Sam Stewart (rugby league)

Samuel Weka Stewart[2] (born 5 December 1962), also known by the nicknames of "Slammin' Sam" and "Wheka", is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who represented New Zealand. He played for the Newcastle Knights when they first started competing in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership and became the Knights first captain.

Sam Stewart
Personal information
Full nameSamuel Weka Stewart
Born (1962-12-05) 5 December 1962
Wellington, New Zealand
Playing information
PositionSecond-row
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1981–87 Randwick
1988–93 Newcastle Knights 81 7 0 0 28
1993–95 London Crusaders 72 8 0 0 32
1995–97 Hull Kingston Rovers 20 1 0 0 4
Total 173 16 0 0 64
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1981–87 Wellington 32
1984–87 Central Districts 4
1985–89 New Zealand 16 0 0 0 0
1986 NZ Māori
1988 Rest of the World 1 0 0 0 0
As of 28 February 2010
Source: [1]

Playing career

Stewart was a Wellington Rugby League player for the Randwick club. He made his senior and Wellington debut's in 1981 and was a Junior Kiwi that same year.[3] On the Junior Kiwis 1981 tour of Australia Stewart signed a contract to play with the North Sydney Bears however later opted to instead pursue his career in the New Zealand Police.[1] He was the New Zealand Police Triathlon champion in 1985 and was named the Police Sportsman of the year in 1987.[4]

Stewart was named one of the Wellington Rugby League's players of the year in 1983. He toured Great Britain and France for the New Zealand Universities side. In 1984 Stewart was first selected for the Central Districts team. Stewart was part of Randwick's hat trick of Wellington Rugby League premierships between 1983 and 1985.[3]

Stewart then crossed the Tasman, playing for the Newcastle Knights from 1988 until 1992 and captained their inaugural side. After 81 matches, Stewart was made the Knights first life member.[3][5]

In 1993 Stewart travelled to England and joined the London Crusaders before spending time with Hull Kingston Rovers.[1][6]

Representative career

Stewart played for the Wellington and New Zealand Māori sides, captaining the Māori at the 1986 Pacific Cup.[7]

Stewart played for the New Zealand national rugby league team from 1985 until 1989. He was first selected for the 1985 tour of Great Britain and France, playing in eleven games on tour. He also toured Australia and Papua New Guinea in 1986 and 1987 and competed in the 1988 World Cup. Before finishing his career in 1989 with tests against Australia and a tour of Great Britain and France. Stewart finished his career having played in sixteen test matches and forty games in total.[3]

In 1988 he was chosen for the Rest of the World side in a match against Australia during their Bicentenary celebrations.[1]

Later years

Stewart is now based in Queensland where he did some scouting for the New Zealand Rugby League.[8][9] In 2008 he participated in a bike ride from Burleigh to Bondi to raise money for prostate cancer.[10]

Legacy

In 2012 he was named in the Wellington Rugby League's Team of the Century.

References
  1. "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  2. STEWART, Samuel Weka 1985 – 89 – Kiwi #591 nzleague.co.nz
  3. Team of Century Week 8 Wellington Rugby League
  4. 1987 Lion Red Rugby League Annual, New Zealand Rugby Football League, 1987. p.56
  5. "Knights team of 1988 reunite". Newcastle Knights.
  6. Riley holds the key to a capital crusade The Independent, 19 December 1993
  7. Coffey, John and Bernie Wood. 100 Years: Māori Rugby League, 1908–2008, Huia Publishers, 2008. ISBN 978-1-86969-331-2
  8. So it is a family game, after all Sydney Morning Herald, 17 April 2004
  9. NZRL 2007 Annual Report
  10. On bike trek to Bondi Goldcoast.com, 26 July 2008
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