Vanessa Foliaki

Vanessa Foliaki (born 20 August 1993) is a New Zealand-born Australian rugby league footballer who plays for the Sydney Roosters in the NRL Women's Premiership and the Wentworthville Magpies in the NSWRL Women's Premiership.

Vanessa Foliaki
Personal information
Born (1993-08-20) 20 August 1993
Auckland, New Zealand
Height165 cm (5 ft 5 in)
Weight75 kg (11 st 11 lb)
Playing information
PositionSecond-row, Prop
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2018–2020 Sydney Roosters 11 0 0 0 0
2022– Parramatta Eels 7 1 0 0 4
Total 18 1 0 0 4
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2014–19 New South Wales 6 1 0 0 4
2014–17 Australia 6 4 0 0 16
2016 Women's All Stars 1 0 0 0 0
Source: RLP
As of 24 October 2022

Primarily a second-rower, she has represented Australia and New South Wales.

Background

Born in Auckland, Foliaki grew up in Māngere, where she played rugby union before moving to Australia in 2010.[1]

Playing career

In Australia, Foliaki first played rugby league for the Orange Hawks.[2] In 2014, Foliaki joined the Canley Vale Dragons in Sydney, and was selected to represent Australia and New South Wales.[3][4] In 2016, Foliaki moved to Queensland, joining the Burleigh Bears.[5]

In 2017, Foliaki and teammates Karina Brown and Sasha Mahuika left Burleigh to form the Easts Tigers women's team.[6] In December 2017, she was a member of Australia's 2017 Women's Rugby League World Cup-winning squad.[7]

2018

In June, Foliaki represented NSW Country at the Women's National Championships.[8] In July, she joined the Sydney Roosters NRL Women's Premiership team.[9]

In Round 1 of the 2018 NRL Women's season, Foliaki made her debut for the Sydney Roosters, starting at second-row in their 4–10 loss to the New Zealand Warriors.[10] On 30 September, she started at second-row in the Roosters' 12–34 Grand Final loss to the Brisbane Broncos.

2019

On 21 June, Foliaki came off the bench in New South Wales' 14–4 State of Origin win over Queensland at North Sydney Oval.[11] She played three games for the Roosters during their winless 2019 NRL Women's season.

2020

In 2020, Foliaki joined the Mounties RLFC NSWRL Women's Premiership team before moving to the Wentworthville Magpies in August.[12][13] On 25 October, she started at second-row in the Roosters' 10–20 NRLW Grand Final loss to the Brisbane Broncos.[14]

2022

In early June 2022, the Parramatta Eels announced that Foliaki had signed to play for the club in the 2022 NRL Women's season.[15][16]

Achievements and accolades

Team

References
  1. "Kiwi league star's Auckland family 'very proud'". NZ Herald. 23 June 2018.
  2. "Vanessa Foliaki and Kaitlyn Phillips named in Country Rugby League's side for Women's National Championship". Central Western Daily. 8 May 2019.
  3. "2014 Women's Interstate Challenge". NRL. 13 July 2014.
  4. "Kiwi turned Jillaroo: former Emus rugby star a hit in league". Central Western Daily. 6 February 2015.
  5. "Burleigh Bears co-captain Karina Brown would trade maiden Jillaroos try for win over New Zealand". Gold Coast Bulletin. 11 May 2016.
  6. "Sign on for Easts Tigers Women's team". QRL. 12 January 2017.
  7. "Here we go: Foliaki, Jillaroos primed for World Cup bid". Central Western Daily. 9 October 2017.
  8. "Women's Nationals the perfect Origin appetiser". NRL. 29 May 2018.
  9. "Love on the line when Brown and Foliaki clash in Origin". NRL. 14 June 2018.
  10. "Roosters v Warriors NRLW Round 1 preview". NRL. 4 September 2018.
  11. "Blues v Maroons Womens Origin preview". NRL. 14 June 2019.
  12. "Major state competitions kick off in NSW and Queensland". NRL. 8 March 2020.
  13. "Broncos, Queensland contingent join NSW women in season return". NRL. 1 August 2020.
  14. "From on the outer to a grand final: Foliaki's turnaround pays off". NRL. 25 October 2020.
  15. "2022 NRLW Squad Announcement". Parra Eels. 1 June 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  16. Newton, Alicia (2 June 2022). "Eels find Vette-Welsh replacement with Olympic gold medallist". NRL. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
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