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Atu Bosenavulagi
Personal information
Full name Atunaisa Bosenavulagi[1]
Nickname(s) R2[2]
Date of birth (2000-09-17) 17 September 2000 (age 24)
Place of birth Sawani, Naitasiri, Fiji
Original team(s) Oakleigh Chargers
Draft No. 77, 2018 AFL draft, Collingwood
Debut 10 July 2020, Collingwood vs. Hawthorn, at GIANTS Stadium
Height 180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight 82 kg (181 lb)
Position(s) Defender / Forward
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2019–2020 Collingwood 3 (0)
2021-2022 North Melbourne 17 (1)
Total 20 (1)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of the 2022 season.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Atunaisa Bosenavulagi (born 17 September 2000) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the North Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL), having previously played for the Collingwood Football Club.

Early football

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Bosenavulagi played junior football for the Boroondara Hawks in the Yarra Junior Football League, helping them win the premiership in 2017.[3] Bosenavulagi also played under-18s football for the Oakleigh Chargers in the TAC Cup, before getting selected by Collingwood.[1] In his junior years, Bosenavulagi represented Australia as a junior representative in rugby sevens, as well as playing Australian rules football.[4] He played for the Oakleigh Chargers 9 games in 2017, while juggling both codes, seeing him often play football on Saturday and rugby on Sunday.[5] In 2018, he played all 18 games for the Oakleigh Chargers, kicking 15 goals,[6][7] and helping lead them to the Grand Final,[8] which they lost to the Dandenong Stingrays by four points.[9]

AFL career

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Bosenavulagi was part of Collingwood's Next Generation Academy.[10] The club drafted him to their Australian Football League (AFL) squad with the 77th draft pick in the 2018 AFL draft.[11] He debuted for Collingwood in Round 6 of the 2020 AFL season, in the club's 32-point victory over Hawthorn,[12][13] collecting 16 disposals, taking four marks, and laying one tackle.[14] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, his debut was in a game with no fans, meaning his mother, Meri, couldn't attend the game, making it only the third game of his that she missed.[15]

At the conclusion of the 2020 AFL season, Bosenavulagi was traded to North Melbourne along with North Melbourne teammate Jaidyn Stephenson.[16]

Personal life

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Bosenavulagi was born in Fiji in the Sawani village in the Naitasiri Province, and has Fijian heritage.[4][17][18] He is the great-nephew of Collingwood's cheer squad leader, Joffa Corfe, who is married to Bosnavulagi's grandma's sister, but Bosenavulagi refers to Corfe as 'grandpa'.[1] Despite Corfe's efforts, Bosenavulagi grew up supporting the Western Bulldogs.[11] Bosenavulagi's father, Atu, played rugby in Fiji and continued when the family moved to Australia in 2003.[19] Bosenvulagi was educated at Christian Brothers College in Melbourne.[20]

Statistics

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Statistics are correct to the end of the 2020 season[21]
Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals 
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds 
  H  
 Handballs 
  M  
 Marks
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2019 Collingwood 40 0 — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
2020 Collingwood 40 3 0 0 9 12 21 6 5 0.0 0.0 3.0 4.0 7.0 2.0 1.7
Career 3 0 0 9 12 21 6 5 0.0 0.0 3.0 4.0 7.0 2.0 1.7

References

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  1. ^ a b c Waterworth, Ben (22 November 2018). "AFL draft 2018: Atu Bosenavulagi could join Collingwood — the club his 'grandpa' Joffa loves so much". Fox Sports. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  2. ^ "Weird footy nicknames: So why do they call Gov 'Brackets'?". Australian Football League. Telstra Media. 16 March 2019.
  3. ^ "2018 AFL Draft". Yarra Junior Football League. 26 November 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  4. ^ a b "Atu Bosenavulagi". Collingwood. Telstra Media. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  5. ^ Cleary, Mitch (9 July 2020). "Pies pull second selection stunner, gun Sun to finally debut". Australian Football League. Telstra Media.
  6. ^ "Atu Bosenavulagi". DraftGuru. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  7. ^ "Atu Bosenavulagi". AFL Draft Central. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  8. ^ "Preliminary Final match review – Gippsland Power v Oakleigh Chargers". Gippsland Power. 19 September 2018.
  9. ^ "AFL draft: Oakleigh Chargers deliver record haul from a TAC Cup club". Herald Sun. 25 November 2018.
  10. ^ Sankey, Daniel (23 November 2018). "AFL Draft 2018 Day 2 live coverage: Pies land Joffa's great nephew Atunaisa Bosenavulagi". The Australian.
  11. ^ a b Johnson, Adrian (23 November 2018). "Joffa's 'grandson' an X-factor with late pick for Pies". Australian Football League. Telstra Media. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  12. ^ Cherny, Daniel (9 July 2020). "Hawks and Magpies turn to the kids". The Age.
  13. ^ McGowan, Marc (10 July 2020). "Horror fortnight ends as Pies punish Hawks in new low for Clarko". Australian Football League. Telstra Media. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  14. ^ Ratcliffe, Damien (10 July 2020). "As it happened: Easy win for Pies, Kelly injured on debut". The Age.
  15. ^ Oudyn, Tamara (10 July 2020). "Atu Bosenavulagi's Mum can't wait to see him run out for Collingwood - from afar". ABC News.
  16. ^ "Trade raid: North loads up on pace with Magpie jets". AFL Media. 12 November 2020. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  17. ^ Cama, Akuila (10 July 2020). "Fiji born Bosenavulagi to make AFL debut tonight". Fijian Broadcasting Corporation.
  18. ^ Cama, Akuila (16 July 2020). "Bosenavulagi's proud of Atu's achievement". Fijian Broadcasting Corporation.
  19. ^ "Atu Bosenavulagi". Harlequin Rugby Melbourne. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  20. ^ McKenna, Paddy (27 November 2018). "ACC has the Numbers in the AFL Draft". Associated Catholic Colleges.
  21. ^ "Atu Bosenavulagi statistics". AFL Tables. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
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