Moses Leota

Moses Leota (born 20 July 1995) is a professional rugby league footballer from New Zealand who plays as a prop and lock for the Penrith Panthers in the NRL. He has played for both Samoa and New Zealand at international level.

Moses Leota
Leota in 2017
Personal information
Born (1995-07-20) 20 July 1995
Auckland, New Zealand
Height182 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight107 kg (16 st 12 lb)
Playing information
PositionProp, Lock
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2016– Penrith Panthers 149 12 0 0 48
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2019 Samoa 9s 3 2 0 0 10
2019 Samoa 1 0 0 0 0
2022– New Zealand 2 0 0 0 0
Source: [1]
As of 1 October 2023

Background

Leota was born in Auckland, New Zealand raised in Mount Roskill, Moses Leota moved to Sydney at the age of 13. He is of Samoan descent[2] and was raised in Penrith, New South Wales, Australia.

He played his junior rugby league for the St Mary's Saints, before being signed by the Penrith Panthers.

Playing career

Early career

In 2014 and 2015, Leota played for the Penrith Panthers' NYC team.[3]

2016

In 2016, Leota graduated to the Penrith's Intrust Super Premiership NSW team.[4] In round 14 of the 2016 NRL season, he made his NRL debut for Penrith against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles.[5][6][7] In November, he extended his contract with Penrith from the end of 2017 until the end of 2019.[8]

2017

Leota made 10 appearances for Penrith in the 2017 NRL season as the club finished 7th on the table. Leota played in both finals games for Penrith as the club was eliminated in the second week by Brisbane.[9]

2018

In round 4 of the 2018 NRL season, Moses “sole” Leota scored his first NRL career try against North Queensland 33 - 14 win at 1300SMILES Stadium. Leota made 20 appearances for Penrith in the 2018 NRL season as the club finished 5th and reached the elimination final before being defeated by Cronulla-Sutherland 21-20 at the Sydney Football Stadium.[10]

2019

Leota made a total of 24 appearances for Penrith in the 2019 NRL season as the club finished 10th on the table and missed out on the finals for the first time since 2015. It was a disappointing end to the season for Penrith as they had been tipped by many to reach the finals series and be one of the contenders for the premiership. At one stage of the season, the club sat last on the table before a mid-season revival lifted them off the bottom to finish just outside the finals places.[11]

2020

Leota played every game of the 2020 NRL season as the club claimed the Minor Premiership and reached the 2020 NRL Grand Final. Leota played from the interchange bench in Penrith's 26-20 loss against Melbourne in the grand final.[12]

2021

Leota played a total of 24 games and reached the milestone 100 games for Penrith in the 2021 NRL season including the club's 2021 NRL Grand Final victory over South Sydney which saw them claim their third premiership.[13]

2022

Leota played 18 games for Penrith in the 2022 NRL season including the clubs 2022 NRL Grand Final victory over Parramatta.[14]

2023

On 18 February, Leota played in Penrith's 13-12 upset loss to St Helens RFC in the 2023 World Club Challenge.[15] Leota played 26 games for Penrith in the 2023 NRL season including the club's 26-24 victory over Brisbane in the 2023 NRL Grand Final as Penrith won their third straight premiership. Leota scored a try in the second half of the game, displaying great tenacity and anticipation in backing up to support a line-break from halfback Nathan Cleary.[16]

Statistics
Year Team Games Tries Pts
2016 Penrith 4
2017 10
2018 20 2 8
2019 24 3 12
2020 23
2021 24 3 12
2022 18 1 4
2023 26 3 12
Totals 149 12 48

*stats correct to end of 2023 season[17]

References
  1. "Moses Leota - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. 16 June 2016. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
  2. "Nesian Power - Missing Profiles... Shaun Kenny-Dowall,..." Facebook. 25 February 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  3. "L". Nyc Database. 27 December 2012. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  4. NRL (March 2016). "TEAMS | Intrust Super Premiership Rd 1". NSWRL. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  5. "Updated team lists: Sea Eagles v Panthers". NRL.com. 28 February 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  6. NRL. "NRL Late Mail: Round 14 - Panthers". Penrithpanthers.com.au. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  7. "Panthers drop Soward from first grade". NRL.com. 7 June 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  8. PenrithPanthers.com.au (11 November 2016). "Panthers re-sign Leota". Zero Tackle. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  9. "Panthers 2017 season review". NRL. 18 September 2017.
  10. "Penrith Panthers 2018 season review". www.nrl.com. 24 October 2018.
  11. "Blame game will not solve Panthers' problems". Western Weekender. 10 September 2019.
  12. Hytner, Mike (25 October 2020). "Melbourne Storm beat Penrith Panthers as it happened". The Guardian.
  13. "One of finest NRL grand finals of all time provides cure to difficult season". www.theguardian.com. 3 October 2021.
  14. "We hate Parra as Panthers mock Eels as Koroisau pokes fun at Tigers". www.smh.com.au.
  15. "St Helens: World Club Challenge win 'seismic for British rugby league'". www.bbc.co.uk.
  16. "NRL grand final 2023: Penrith Panthers defeat Brisbane Broncos – as it happened". www.theguardian.com.
  17. https://www.nrl.com/players/nrl-premiership/panthers/moses-leota/
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