Leilani Latu

Leilani Latu
Personal information
Born (1993-02-05) 5 February 1993
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Height 190 cm (6 ft 3 in)
Weight 120 kg (18 st 13 lb)
Playing information
Position Prop

Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2015–17 Penrith Panthers 49 6 0 0 24
2018– Gold Coast Titans 6 0 0 0 0
Total 55 6 0 0 24
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2016–17 Indigenous All Stars 2 2 0 0 8
2016 NSW City 1 0 0 0 0
2017 Tonga 1 2 0 0 8
As of 4 March 2018
Source: [1]

Leilani Latu (born 5 February 1993) is a Tongan international rugby league footballer who plays for the Gold Coast Titans in the National Rugby League. He plays as a prop.

Background

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

He is of Tongan, Italian, and Torres Strait Islander descent.[2] He played his junior rugby league for St. John Eagles, Punchbowl, before being signed by the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.

Playing career

Latu playing for the Bulldogs in 2013

Early career

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.[3][4] In 2013, he graduated to the Bulldogs' New South Wales Cup team.[5]

In 2014, he joined the Penrith Panthers on a 2-year contract.[6]

2015

On 3 May, Latu played for the New South Wales Residents against the Queensland Residents.[7] In Round 21 of the 2015 NRL season, he made his NRL debut for the Panthers against the South Sydney Rabbitohs.[8][9] On 14 September, he re-signed with the Panthers on a 2-year contract until the end of 2017.[10] On 27 September, he was named at lock in the 2015 New South Wales Cup Team of the Year.[11] On 9 October, Latu was named to make his international debut for Tonga in their 2017 World Cup qualifying match against the Cook Islands,[12] though he was replaced by 18th man David Fifita in a late change.

2016

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.[13] On 20 July, he extended his contract with the Panthers from the end of 2017 until the end of 2020.[14]

2017

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.[15][16][17] On 6 May 2017, Latu made his international debut for Tonga, scoring 2 tries in their 2017 Pacific Test against Fiji.[18]

References

  1. ↑ "Leilani Latu - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project.
  2. ↑ Brady, Jack (5 May 2016). "Mixed gene pool leaves Latu spoiled for choice". NRL.com. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  3. ↑ 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.
  4. ↑ "L". Nyc Database. Retrieved 2015-08-02.
  5. ↑ "St George Illawarra Dragons". Jubilee Avenue. Retrieved 2015-08-02.
  6. ↑ "Penrith Panthers recruitment news for 2014". Zero Tackle. 16 October 2013. Retrieved 2015-08-02.
  7. ↑ "Representative Round team lists". NRL.com. 28 April 2015. Retrieved 2015-05-03.
  8. ↑ "Updated: Round 21 NRL team lists". NRL.com. Retrieved 2015-09-04.
  9. ↑ "NRL Late Mail: Panthers v Souths – Panthers". Penrithpanthers.com.au. Retrieved 2015-08-02.
  10. ↑ "Panthers lock up Leilani Latu | NRL". Zero Tackle. 14 September 2015. Retrieved 2015-09-18.
  11. ↑ "2015 VB NSW Cup Team of the Year". NSWRL. Retrieved 2015-09-27.
  12. ↑ "Tonga finalise squad for World Cup Qualifier". asiapacificrl.com. 9 October 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  13. ↑ Chris Garry (13 February 2016). "World All Stars defeat Indigenous All Stars 12-8 at Suncorp Stadium". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
  14. ↑ "Latu commits to the Panthers". Zero Tackle. 2016-05-22. Retrieved 2016-07-20.
  15. ↑ "Thurston inspires Indigenous All Stars to big win". NRL.com. 10 February 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
  16. ↑ http://www.nrl.com/world-all-stars-team-changes/tabid/10874/newsid/103567/default.aspx
  17. ↑ http://www.news.com.au/sport/nrl/live-updates-of-nrl-all-stars-at-hunter-stadium-in-newcastle/news-story/d137d71a228da375f0d48a0d0ed1bdaf
  18. ↑ 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.
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