Petero Benjamin "Ben" Nakubuwai (born 15 March 1996) is a

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

international

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who plays as a prop 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 ...

in the

Queensland Cup The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league, rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League, Queensland Rugby ...

. Nakubuwai previously played for 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) premiership, Australia's elite rugby league competition. Since 2008, the ...

in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

and the

Salford Red Devils The Salford Red Devils are a professional rugby league club in Salford, England. They play home games at Salford Community Stadium in Barton upon Irwell and compete in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league system, British rugb ...

in the

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

, and was a member of Fiji's squad for the 2017 World Cup.

Background

Nakubuwai was born in Suva , Fiji to Fijian parents Pio and Eseta. His father was a

dual-code rugby international A dual-code rugby international is a rugby footballer who has played at the senior international level in both codes of rugby, 13-a-side rugby league and 15-a-side rugby union. Rugby league started as a breakaway version of rugby in Northern Engl ...

for Fiji during the 1990s, and is known as one of the pioneers of

rugby league in Fiji Rugby league is a popular team sport played in Fiji since 1992. History Joe Levula and Orisi Dawai were the first Fijians to play rugby league after they were recruited to play professionally for the Rochdale Hornets in 1961. Voate Driu and ...

. Nakubuwai grew up playing

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

from the age of eight for the Leeton Phantoms, and later took up rugby league at a junior level at age fourteen, playing for the Yanco-Wamoon Hawks and Bidgee Hurricanes. Having been spotted by the

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm is a rugby league football club based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia that participates in the National Rugby League (NRL). The club plays its home games at AAMI Park, and wears a purple and navy blu ...

, Nakubwai moved to Melbourne after completing his Higher School Certificate to play in their

S. G. Ball Cup The S. G. Ball Cup is a junior rugby league football competition played predominantly in New South Wales, between teams made up of male players aged under 19. Teams from Canberra and Melbourne, and Auckland also participate. Prior to the COVID ...

team.

Playing career

Early career

Nakubuwai joined Melbourne's National Youth Competition team in 2015, playing 42 matches over two seasons. He made his international debut for Fiji against

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

in May 2016. In December 2016, Nakubuwai signed with the

2017

Nakubuwai spent most of the 2017 season playing for one of the Titans' feeder clubs, the

Tweed Heads Seagulls The Tweed Heads Seagulls, often referred to simply as Tweed or Seagulls or Tweed Seagulls, is a rugby league club based in Tweed Heads, New South Wales. It is one of only two club teams based outside of Queensland to play in the Queensland C ...

, in the

. He was called upon to play two NRL matches for the Titans at the end of the season. On 29 November 2017, it was revealed Nakubuwai had signed a two-year deal to join English side

in the

2022

On 26 April 2022 it was announced that Nakubuwai had signed for

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staffor ...

until the end of the season. On 28 May, he played for Leigh in their 1895 Cup final victory over

Featherstone Featherstone is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, two miles south-west of Pontefract. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, in 2011 ...

, and on 2 October appeared off the bench in the Championship grand final victory against

Batley Bulldogs The Batley Bulldogs are an English professional rugby league club in Batley, West Yorkshire, who play in the Championship. Batley were one of the original twenty-two rugby football clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895. ...

2023

On 12 August 2023, Nakubuwai played in the

2023 Challenge Cup final The 2023 Challenge Cup Final was the 122nd final of the Rugby Football League's Challenge Cup knock-out competition. The 2023 final marked its return to Wembley Stadium after its one year hiatus at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in 2022 Challen ...

victory over

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers (often abbreviated to Hull KR) are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Craven Park, Hull, Craven Park and compete in Super League, the top tier of B ...

. It was Leigh's first major trophy in 52 years. He played 19 games for Leigh in the

2023 Super League season Super League XXVIII, known as the 2023 Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th season of the Super League and 129th season of rugby league in Great Britain. The season began on 16 February 2023, and ended with the Grand Final ...

as the club finished fifth on the table and qualified for the playoffs. He played in their elimination playoff loss against Hull Kingston Rovers.

2024

On 1 Jun 2024 Nakubuwai signed for

Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Post Office Road and currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. Featherstone ...

in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

on a season-long loan, helping Rovers to sixth-place and playoff qualification.

2025

On 14 March 2025 it was reported that Ben had departed

Leigh Leopards The Leigh Leopards are a professional rugby league club based in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England. Leigh play homes games at Leigh Sports Village and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league system, British rugby league. ...

. On 2 April 2025 it was reported that he had re-joined the

team

, linking up again with

Rohan Smith Rohan H. Smith (born 31 May 1973) is a former Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League. Debuting in 1992 after being recruited around 1990, Smith has long been one of the Bulldogs' favourite sons, with his reputation ris ...

References

External links

Salford Red Devils profileNRL profile2017 RLWC profileSL profileFiji profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nakubuwai, Ben 1996 births Living people 21st-century Fijian sportsmen Australian people of Fijian descent Australian expatriate rugby league players in England Featherstone Rovers players Fiji national rugby league team players Fijian rugby league players Gold Coast Titans players Leigh Leopards players Norths Devils players People from Leeton, New South Wales Rugby league props Rugby league players from Suva Salford Red Devils players Tweed Heads Seagulls players