Tony Puletua

Anthony Puletua (born 25 June 1979), also known by the nickname of "TP", is a New Zealand-born Samoan former professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Hull Kingston Rovers in the Super League. A New Zealand and Samoan international, Puletua previously played for the Penrith Panthers in the National Rugby League competition, primarily as second-row forward.

Tony Puletua
Personal information
Full nameAnthony Puletua
Born (1979-06-25) 25 June 1979
Auckland, New Zealand
Playing information
Height1.92 m (6 ft 3 1⁄2 in)
Weight112 kg (17 st 9 lb)[1]
PositionSecond-row, Prop
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1997–08 Penrith Panthers 211 40 0 0 160
2009–13 St Helens 137 40 0 0 160
2014–15 Salford Red Devils 26 3 0 0 12
2015(loan) → Hull Kingston Rovers 13 1 0 0 4
Total 387 84 0 0 336
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1998–07 New Zealand 22 4 0 0 16
2008–13 Samoa 9 1 0 0 4
2011–12 Exiles 2 0 0 0 0
Source: [2][3]

Puletua joined the Hull Kingston Rovers, on loan in 2015 from the Salford Red Devils. He made 13 appearances, scoring one try for the Hull Kingston Rovers, and retired on 18 September 2015.

Background

Puletua was born in Auckland, New Zealand. He is of Samoan descent.

Penrith Panthers

Puletua played his junior rugby league with the St Mary's Saints before being signed by the Penrith Panthers. Puletua made his début for the Penrith Panthers in 1997 and played at second row in the Panthers team which defeated the Sydney Roosters in the 2003 NRL Grand final. As 2003 NRL premiers, the Panthers travelled to England to face Super League VIII champions, the Bradford Bulls in the 2004 World Club Challenge. Puletua played at second-row forward in the Panthers' 22–4 loss. He was captain of the team from January 2006. Puletua's brother, Frank, also played for the Penrith Panthers, retiring from professional rugby league on April 2011. On 4 October 2006, TP was selected to be a part of the Perinth Panthers' Team Legends. Used to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Panthers, Puletua was alongside Penrith legends Mark Geyer, Brad Fitler and Rhys Wesser.

St Helens

Puletua joined St Helens at the end of the 2008 season on a three-year deal.[4][5][6][7]

He played in the 2009 Super League Grand Final defeat by the Leeds Rhinos at Old Trafford.[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]

He played in the 2011 Super League Grand Final defeat by the Leeds Rhinos at Old Trafford.[20][21]

Salford Red Devils

Puletua joined the Salford Red Devils for the 2014 season. He made 26 appearances for the club in 2014, but was not registered as a player for the 2015 season due to salary cap issues.

Hull KR
Puletua playing for Samoa

Puletua joined Hull Kingston Rovers mid-season in 2015 on a season-long loan from Salford, and announced that he would retire from the game following his spell with Hull KR.[22]

Representative football

Puletua represented the New Zealand national team on 22 occasions following his début in 1998, including the 2000 World Cup. His last selection was for New Zealand against Australia in the ANZAC Test on 20 April 2007 as a replacement for the injured David Kidwell. After that, he switched his allegiance to Samoa.

Puletua was named in the Samoa squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup, and played in three matches.[23] In 2009 he was named as part of the Samoan side for the Pacific Cup.[24]

Puletua was called up to the Samoan squad as an injury replacement during the 2013 World Cup.[25]

Career highlights

References
  1. "Meet the Teams First Team Players". web page. Saints RFC. 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  2. loverugbyleague
  3. "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  4. "St Helens bring in Kiwi Puletua". BBC. 23 April 2008. Retrieved 23 April 2008.
  5. "Dragons chasing Puletua". Fox Sports. 21 March 2008. Retrieved 20 March 2008.
  6. "Penrith players in coaching meltdown". Fox Sports. 29 March 2008. Retrieved 29 March 2008.
  7. "Lewis set to become bunny". Fox Sports. 2 April 2008. Retrieved 2 April 2008.
  8. "Rhinos Take Super League Title". Sky News. 11 October 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  9. Burke, David (11 October 2009). "Smith's Crisp". The Daily Mirror. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  10. AFP (11 October 2009). "Leeds makes it Super League hat-trick". ABC News. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  11. AAP (11 October 2009). "Leeds claim third successive Grand Final". nrl.com. Archived from the original on 3 October 2012. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  12. Linfoot, Ben (10 October 2009). "Grand Final: Leeds Rhinos 18 St Helens 10". Sky Sports. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  13. Correspondent (12 October 2009). "Potter refuses to blame video ref". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  14. Fletcher, Paul (10 October 2009). "St Helens 10-18 Leeds Rhinos". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  15. "Third time unlucky as Saints fail to halt Rhinos' charge to title". Liverpool Daily Post. 12 October 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  16. "Sinfield hails winning culture". The Daily Mirror. 11 October 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  17. Stewart, Rob (12 October 2009). "Lee Smith targets place in England rugby union team after Grand Final victory". The Telegraph. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  18. "Sinfield hails historic title win". BBC Sport. 11 October 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  19. "Leeds Rhinos fans in homecoming welcome". Yorkshire Evening Post. 12 October 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  20. "Leeds claim Grand Final glory as inspired Rob Burrow sinks St Helens". Guardian. 8 October 2011. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  21. "St Helens 16 Leeds 32". Daily Telegraph. 8 October 2011. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  22. Puletua joins Robins on loan. Hullkr.co.uk (26 May 2015). Retrieved on 2016-09-22.
  23. "Samoa, Tonga and Fiji name squads". BBC. 8 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  24. Poching names strong Samoan squad therhinos.co.uk, 6 October 2009
  25. Samoa call up new Salford star Tony Puletua Archived 9 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine skysports.com, 5 November 2013
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