Francis Molo (born 3 September 1994) is a professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

footballer who plays as a for the

St George Illawarra Dragons The St. George Illawarra Dragons is an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George, Sydney, St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League since NR ...

in the NRL. He has played for both the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

and

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

at international level. He previously played for the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite c ...

and

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest town in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...

in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

Background

Molo was born in

Auckland, New Zealand Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

, and moved to Australia, Brisbane when he was 10 months old. He is of Samoan and Cook Island descent. He is the older brother of Michael Molo and cousins with

Anthony Milford Anthony Milford (born 11 July 1994) is a Samoan international rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Dolphins in the NRL. He previously played for the Brisbane Broncos, Canberra Raiders and Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby Le ...

. He played his junior football for the

Aspley Devils The Aspley Broncos (formerly Aspley Demons and Aspley Devils) are a rugby league club in Brisbane, Australia. Aspley competes in the FOGS Cup and FOGS Colts Challenge competitions. In 2007 they competed in the Queensland Cup as a feeder club ...

and attended

Wavell State High School Wavell State High School is a coeducational independent public secondary school based in Wavell Heights, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The school has a total enrolment of more than 1500 students from years 7–12, with an official co ...

, before being signed by the

Playing career

Early career

In 2010, Molo played for the

Norths Devils The Northern Suburbs Devils, or North Brisbane Devils, or often simply referred to as Norths for short, are a rugby league club representing the northern suburbs of Brisbane, Australia. The team colours are sky blue, navy blue and gold. They pl ...

Cyril Connell Cup The Cyril Connell Challenge is an under-16 competition administered by the Queensland Rugby League. First run in 2021, the competition replaced the QRL Junior State Championships, which ran from 2017 to 2020. The 2020 competition was ultimately ca ...

side and played for the Queensland under-16s team. In 2011, he moved up to the Devils'

Mal Meninga Cup The Mal Meninga Cup, known as the Auswide Bank Mal Meninga Cup due to sponsorship, is a junior rugby league football competition based in Queensland, played between teams made up of players aged under 18. The competition, administered by the Q ...

side and was selected to play for the Queensland under-18s team. From 2012 to 2014, Molo played for the Brisbane Broncos'

NYC New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

team. In 2012, he once again represented the Queensland under-18s team. On 20 April 2013, he played for the

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

under-20s team against the

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

under-20s team.

2014

In Round 11 of the

2014 NRL season The 2014 NRL season was the 107th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 17th season of the National Rugby League in Australia and New Zealand. The season started in New Zealand, for the Auckland Nines, replacing the Rugby Lea ...

, Molo made his NRL debut for the

against the

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers are an Australian professional rugby league football team, based in the Inner West and South West Sydney. They have competed in the National Rugby League since being formed at the end of the 1999 NRL season as a joint-venture ...

. In May, he again played for the Queensland under-20s team against the New South Wales under-20s team.

2015

On 20 June, while playing for the Broncos' feeder club, the

against the

Sunshine Coast Falcons The Sunshine Coast Falcons are a rugby league football team based on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Sunshine Coast. They compete in the Queensland Cup and their home ground is Sunshine Coast Stadium. The Falcons are currently affiliat ...

in the

Intrust Super Cup The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by four ...

, Molo was involved in a tackle on opposition player James Ackerman, which resulted in the death of Ackerman on 22 June 2015. He received an eight-week suspension for the tackle by the QRL judiciary. On 17 September, Molo played for the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

against

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

for the World Cup qualifier.

2016

On 8 May, Molo started at prop in the Cook Islands 30–20 win over

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

. In July, while playing for the Devils, Molo received a three-game suspension for a shoulder charge against the

. A brawl broke out following the tackle, with Sunshine Coast players reportedly calling Molo a "killer". Two Sunshine Coast players were also suspended, for attacking Molo. It came after being suspended three weeks earlier for a similar incident.

2017

On 20 July, Molo was released from his contract with the Brisbane club and joined the

Townsville Blackhawks The Townsville & Districts Blackhawks are an Australian semi-professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, Queensland. They compete in Queensland's top rugby league competition, the Queensland Cup. The club was admitted to the Que ...

mid-season. On 24 October, Molo signed a one-year deal with the

after training with their first grade squad while playing for the Blackhawks.

2018

In Round 11 of the

2018 NRL season The 2018 NRL season was the 111th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 21st season run by the National Rugby League. The main competition, known as the 2018 Telstra Premiership due to sponsorship from Telstra, featured 16 team ...

, Molo made his debut for North Queensland in their 20–19 loss to South Sydney. It was his first NRL game in almost three years. On 28 June, he re-signed with the North Queensland club for two more seasons. Molo played the majority of the 2018 season with the

, registering seven NRL games in his first season with North Queensland.

2019

Molo enjoyed a breakout season in 2019, coming off the bench in all 24 of the Cowboys' games. In Round 13, he scored his first NRL try in North Queensland's 20–22 loss to the

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...

. On 18 September, he won the Cowboys' 2019 Coach's Award at the club's presentation night. On 2 October, Molo was nominated for Dally M Interchange Player of the Year at the

2019 Dally M Awards The 2019 Dally M Awards were presented on Wednesday 2 October 2019. They are the official annual awards of the National Rugby League and are named after Dally Messenger. Dally M Medal Dally M Medal, Dally M Player of the Year: James Tedesco ...

2020

On 31 July, Molo re-signed with the North Queensland club until the end of the 2021 season. In Round 4, he started for the first time at in a 16–26 loss to the

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Cronulla, in the Sutherland Shire, Southern Sydney, New South Wales. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugby leag ...

. In Round 13, he played his 50th NRL game in a 10–30 loss to the

Gold Coast Titans The Gold Coast Titans are a professional rugby league football club, based on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australia and New Zealand's national rugby league club competition. The ...

. For the second consecutive season, he played every game for North Queensland , starting 11 of them and scoring three tries.

2021

On 16 March, Molo signed with the St. George Illawarra Dragons on a three-year deal commencing from the 2022 NRL season.

2022

During the Anzac Day Cup which happens every year on Anzac Day. With the rivalry of the St. George Illawarra Dragons and the

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won fifteen Ne ...

. Molo scored his first try for the Red V in the 11th Minute with the Saints winning 14-12 for the First time since

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

. Molo played a total of 21 games for the club in the

2022 NRL season The 2022 NRL season is the 115th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 25th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 16th consecutive year. This became the second longest s ...

which saw them finish 10th on the table and miss the finals.

Achievements and accolades

Individual

* North Queensland Cowboys Coach's Award: 2019

Statistics

NRL

: ''Statistics are correct to the end of the 2020 season''

International

References

External links

North Queensland Cowboys profileNRL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Molo, Francis 1994 births Living people Brisbane Broncos players Cook Islands national rugby league team players New Zealand emigrants to Australia New Zealand people of Cook Island descent New Zealand people of Samoan descent New Zealand rugby league players North Queensland Cowboys players Norths Devils players Rugby league players from Auckland Rugby league props Queensland Rugby League State of Origin players Samoa national rugby league team players St. George Illawarra Dragons players