David Nofoaluma

David Nofoaluma
Personal information
Born (1993-11-28) 28 November 1993
Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
Height 180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight 98 kg (15 st 6 lb)
Playing information
Position Wing, Centre, Fullback
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2013– Wests Tigers 63 35 0 0 140
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2015 Prime Minister's XIII 1 2 0 0 8
2016 City Origin 1 0 0 0 0
2016 Samoa 1 0 0 0 0
As of 21 May 2016
Source: [1]

David Nofoaluma (born 28 November 1993) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer of Samoan Descent who currently plays for the Wests Tigers in the National Rugby League. A Prime Minister's XIII and New South Wales City representative, he plays at wing, centre and fullback.

Playing career

Born in Newcastle, New South Wales, Nofoaluma is of Samoan descent. Nofoaluma played his junior football for the Campbelltown Warriors and Campbelltown Collegians before being signed by the Wests Tigers. In 2010, he played for the Australian Schoolboys and also New South Wales U18's team. In 2011, Nofoaluma again played for the New South Wales U18's team. He played for the Tigers' NYC team in 2011 and 2012,[2] scoring a try as a member of the 2012 Grand Final winning team.[3] On 23 May 2012, Nofoaluma re-signed with the Tigers on a 2-year contract.[4]

2013

In Round 10, Nofoaluma made his NRL debut for the Tigers against the South Sydney Rabbitohs on the wing in the 54-10 loss at ANZ Stadium.[5][6] The next week against the North Queensland Cowboys at Leichhardt Oval, Nofoaluma scored a match-winning try, winning the game for the Tigers 22-20.[7] In his third appearance in Round 13 against the Penrith Panthers, Nofoaluma scored two tries in the first half in the 20-18 win.[8]

In Round 20, Nofoaluma gained attention for a try he scored against the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. Leaping for a Benji Marshall cross-field bomb, Nofoaluma caught the ball before being shoved by Manly winger Jorge Tafua. With most of his body in the air over the dead-in-goal line, Nofoaluma managed to place the ball down for what was described as, "arguably the most acrobatic try of the past decade."[9] It was awarded the Dally M Try of the Year.[10] In total, Nofoaluma scored eight tries from his fifteen appearances in 2013, and was described as, "a revelation on the flank."[11] Despite his limited appearances, he was sixth in the competition for tackle-busts throughout the season.[12] He was named by Phil Gould as one of the rookies of the year.[13]

2014

After missing Round 1 with a hamstring injury, Nofoaluma returned for the Tigers in Round 2, scoring a try in the Tigers 42-12 win.[14] On 11 April, Nofoaluma re-signed with Wests Tigers, keeping him at the club till the end of the 2017 season.[15] In April, Nofoaluma was named in the Samoan team to play against Fiji in the 2014 Pacific Rugby League International to qualify for the 2014 Four Nations; He was later ruled out with a knee injury and replaced by Young Tonumaipea.[16] In Round 18, Nofoaluma suffered a season ending ACL injury.[17] He scored 7 tries from 15 matches in 2014.

2015

After undergoing off-season surgery on his knee, Nofoaluma returned from the injury via the Wests Tigers NSW Cup side. A subsequent ankle injury[18] meant he did not return to first grade until Round 10.[19] With team-mate Chris Lawrence moving to the second-row, Nofoaluma played some games at centre before swapping positions with Kevin Naiqama and returning to his regular position of winger.[20] Nofoaluma played in 10 games and scored 6 tries for the season.[21] On 26 September, he represented the Prime Minister's XIII against Papua New Guinea, playing on the wing. He scored two tries in his team's 40-12 win.[22][23]

2016

Nofoaluma scored three tries in the opening two rounds of the season. In May, he was a late selection for City, but only lasted five minutes in the match before being replaced after suffering a head knock.[24] Missing just one game for Wests Tigers, he was the team's joint leader for tries scored, with a career-best 14. He led the entire competition with 134 tackle breaks.[25]

At the end of the year, Nofoaluma made his international debut for Samoa, playing fullback in a historical test match against Fiji in Apia.[26]

References

  1. ↑ "David Nofoaluma - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 2015-12-15.
  2. ↑ "David Nofoaluma player results, scores, news and statistics". Rleague.com. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  3. ↑ Wayne Cousins (30 September 2013). "Wests Tigers win NYC Premiership". weststigers.com.au. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
  4. ↑ "Major Signings For Wests Tigers". Weststigers.com.au. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  5. ↑ "NRL team changes - Tigers". Weststigers.com.au. 2013-05-17. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  6. ↑ "Live : Rabbitohs v. Tigers". Dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 2015-12-15.
  7. ↑ Todd Balym (25 May 2013). "David Nofoaluma's stunning try sees Tigers beat Cowboys 22-20 in thriller at Leichhardt Oval". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  8. ↑ Justin Davies (9 June 2013). "Tigers stun complacent Panthers". League Unlimited. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  9. ↑ Dean Ritchie (31 July 2013). "Wests Tigers winger David Nofoaluma's freak try reaches Hollywood". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
  10. ↑ Evin Priest (8 October 2013). "Ruse winger David Nofoaluma's stunning round 20 four-pointer given Dally M Try of the Year". Macarthur Chronicle Campbelltown. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
  11. ↑ Michael Carayannis (30 July 2013). "Leaping Tiger Nofoaluma amazed by wonder try". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
  12. ↑ "statistics". Rugby League Week. No. 12 September 2013. Sydney, NSW: Bauer Media Group. p. 50.
  13. ↑ Phil Gould (22 September 2013). "Thirteen for '13: My team of the year". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  14. ↑ Steve Mascord (2014-03-16). "James Tedesco injury scare almost ruined big Wests Tigers win over Gold Coast Titans". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2015-05-09.
  15. ↑ Priest, Evin (11 April 2014). "Wests Tigers re-sign local product David Nofoaluma on three-year NRL contract". Macarthur Chronicle. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  16. ↑ "Tigers Duo Out For Samoa". Rugby League Week. 2014-04-29. Retrieved 2015-05-09.
  17. ↑ "Wests Tigers dealt another injury blow as David Nofoaluma is ruled out for the rest of the season". Daily Telegraph. 15 July 2014. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  18. ↑ Mark St John (10 April 2015). "Nofoaluma Out for 4-6 Weeks". Rugby League Week. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  19. ↑ "Newcastle Knights rookie rake Chad Redman stars in upset win over Wests Tigers". Smh.com.au. 2016-01-27. Retrieved 2016-02-02.
  20. ↑ "Lawrence enjoying back-row again". NRL.com. 2015-06-27. Retrieved 2015-12-15.
  21. ↑ "Custom Match List". Rugby League Project. 2015-10-19. Retrieved 2015-12-15.
  22. ↑ "Merrin to lead Prime Minister's XIII". NRL.com. 2015-09-15. Retrieved 2015-09-27.
  23. ↑ Tom Decent. "Australian Prime Minister's XIII beat Papua New Guinea 40-12 in Port Moresby". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 2015-12-15.
  24. ↑ James Matthey. "Live: City vs Country Origin at Scully Park, Tamworth". News.com.au.
  25. ↑ "Tackle Breaks". nrl.com. Archived from the original on 5 September 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
  26. ↑ "Match Centre". Fox Sports.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/19/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.