Joel Luani

Joel Luani (born 16 February 1992) is a professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the Intrust Super Premiership. He plays as a hooker and previously played for the Wests Tigers in the NRL.

Joel Luani
Luani playing for the Tigers in 2013.
Personal information
Full nameHaveatama Sioelipulu Halafungani[1]
Born (1992-02-16) 16 February 1992
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Height180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight92 kg (14 st 7 lb)
Playing information
PositionHooker
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2013–14 Wests Tigers 9 1 0 0 4
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2013 United States 4 0 0 0 0
2014–15 Tonga 3 0 0 0 0
Source: [2]
As of 31 January 2019

Background

Luani was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He is of American Samoan[3] and Tongan[4] descent.

He was educated at his father's alma mater Newington College (2008–2010) and he played in the rugby union 1st XV for three years. In his final year of school he was a member of Newington's GPS Championship-winning rugby union team and played for the Australian Schoolboys rugby union team. He also played junior football for Five Dock before being signed by the Wests Tigers.

Playing career

Luani played for the Tigers' NYC team in 2011 and 2012,[5] playing second row in the 2012 premiership-winning team.[6] Coach Todd Payten said, "Joel played in the back row, which was not his preferred position and not once did he complain. He just went out and did the job each week."[7]

On 29 July 2013, Luani re-signed with the Tigers on a 2-year contract.[8]

After being 18th man a number of times in the 2013 NRL season, Luani made his NRL debut for the Tigers against the Parramatta Eels in round 22.[9] He played 3 games in a period when Robbie Farah was unavailable due to injury, scoring one try.

At the end of the season, Luani was chosen to be a member of the United States 2013 World Cup squad. He made his international debut playing at hooker in the side that defeated the Cook Islands 32-20, in the country's first ever World Cup match.[10]

Luani made his debut for Tonga at the end of 2014.[11] In 2015, he played halfback in a mid-season test against Samoa, and was described as one of, "the halves changing perceptions of Pacific rugby league teams having an inability to produce quality playmakers."[12]

He represented Tonga again at the conclusion of the 2015 season in the Asia-Pacific Qualifier match against the Cook Islands for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup, but he played this game in his usual position of hooker, with usual hooker Pat Politoni starting at five-eighth.

Luani didn't play in any first-grade games for the Tigers in 2015 and at the end of the season, was not re-signed by the club.[13]

References
  1. Adrian Proszenko (18 April 2014). "Tyro Tiger Joel Luani uses family as inspiration to make his mark on NRL". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
  2. Rugby League Project
  3. Rugby League (18 April 2014). "Tyro Tiger Joel Luani uses family as inspiration to make his mark on NRL". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  4. "Tonga named preliminary train-on squad". NRL.com. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  5. "Joel Luani player results, scores, news and statistics". Rleague.com. 16 February 1992. Archived from the original on 9 August 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  6. Wayne Cousins (30 September 2013). "Wests Tigers win NYC Premiership". weststigers.com.au. Archived from the original on 23 May 2013. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
  7. Nick Walshaw (9 August 2013). "Wests Tigers hooker Joel Luani is proof that even the dud clashes matter". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
  8. "Major player news for Wests Tigers". Weststigers.com.au. Archived from the original on 1 August 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  9. "LATE change to Wests Tigers NRL side". Weststigers.com.au. 7 January 2012. Archived from the original on 4 December 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  10. "Rugby League World Cup: USA 32-20 Cook Islands". BBC. 30 October 2013. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
  11. Corfe, Brock (30 April 2015). "Match Preview: Tonga vs. Toa Samoa". weststigers.com.au. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  12. Boswell, Tom (5 May 2015). "Tongans on the right path". The Bulletin. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  13. "Newcastle Gun Extends; Bulldogs Sign Exciting Centre". Foxsports.com.au. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
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