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Leilani Latu
Personal information
Full nameLeilani Latu
Born (1993-02-05) 5 February 1993 (age 31)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Height6 ft 3 in (1.90 m)
Weight17 st 9 lb (112 kg)
Playing information
PositionProp
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2015–17 Penrith Panthers 49 6 0 0 24
2018–19 Gold Coast Titans 9 0 0 0 0
2020–21 Warrington Wolves 3 1 0 0 4
2020(loan) → Widnes Vikings 1 0 0 0 0
Total 62 7 0 0 28
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2015 NSW Residents 1 0 0 0 0
2016– Indigenous All Stars 3 2 0 0 8
2016 NSW City 1 0 0 0 0
2017 Tonga 1 2 0 0 8
Source: [1][2]
As of 9 January 2024

Leilani Latu (born 5 February 1993) is a Tonga international rugby league footballer who played as a prop most recently for the Warrington Wolves in the Super League.

Latu has spent time on loan from Warrington at the Widnes Vikings in the Betfred Championship and has played for the Penrith Panthers and the Gold Coast Titans in the NRL. He has played at representative level for the Indigenous All Stars and NSW City.

Background

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Latu was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

He is of Tongan, Italian and Torres Strait Islander descent.[3] He spent his junior years playing for the Leichhardt Juniors when then he switched over to play in Lakemba for the St Johns Eagles. He played his junior rugby league for St. John Eagles, Lakemba, before being signed by the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.

Playing career

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Early career

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In 2011, Latu captained the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs to the grand final of the S. G. Ball Cup, before moving into their National Youth Competition team, where he stayed until 2012.[4][5] In 2013, he graduated to the Bulldogs' New South Wales Cup team.[6]

Latu playing for the Panthers in 2014

In 2014, he joined the Penrith Panthers on a 2-year contract.[7]

2015

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On 3 May, Latu played for the New South Wales Residents against the Queensland Residents.[8] In Round 21 of the 2015 NRL season, he made his NRL debut for the Panthers against the South Sydney Rabbitohs.[9][10] On 14 September, he re-signed with the Panthers on a 2-year contract until the end of 2017.[11] On 27 September, he was named at lock in the 2015 New South Wales Cup Team of the Year.[12] On 9 October, Latu was named to make his international debut for Tonga in their 2017 World Cup qualifying match against the Cook Islands,[13] though he was replaced by 18th man David Fifita in a late change.

2016

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On 13 February, Latu played for the Indigenous All Stars against the World All Stars, playing off the interchange bench and scoring a try i his team's 8-12 loss at Suncorp Stadium.[14] On 20 July, he extended his contract with the Panthers from the end of 2017 until the end of 2020.[15]

2017

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On 10 February 2017, Latu played for the Indigenous All Stars against the World All Stars in the 2017 All Stars match, coming off the interchange bench in the 34-8 win at Hunter Stadium.[16][17][18] On 6 May 2017, Latu made his international debut for Tonga, scoring 2 tries in their 2017 Pacific Test against Fiji.[19]

2018

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Latu made his debut for the Gold Coast in round 1 of the 2018 NRL season against Canberra which ended in a 30-28 victory. Latu made a total of 6 appearances for the Gold Coast as the club finished in 14th position on the table.[20]

2019

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Latu was limited to only three games for the Gold Coast in the 2019 NRL season as the club endured a horror year on and off the field which saw them finish last on the table.[21][22][23]

2020

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On 21 January, Latu signed a two-year deal to join English Super League side Warrington.[24]

2021

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On 10 Feb 2021 it was announced that Leilani was leaving Warrington by mutual consent[25]

References

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  1. ^ loverugbyleague
  2. ^ "Leilani Latu - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project.
  3. ^ Brady, Jack (5 May 2016). "Mixed gene pool leaves Latu spoiled for choice". NRL.com. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  4. ^ Walsh, Dan (17 March 2017). "Drugs, booze and Gus: How Leilani Latu has overcome demons and horror injuries at Penrith". Fox Sports. Retrieved 21 May 2017.
  5. ^ "L". Nyc Database. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  6. ^ "St George Illawarra Dragons". Jubilee Avenue. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  7. ^ "Penrith Panthers recruitment news for 2014". Zero Tackle. 16 October 2013. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  8. ^ "Representative Round team lists". NRL.com. 28 April 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  9. ^ "Updated: Round 21 NRL team lists". NRL.com. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  10. ^ "NRL Late Mail: Panthers v Souths – Panthers". Penrithpanthers.com.au. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  11. ^ "Panthers lock up Leilani Latu | NRL". Zero Tackle. 14 September 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  12. ^ "2015 VB NSW Cup Team of the Year". NSWRL. Archived from the original on 28 September 2015. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  13. ^ "Tonga finalise squad for World Cup Qualifier". asiapacificrl.com. 9 October 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  14. ^ Chris Garry (13 February 2016). "World All Stars defeat Indigenous All Stars 12-8 at Suncorp Stadium". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
  15. ^ "Latu commits to the Panthers". Zero Tackle. 22 May 2016. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  16. ^ "Thurston inspires Indigenous All Stars to big win". NRL.com. 10 February 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
  17. ^ "World All Stars team changes". National Rugby League. 6 February 2017.
  18. ^ "Rough start for Nine's new footy host". NewsComAu. 10 February 2017.
  19. ^ Campton, Nick (6 May 2017). "Unlikely hero Leilani Latu inspires 12-man Tonga to a thrilling victory over Fiji". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 21 May 2017.
  20. ^ "Gold Coast Titans 2018 season review". NRL.
  21. ^ "Proctor's apology to Titans fans". NRL.
  22. ^ "Not good enough blasts Arthur despite comfortable win". Sydney Morning Herald.
  23. ^ "Melbourne Storm defeat Gold Coast Titans after scare". News.com.au.
  24. ^ "Leilani Latu: Warrington Wolves sign Tonga prop forward from Gold Coast Titans". www.bbc.co.uk.
  25. ^ "Leilani Latu: Warrington Wolves release Tonga prop after one season". BBC Sport. 10 February 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
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