Tino Fa'asuamaleaui

Tino Fa'asuamaleaui (/ˈfəsuːəməlaʊi/) (born 16 February 2000) is a professional rugby league footballer who captains the Gold Coast Titans playing as a lock and prop forward in the National Rugby League (NRL). He has played for Samoa and Australia at international level.

Tino Fa'asuamaleaui
Personal information
Born (2000-02-16) 16 February 2000
Orange, New South Wales, Australia
Height197 cm (6 ft 6 in)
Weight107 kg (16 st 12 lb)
Playing information
PositionLock, Prop
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2019–20 Melbourne Storm 27 7 0 0 28
2021– Gold Coast Titans 63 14 0 0 56
Total 90 21 0 0 84
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2019–23 Prime Minister's XIII 3 0 0 0 0
2019 Samoa 1 0 0 0 0
2019 Samoa 9s 3 0 0 0 0
2020–23 Queensland 12 0 0 0 0
2022–23 Australia 6 0 0 0 0
Source: [1]
As of 23 September 2023

He previously played for the Melbourne Storm with whom he won the 2020 NRL Grand Final. He has played for the Prime Minister's XIII and the Queensland Maroons in the State of Origin series.

Background

Fa'asuamaleaui was born in Orange, New South Wales, Australia and is of Samoan and European Australian descent. His father, Fereti Fa'asuamaleaui, was contracted to the Sydney City Roosters and played reserve grade for them in the mid-1990s.[2][3] Fereti had already represented Samoa in rugby union.[4]

When he was 14 weeks old, his family moved to Widgee, Queensland, where he attended James Nash State High School, Gympie.[5] He played his junior rugby league for the Gympie Devils and was then signed by the Brisbane Broncos as a teenager.[6] He is the brother of Iszac Fa'asuamaleaui.

Playing career

Early career

In 2016, Fa'asuamaleaui played for the Central Crows in the Cyril Connell Cup and was selected to represent the Queensland under-16 side.[7]

In 2017, after starting the season with the Sunshine Coast Falcons Mal Meninga Cup side, he signed with Melbourne, playing for their NYC side.[8][9] In June, he was selected for the Queensland under-18 side[10]

In 2018, Fa'asuamaleaui began the season playing for the Storm's Queensland Cup feeder side, the Sunshine Coast Falcons, before switching to the club's other feeder, the Easts Tigers, midway through the year.[8] In June, he was again selected for the Queensland under-18 side.[11] In July, he came off the bench in the Queensland under-20's first ever win over New South Wales.[12] In October, he scored two tries in the Junior Kangaroos 40–24 win over the Junior Kiwis.[13]

2019

In Round 16 of the 2019 NRL season, Fa'asuamaleaui made his NRL debut for Melbourne against the St. George.[14] On 7 October, Fa’asuamaleaui was named on the bench for the U23 Junior Australian side. He then followed up by making his international test debut for Toa Samoa. On 19 December, Fa'asuamaleaui signed a three-year deal with the Gold Coast Titans starting in 2021.[15]

2020

Fa’asuamaleaui played off the bench in Melbourne's 2020 NRL Grand Final win over the Penrith Panthers in a 26-20 win. At the Melbourne Storm Player of the Year Awards in October 2020, he was awarded the Rookie of the Year Award.[16]

After the grand final, he was rewarded by making his Queensland Maroons debut in the 2020 State of Origin series Game 1 at the Adelaide Oval.[17]

2021

He made his club debut for the Gold Coast in round 1 of the 2021 NRL season against the New Zealand Warriors. In round 6, he was placed on report for an illegal shoulder charge during the club's 36-0 loss against Manly-Warringah and suspended for two games.[18]

He played 23 games for the Gold Coast in the 2021 NRL season including the club's elimination final loss against the Sydney Roosters.[19] On 23 November, he signed a $3.3 million contract extension to remain at the Gold Coast until the end of the 2026 season.[20]

2022

On 3 February, he was named as captain of the Gold Coast Titans.[21]

In May, he was selected by Queensland for games one, two and three of the 2022 State of Origin series. In game three, he was fined 20% of his payment for the game after grabbing Blues player Matt Burton in a headlock while teammate Dane Gagai repeatedly punched him. It was described as a sickening, disgraceful act and went without proper punishment.[22] Following the incident, Fa’asuamaleaui revealed that he and his family were subjected to hate online.[23]

