Junior Sa'u

Tafeaga Junior Sa'u (born 18 April 1987) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a centre for the Leigh Centurions in the Betfred Super League.[3] He has played for New Zealand and Samoa at international level.

Junior Sa'u
Personal information
Full nameTafeaga Junior Sa'u[1]
Born (1987-04-18) 18 April 1987
Otahuhu, Auckland, New Zealand
Height5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[2]
Weight15 st 4 lb (97 kg)[2]
Playing information
PositionCentre
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2008–12 Newcastle Knights 86 26 0 0 104
2013 Melbourne Storm 4 1 0 0 4
2014–19 Salford Red Devils 142 60 0 0 240
2019(loan) → Wakefield Trinity 3 0 0 0 0
2019– Leigh Centurions 12 2 0 0 8
Total 247 89 0 0 356
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2009–10 New Zealand 9 8 0 0 32
2013– Samoa 2 0 0 0 0
As of 27 October 2019
Source: [3][4]

He previously played for the Newcastle Knights and the Melbourne Storm in the NRL, and the Salford Red Devils in the Super League. He spent time in 2019 on loan from Salford at Wakefield Trinity in the Super League.

Background

Sa'u was born in Auckland, New Zealand to Samoan parents from Lauli'i and Apolima.[1]

He played his junior football for Logan Brothers in Queensland, Australia before being signed by the Canberra Raiders.

Playing career
Sa'u playing for the Newcastle Knights in 2009

He played for the Raiders' Premier League team in 2006, scoring 7 tries[5] before signing a 4-year contract starting in 2008 to be a part of the newly cleaned out Newcastle Knights.

In Round 13 of the 2008 NRL season he made his NRL début for the Knights against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs. He scored 2 tries on debut. In June 2011, Sa'u re-signed with the Knights for a further 2 years.[6]

On 18 August 2012, Sa'u was released from the final year of his Knights contract and signed with the Melbourne Storm on a 1-year contract starting in 2013.[7][8]

In June 2013, it was announced that Sa'u had signed a two-year deal with the Salford Red Devils in the Super League starting in 2014.[9]

Scoring 12 tries in his début season with Salford, Junior was voted k'Supporter's Player of the Year' for 2014.

On 14 May 2019, after five years with the Red Devils, Sau joined fellow Super League team Wakefield Trinity on an initial one month loan.

Representative career

In 2008, Sa'u was named in the Samoa training squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup but did not make the final squad.[10]

In 2009, Sa'u was selected in the New Zealand Kiwis Four Nations squad and made his international début for the Kiwis against Tonga.[11]

In 2010, Sa'u was selected for New Zealand in the 2010 ANZAC Test. He was also again selected in the New Zealand squad for the 2010 Four Nations.

In 2013 Junior played for Samoa in the Pacific Rugby League International against Tonga. He was also called in the 2013 Rugby League World Cup squad to replace the initially selected Roy Asotasi.

Personal life

He is a cousin to former Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles player Steve Matai.

In 2009, Sa'u was praised for coming to the aid of a 15-year-old girl who was being assaulted in Waratah, New South Wales.[12]

References
  1. "New name, true allegiance for Sa'u". NRL.com. 19 April 2013. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  2. "Junior Sau Leigh Centurions". www.superleague.co.uk. Rugby Football League. 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  3. "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  4. loverugbyleague
  5. http://www.rleague.com//db/player/s/sau_junior/index.php
  6. "Cowboys' lifeline for Paterson". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  7. http://www.newcastleknights.com.au/news-display/Sau-signs-with-the-Storm/61793
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 17 May 2013. Retrieved 18 November 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. http://www.reds.co.uk/rugby-news/reds-sign-kiwi-international-junior-sau
  10. "Samoa name World Cup Squad". League Unlimited. 5 August 2008. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
  11. "League: Chance for rookie Kiwis". The New Zealand Herald. NZPA. 12 October 2009. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
  12. Nick Walshaw (1 July 2009). "Newcastle Knights' Junior Sau hailed for saving girl's life". Fox Sports News (Australia). Retrieved 7 August 2009.
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