Ken Maumalo

Kennedy Maumalo (born 16 July 1994) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a winger for the New Zealand Warriors in the NRL, and has played for Samoa and New Zealand at international level. He was named Dally M winger of the year in 2019.

Ken Maumalo
Personal information
Full nameKennedy Maumalo
Born (1994-07-16) 16 July 1994
Auckland, New Zealand
Height196 cm (6 ft 5 in)
Weight111 kg (17 st 7 lb)
Playing information
PositionWing
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2015– New Zealand Warriors 95 36 0 0 144
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2016–17 Samoa 4 3 0 0 12
2018– New Zealand 9 5 0 0 20
As of 18 November 2020
Source: [1]

Background

Maumalo was born in Auckland, New Zealand, and is of Samoan descent, originating from Lalomanu Aileipata.[2] Maumalo has four brothers and one sister and attended Southern Cross Campus in South Auckland.

Maumalo is the first cousin of Melbourne Storm prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona.

Playing career

Early years

He played junior football for the Papatoetoe Panthers, Mangere East Hawks and Counties Manukau Stingrays before being signed by the New Zealand Warriors.[3] Maumalo played for New Zealand Residents under-18s in 2012.[4] Maumalo played for the Warriors' NYC team in 2013 and 2014 before moving to the Warriors' New South Wales Cup team in 2015. Maumalo played in the 2014 Holden Cup grand final against the Brisbane Broncos off the interchange bench in the 34-32 victory.[5]

2015

On 16 January, 2015, Maumalo was named in the Warriors' 2015 Auckland Nines squad.[6] After impressing in pre-season trials, he was expected to make his NRL debut in round one before being ruled out with a hamstring injury.[7] Maumalo made his NRL debut in round 10 of the 2015 NRL season, against the Parramatta Eels on the wing at Parramatta Stadium.

2016

On October 8, 2016, Maumalo made his International debut for Samoa in their historical test match against Fiji in Apia. He scored two tries in Samoa's 18–20 loss.[8]

2017

Maumalo admitted he almost finalised a mid-season move to the St George Illawarra Dragons in May last year, before the Warriors blocked it and instead re-signed him through until the end of 2018.

"It was pretty close, my manager was sorting it out and I was about to leave the week before [playing for the Dragons] but then got told to stay," Maumalo said.[9]

2018

On August 10, 2019, Maumalo ran 208 metres from 22 runs during the Warriors' 18-12 triumph over the St. George Illawarra Dragons.

Maumalo said he needed to focus on his defence due to his poor 68% tackle-efficiency that season. "I feel like just my defensive reads have been a little off next to Sol (centre Solomone Kata). I feel I can really knuckle up on that a bit better and just sticking to my tackles," he said.[10]

2019

On July 19, 2019, Maumalo was ruled out of Friday night's game against the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks due to a concussion sustained the previous weekend against the Broncos. He was be replaced by outside back, Blake Ayshford on the wing.

At the conclusion of the 2019 NRL season, Maumalo lead the NRL in post-contact metres with 1,490 and finished in the top 5 for most tries with 17.[11]

2020

Despite the sacking of Stephen Kearney after the Warriors had a streak of poor performances, Maumalo continued his try-scoring form; ending Round 11 with 5 tries from 8 games.[12] However, the Warriors' historic stay in Australia took a heavy toll on Maumalo, by means of being away from his family. Hence, Maumalo flew back to New Zealand on 27 July 2020 among other teammates and is not expected to return for the remainder of the 2020 NRL season.[13]

References
  1. Ken Maumalo rugbyleagueproject.org
  2. "nesianpower101 - Instagram Post". Imagala.com. Retrieved 2016-02-20.
  3. NRL. "Ken Maumalo". Warriors. Retrieved 2016-02-20.
  5. "Warriors survive Broncos scare to win Holden Cup". NRL.com. 2014-10-05. Retrieved 2016-02-20.
  6. NRL Ladder (2015-01-16). "WARRIORS NAME 2015 NINES SQUAD". Rugby League Week. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2016-02-20.
  7. "Two players ruled out". warriors.co.nz. 7 March 2015. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  8. "Brilliant Bati comeback steals Pacific Test win". NRL.com. 2016-10-08. Retrieved 2016-10-09.
  9. "I was close to being a Dragon: Maumalo". National Rugby League. 2017-03-23. Retrieved 2019-10-08.
  10. "Unsung Warrior Maumalo defying old winger stereotypes". National Rugby League. 2018-08-09. Retrieved 2019-10-08.
  11. "NRL Stats - NRL.com". National Rugby League. Retrieved 2019-10-08.
  12. "Players". National Rugby League. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
  13. "Homesick Warriors set to return to New Zealand". www.abc.net.au. 2020-07-15. Retrieved 2020-07-28.

https://www.sporty.co.nz/aucklandleague/newsarticle/62325?em=1

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