In round 14 of the 2022 NRL season, he scored two tries for the Gold Coast in a 30-16 loss against South Sydney.[24]

He played a total of 22 games for the club throughout the season as they finished 13th on the table.[25]

Fa'asuamaleaui playing for Australia in 2022

In October, he was named in the Australia squad for the 2021 Rugby League World Cup.[26]

He played for Australia in their 2021 Rugby League World Cup final victory over Samoa.[27]

2023

Fa’asuamaleaui played all three games of the 2023 State of Origin series.[28] Following the Gold Coast's 25-24 loss against Parramatta in round 20 of the 2023 NRL season, Fa'asuamaleaui was suspended for three matches over an illegal shoulder charge.[29]

On 11 August, Fa'asuamaleaui re-signed with the Gold Coast outfit for on a ten-year extension contract.[30] He played a total of 19 matches for the Gold Coast in the 2023 NRL season as the club finished 14th on the table.[31]

Honours

Individual

Club

Representative

International

References
  1. Rugby League Project
  2. "Just call me Tino: QLD U18s". 29 May 2018.
  3. Clarke, George (4 March 2022). "Fa'asuamaleaui commits to Kangaroos dream". Newcastle Herald.
  4. Gould, Joel (16 October 2020). "Right, said Fred: Tino credits 'tough love' from father for stellar rise". NRL.com. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  5. "Rising star reveals why he chose to represent Queensland despite being born in NSW".
  6. "Gympie's 12 all-time greatest sporting exports". Courier-Mail. 26 January 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  7. "Queensland Under 16 team". 16 May 2016.
  8. "QRL icon Scott Sattler hails Storm teenager Tino Fa'Asuamaleaui as 'one to watch'". Courier-Mail. 11 April 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  9. "Rd.26 NYC Team Announcement". 29 August 2017.
  10. "Queensland Under 18 team". 12 June 2017.
  11. "Queensland Under 18 team". 21 May 2018.
  12. "Rising stars feature for Queensland Under 20s". 2 July 2018.
  13. "Junior Roos defeat Junior Kiwis despite incredible try". 13 October 2018.
  14. "Round 16 NRL team announcements". NRL.com. 3 July 2019.
  15. "Tino to Titans: Fa'asuamaleaui makes switch from Storm". NRL. 19 December 2019. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  16. "Skipper crowned Player of the Year". melbournestorm.com.au. 27 October 2020. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  17. "Tino the Maroon to start on the field in his Origin debut". Gympie Times. 1 November 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  18. "Hetherington accepts five-match ban; Trio taking on judiciary". www.nrl.com. 20 April 2021.
  19. "'He's taken it hard': Shattered Titans rally around Herbert after blowing win". www.nrl.com. 11 September 2021.
  20. "Titans lock in Tino on $3.3M extension; Knights re-sign gun winger: Transfer Centre". www.foxsports.com.au. 25 November 2021.
  21. "Tino Fa'asuamaleaui announced as new Titans captain". National Rugby League. 2 February 2022. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  22. Walshaw, Nick; Kdouh, Fatima; readJuly 14, Phil Rothfield7 min; Newsroom, 2022-1:49PMNews Corp Australia Sports (14 July 2022). "Maroon's unpunished dog act robbed Blues of victory". dailytelegraph. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  23. Christian Nicolussi (24 September 2022). "Fa'asuamaleaui reveals family faced 'disgusting' online hate after Origin battle with Burton". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  24. "Cook answers big Origin question as Titans' fatal flaw strikes again: 3 Big Hits". www.foxsports.com.au. 11 June 2022.
  25. "Titans' million-dollar man goes missing as Holbrook rues costly mistake: Brutal Review". www.foxsports.com.au.
  26. Full list of every squad at the Rugby League World Cup 2021
  27. "Australia 30-10 Samoa: Rugby League World Cup final – as it happened". www.theguardian.com.
  28. Emily Patterson and Damien McCartney (22 May 2023). "Billy Slater lifts lid on 'tough phone calls' to axed stars for cut-throat Maroons squad". Wide World of Sports. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  29. "NRL Judiciary Round 20: Reagan Campbell-Gillard and Tino Fa'asuamaleaui suspended after fiery clash". www.sportingnews.com.
  30. https://www.titans.com.au/news/2023/08/11/titans-duo-here-to-stay-on-the-gold-coast/
  31. "NRL 2023: Gold Coast Titans season review". www.sportingnews.com.
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