made his NRL debut for the Wests Tigers against his former club, the Parramatta Eels in the Tigers 31–18 win at Leichhardt Oval.[8] In Round 13 against the Penrith Panthers, Seumanufagai scored his first NRL try in the Tigers 20–18 win at Penrith Stadium.[9] It was his sole try from 17 matches for the season.

2014

On 30 July, Seumanufagai re-signed with the Tigers on a one-year contract.[10][11] Coach Mick Potter said, "Ava has steadily improved as the year has gone on. The players love it when Ava comes on the field, he gives us that lift and really deserves what he is getting."[12] He finished the year having played in 23 matches. He was also named in the Samoa train-on squad for the Four Nations, but didn't make the final 24 man squad.[13]

2015

On 31 January and 1 February, Seumanufagai played for the Tigers in the 2015 NRL Auckland Nines.[14] He made 23 appearances in the 2015 NRL season, all from the interchange bench as well as scoring 1 try for the Tigers.[15] He was named as a reserve in Zero Tackle's Team of the Year.[16] On 30 September, he re-signed with the Tigers for a further two seasons. Coach Jason Taylor said, "Ava is a tireless worker and a real asset to have on our playing roster. He's only 24 years old, so I'm confident that his best football is still ahead of him and that's really exciting for the club."[17]

2016

In the pre-season, Seumanufagai again played in the Auckland Nines.[18] He was one of just two Wests Tigers player to appear in every game of the season. Seumanufagai said that he felt his personal game had improved for the season, and was a step in the right direction.[19]

2017

Seumanufagai again played in the Auckland Nines.[20] On 2 May, he signed a two-year contract with the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, starting in 2018.[21] In Round 10 against the South Sydney Rabbitohs, Seumanufagai was sinbinned for punching former Tigers teammate Robbie Farah in the head.[22] In Round 15 against his future club Cronulla, Seumanufagai played his 100th NRL match in the Tigers 24–22 loss at Shark Park.[23] Seumanufagai finished his last season with the Tigers with 2 tries from 18 matches.

2018

In Round 1 of the 2018 NRL season, Seumanufagai made his club debut for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks against the North Queensland Cowboys, playing off the interchange bench in the 20–14 loss at 1300SMILES Stadium.[24]

Seumanufagai played for Cronulla's feeder club side Newtown in the 2018 Intrust Super Premiership NSW grand final against Canterbury-Bankstown at Leichhardt Oval which Newtown lost 18–12.[25]

2019

Seumanufagai joined Leeds Rhinos on a two-year deal in May 2019.[26] In his first season he made 13 appearances for the Rhinos scoring one try after making his debut in David Furner's last match in charge – a defeat to Salford on 3 May.[27]

2020

During the disrupted 2020 season Seumanufagai made a further 17 appearances scoring three tries.[28] He played in the Challenge Cup Final where Leeds triumphed 17–16 over Salford.[29] On 27 December 2020 the club announced that they were releasing Seumanufagai from the final year of his contract due to "family reasons" as the travel restrictions in place were preventing him from seeing his young daughter.[30]

2021

He made a total of 16 appearances for Canterbury in the 2021 NRL season as the club finished last and claimed the Wooden Spoon.[31]

2022

Seumanufagai played a total of seven matches for Canterbury in the 2022 NRL season as the club finished 12th on the table.[32]

2023

In January, Seumanufagai signed a one-year deal to join the newly promoted Leigh side.[33] He played 15 games for Leigh in the 2023 Super League season as the club finished fifth on the table and qualified for the playoffs.[34]

References
  1. Mick Lewis and Chris Bradbury (5 March 2009). "District Reps – Round 4 Teams, Round 3 Reports – Parramatta Eels". Parraeels.com.au. Archived from the original on 10 April 2013. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
  2. "Players". Love Rugby League. Archived from the original on 3 April 2019. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  3. "Ava Seumanufagai – Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  4. Daly, Phil (10 April 2019). "Rhinos boost pack with Seumanufagai signing". Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  5. "Grandstand Forums". rleague.com. Archived from the original on 13 January 2010. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
  6. Wayne Cousins (30 September 2012). "Tigers go down fighting to Jets in NSW Cup Grand Final". Weststigers.com.au. Archived from the original on 28 December 2013. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
  7. "Newtown Jets Defeat Balmain Ryde; Eastwood Tigers in NSW Cup to Kick Off NRL Grand Final Day". Foxsports.com.au. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  8. "Coverage of Tigers v Eels". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  9. "Wests Tigers rally for famous victory, over Penrith Panthers". The Australian. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  10. "Seumanufagai signs on at Wests Tigers – Tigers". Weststigers.com.au. 30 July 2014. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  11. "AVA SEUMANUFAGAI RE-SIGNS WITH TIGERS". Rugby League Week. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  12. "Seumanufagai and Akauola re-sign with Wests Tigers". Campbelltown Macarthur Advertiser. 30 July 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  13. "Samoa train on squad announced". Zero Tackle. Archived from the original on 14 October 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  14. "WESTS TIGERS NAME 2015 NINES SQUAD". Rugby League Week. 23 January 2015. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  15. "Custom Match List". Rugby League Project. 11 December 2015. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  16. Aaron Winder (9 September 2015). "Tonga smash Samoa 36-4". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  17. "Wests Tigers re-sign Ava Seumanufagai". Weststigers.com.au. 30 September 2015. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
  18. "Tigers Place Stars on Ice for NRL Auckland Nines". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  19. Dan Talintyre. "Unfiltered: Ava Seumanufagai". weststigers.com.au. Archived from the original on 9 January 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  20. "2017 Auckland Nines squads: Every player named for the tournament". The Roar. 28 February 2017. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
  21. "NRL: Wests Tigers prop Ava Seumanufagai to join Cronulla Sharks". 2 May 2017.
  22. "Subscribe – couriermail". couriermail.com.au.
  23. Pengilly, Adam (17 June 2017). "Daniel Mortimer emerges from NRL wilderness to lift Cronulla Sharks to victory". Brisbane Times.
  24. "Couriermail.com.au | Subscribe to The Courier Mail for exclusive stories". couriermail.com.au. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  25. "Canterbury Bulldogs beat Newtown Jets to win 2018 Intrust Super Premiership grand final". Fox Sports.
  26. Smith, Peter (5 July 2020). "Leeds Rhinos in focus – turning the spotlight on forward Ava Seumanufagai". yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  27. Butcher, Tim; Spencer, Daniel, eds. (2019). Rugby League Yearbook 2019–2020. pp. 200–201. ISBN 978-190134-7388.
  28. Butcher, Tim; Spencer, Daniel, eds. (2020). Rugby League Yearbook 2020–2021. p. 189. ISBN 978-190134-7395.
  29. "Challenge Cup final: Leeds beat Salford 17-16 after Luke Gale lands late winning drop-goal". BBC Sport. 15 October 2020.
  30. "Rhinos agree to Seumanufagai release". BBC Sport. 27 December 2020.
  31. "Canterbury Bulldogs set to sign Rabbitohs star Braidon Burns, Storm prop Max King for 2022 NRL season". wwos.nine.com.au.
  32. "NRL 2022: Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs season review". sportingnews.com.
  33. "Leigh Leopards sign prop Ava Seumanufagai from Canterbury Bulldogs". www.leighjournal.co.uk.
  34. "Leigh Leopards 2023 season in review". www.leighleopards.co.uk.
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