Lorenzo Ma'afu

Lorenzo Ma'afu
Ma'afu playing for the Bulldogs in 2008
Personal information
Born (1987-11-13) 13 November 1987
New Zealand
Height 181 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight 100 kg (15 st 10 lb)
Playing information
Position Second-row

Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2008 Canterbury Bulldogs 2 0 0 0 0
Source: [1]

Lorenzo Ma'afu (born 13 November 1987) is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer for the Townsville Blackhawks in the Queensland Cup. He primarily plays second-row. He is of Tongan descent. He is well known for overcoming much adversity to make it into the NRL.[2]

Early life

Born in New Zealand, before moving to Australia. Ma'afu played his junior football for the East Hills Bulldogs in Australia before being signed by the Bulldogs RLFC.

Playing career

2008: Career with Canterbury-Bankstown

In Round 9 of the 2008 NRL season he made his NRL debut for the Bulldogs against the Penrith Panthers.

2009-11: Career with Ipswich Jets

In 2009, he joined the Ipswich Jets in the Intrust Super Cup.[3]

2012-14: Career with Parramatta

At the start of 2012, Ma'afu was close to joining NRL club, the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles but nothing eventuated as Sea Eagles recruitment manager, Noel Cleal, who wanted to sign him, went to the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs before anything was finalized. Ma'afu was invited to do pre-season training with the Gold Coast Titans.[4]

In June 2012, Ma'afu was invited to come down for a week to train with the Newcastle Knights at the request of Knights coach Wayne Bennett in order to possibly gain a contract.[5]

In September 2012, Ma'afu signed a 2-year contract with the Parramatta Eels.[6]

Controversy

In 2010, he was banned from the sport for 15 months after his drink was spiked with ecstasy and another recreational drug. Ma'afu's ban expired on 1 February 2011 and he returned to play for the Jets.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Rugby League Project
  2. ↑ http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/nrl/parramatta-eels-recruit-lorenzo-maafu-credits-sonny-bill-williams-with-turning-his-life-around/story-e6frfgbo-1226489498828
  3. ↑ Jets star Lorenzo Maafu fights suspension The Queensland Times, 18 June 2009
  4. ↑ http://www.qt.com.au/story/2012/01/12/nrl-return-likely/
  5. ↑ http://football.ipswichjets.com.au/news/jet-lands-knights-nrl-bid
  6. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=359343857486935&id=119814368106553
  7. ↑ "Former Bulldog has doping ban reduced". The Press. AAP. 19 March 2010. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
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