Sika Manu

Viliami Sikalamu "Sika" Manu (born 22 January 1987) is a former professional rugby league footballer who played as a second-row forward[2] for Tonga and New Zealand at international level, being a member of the World Cup winning Kiwi team who beat Australia in the 2008 World Cup Final.

Not to be confused with Viliami Makamaile Manu (Willie Manu).

Sika Manu
Personal information
Full nameViliami Sikalamu Manu
Born (1987-01-22) 22 January 1987
Lower Hutt, New Zealand
Height182 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight110 kg (17 st 5 lb)
Playing information
PositionSecond-row
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2007–12 Melbourne Storm 89 17 0 0 68
2013–15 Penrith Panthers 61 6 0 0 24
2016–19 Hull F.C. 103 12 0 0 48
Total 253 35 0 0 140
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2008–11 New Zealand 14 4 0 0 16
2013– Tonga 13 4 0 0 16
As of 19 October 2019
Source: [1][2]

At club level played for the Melbourne Storm, with whom he won the 2012 NRL Grand Final, and also the Penrith Panthers in the NRL and Hull F.C. in the Super League.

Background

He was born in Wellington, New Zealand.

Manu is of full Tongan descent and as a result is eligible both for New Zealand and Tonga. His older brother Filipe was also contracted to the Storm.[3] He is cousin to the Super 15 Rugby union player from the Highlanders, Nasi Manu. He is also cousin to up and coming Rugby superstar David Manu, located in the Eastern Suburbs.Manu was educated at Upper Hutt College, where he played for the school's First XV rugby team.

Playing career

Early career

He played for the Randwick Kingfishers, Petone Panthers and the Upper Hutt Tigers in the Wellington Rugby League.[3] Manu was a part of the 2004 Junior Kiwi side who twice defeated the England Under 18s Academy. Following this series, Manu signed a NRL contract with the Melbourne Storm.[4]

Sika Manu

Melbourne Storm

Manu made his first National Rugby League (NRL) for the Melbourne Storm in 2007. He has since played over 50 games for the club. He played in the 2008 NRL Grand Final defeat by Manly.[5]

Manu suffered a leg injury in the Storm's 2009 Round 21 clash with the St George Illawarra Dragons, thus ending his season. He ultimately missed the Grand Final win. Manu was selected to play for New Zealand from the interchange bench in their loss against Australia. On 30 September 2012 he finally played in a premiership, when Storm beat the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 14-4 in the 2012 NRL Grand Final.

Penrith Panthers

On 5 June 2012 Penrith Panthers General Manager Phil Gould announced that Manu had signed a three-year deal with the Panthers, commencing from the start of the 2013 National Rugby League season.

Hull F.C.

On 13 August 2015, he signed a 3-year contract with Super League team Hull F.C. starting in 2016.[6][7]

He played in the 2016 Challenge Cup Final victory over the Warrington Wolves at Wembley Stadium.[8][9]

He played in the 2017 Challenge Cup Final victory over the Wigan Warriors at Wembley Stadium.[10]

International career
Manu playing for the Kiwis

New Zealand

Manu made his New Zealand national rugby league team debut in 2008. He was named in the Tongan and New Zealand training squads for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.[11][12] In October 2008 he was named in the final 24-man Kiwi squad and was part of the team that went on to win the tournament.[13]

Tonga

In 2013 Sika, through his Tongan heritage, he made his début for Tonga in their Pacific Rugby League International clash with fierce Pacific rivals Samoa.

Later in the year Sika represented Tonga in their unsuccessful 2013 Rugby League World Cup campaign. He played in all 3 of Tonga's matches, scoring two tries. He scored both of his tries in New Zealand's nail-biting 2 point defeat by Scotland (unfortunately the only defeat of their World Cup campaign which ultimately ended Tonga's hopes of a knock-out round spot).

On 2 May 2015, Manu captained Tonga in their 2015 Polynesian Cup test-match against Pacific rivals Samoa. On 17 October 2015 Manu captained Tonga again this time in their Asia-Pacific Qualifier match against the Cook Islands for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.

On 7 May 2016, Manu traveled down from Hull to Sydney to captain Tonga in the 2016 Polynesian Cup[14] against Samoa, where he started in the second row in the 18-6 loss at Parramatta Stadium.[15]

In 2018 he announced his retirement from international rugby league.

References
  1. loverugbyleague
  2. "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  3. Deane, Steve (30 October 2010). "League: Time for Manu to prove himself". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 11 November 2011.
  4. Team of the Century - Week 6 Wellington Rugby League
  5. "Grand final: As it happened". Fox Sports. 5 October 2008. Retrieved 5 October 2008.
  6. http://www.zerotackle.com/nrl/manu-signs-super-league-deal-18590/
  7. http://hullfc.com/article/41228/world-cup-winner-manu-to-join-hull-fc-from-2016
  8. "Hull FC's Jamie Shaul's late try takes Challenge Cup away from Warrington". Guardian. 27 August 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  9. "Challenge Cup final: Hull FC 12-10 Warrington Wolves". BBC. 27 August 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  10. "Hull FC 18-14 Wigan recap as the Black and Whites claim back-to-back Challenge Cup triumphs". Mirror. 26 August 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  11. "Tug-of-war over Mason". Sky Sports. 5 August 2008. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
  12. "Kiwis select Sonny Bill". Sky Sports. 8 August 2008. Retrieved 8 August 2008.
  13. "Kiwis to wait on Webb and Matai". BBC. 7 October 2008. Retrieved 7 October 2008.
  14. "Hull FC: Frank Pritchard and Sika Manu to return to Australia and miss Challenge Cup game". Hull Daily Mail. Archived from the original on 1 May 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  15. "Samoa holds on in pulsating Pacific Test". nrl.com. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
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