Bureta Faraimo (born 16 July 1990) is a United States 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 on the for the

Doncaster RLFC Doncaster Rugby League Football Club is a professional rugby league, rugby league football club, based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. They play home games at the Keepmoat Stadium and currently compete in the RFL Championship, Champion ...

in the

RFL League 1 The Rugby Football League's League One (known as the Betfred League One) is the third-highest division of rugby league in Britain. It is also the lowest level of professional rugby league in Britain. Introduced in 2003 as National League 2 i ...

. He has previously played for the

Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and ...

in the

NRL 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

Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Hull play their home games at the MKM Stadium and compete in Super League, the ...

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 ...

Early life

Faraimo was born in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

, New Zealand, and is of

Tokelau Tokelau (; ; known previously as the Union Islands, and, until 1976, known officially as the Tokelau Islands) is a dependent territory of New Zealand in the southern Pacific Ocean. It consists of three tropical coral atolls: Atafu, Nukunonu, an ...

n descent (Olohega) also known as

Swains Island Swain, Swains or Swain's may refer to: Places * Swain Islands, Antarctica * Swain's Island (Newfoundland and Labrador), Canada * Swains Island, an atoll in the Tokelau chain, American Samoa * Swain County, North Carolina, United States * Swa ...

which is a part of

American Samoa American Samoa is an Territories of the United States, unincorporated and unorganized territory of the United States located in the Polynesia region of the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean. Centered on , it is southeast of the island count ...

. He played his junior rugby league for St. George, New Zealand.

Club career

New Zealand

In 2010, Faraimo trialed with the

New Zealand Warriors The Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as the Aucklan ...

Under 20s team but didn't get a contract.A stroll in the park for Faraimo and the Orcas
''stuff.co.nz'', 13 August 2010 Later that year, while playing for the

Wainuiomata Lions The Wainuiomata Lions are a New Zealand rugby league club based in Wainuiomata, Wellington. They compete in the Wellington Rugby League competition. In the early 1990s, prior to the creation Lion Red Cup national league competition based on pr ...

, Faraimo was selected to play for the

Wellington Orcas The Wellington Rugby League Team (also known as the Wellington Orcas) are a rugby league team that represents the Wellington Rugby League in New Zealand Rugby League competitions. They currently compete in the National Competition. History 1 ...

in the National Competition, scoring 12 tries in his first 3 games.

Mackay Cutters

In 2011, Faraimo moved to Australia to play for the

Mackay Cutters The Mackay Cutters are a semi-professional rugby league football club based in Mackay, Queensland. They compete in Queensland's top rugby league competition, the Queensland Cup. The club was admitted to the Queensland Cup in 2007, alongside th ...

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 ...

for more

exposure. In just half a season, Faraimo had scored 29 tries.

Parramatta Eels

In November 2013, due to the exposure from the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

, Faraimo signed a two-year contract with

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 ...

team, the

. In round 21 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 Leagu ...

, Faraimo made his

debut for Parramatta against the

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

. He scored two tries on debut in the club's 32–12 win at

Remondis Stadium Endeavour Field, known colloquially as Shark Park or Sharks Stadium, is a rugby league stadium in the southern Sydney suburb of Woolooware, New South Wales, Australia. It is the home ground of the Cronulla-Sutherland Rugby League Club, which re ...

. On 21 September 2014, Faraimo was named at in the 2014

New South Wales Cup The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserve ...

Team of the Year. On 4 April 2015, Faraimo re-signed with Parramatta on a one-year contract. On 3 May 2016, Faraimo played for the New South Wales Residents against the

Queensland Residents The Queensland Residents rugby league team is a representative rugby league team consisting of players who compete in the Intrust Super Cup (Queensland Cup) competition. They currently play an annual fixture against NSW Cup Representative Tea ...

. On 2 May 2017, Faraimo played for the New South Wales Residents against the Queensland Residents for the second year in a row.

New Zealand Warriors

In July 2017, Faraimo joined the

for the remainder of the season, after being released from his Eels contract. Although joining the Warriors for the remainder of 2017, he planned to join the

in 2018. On 28 August 2017, he was named on the wing in the 2017

Intrust Super Premiership NSW The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserve ...

Team of the Year. He didn't play an NRL game for the Warriors.

Hull F.C.

In August 2017, he signed a two-year contract with Super League side

Hull FC Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Hull play their home games at the MKM Stadium and compete in Super League, the t ...

, starting in 2018. He played 13 games for

in the 2020 Super League season including the club's semi-final defeat against

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

as they got within one game of the grand final.

Castleford Tigers

In round 18 of the 2022 Super League season, Faraimo scored two tries in Castleford's 34-20 loss against Leeds at

Magic Weekend The Magic Weekend (also known as the Betfred Magic Weekend for sponsorship reasons) is an annual event organised by the Rugby Football League in which an entire round of Super League matches is played over a weekend at a single stadium to promot ...

. In round 20 of the 2022 Super League season, Faraimo scored two tries for Castleford in a 46-18 victory over

In round 22 of the 2022 Super League season, Faraimo scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

in Castleford's 20-12 loss against St Helens.

Doncaster RLFC

On 4 August 2023, it was announced that he, along with

Mahe Fonua Mahe Fonua (born 24 December 1992) is a Tonga international rugby league footballer who plays as a or er for Mackay Cutters in the Queensland Cup. He has previously played for the Melbourne Storm and the Wests Tigers in the NRL and Hull FC i ...

would join

for the remainder of the 2023 season, following the pair's release from Castleford. Faraimo only played one game for Doncaster, the League One play-off grand final victory over the

North Wales Crusaders The North Wales Crusaders () is a professional rugby league club based in Colwyn Bay, Wales. They are the successors to the former Super League club Crusaders Rugby League. Crusaders compete in League 1, the third tier of English rugby leagu ...

. In February 2024, Faraimo announced he would not be playing for Doncaster in 2024. On 3 May 2024 it was announced that

had re-signed Faraimo for the remainder of the 2024 season.

Representative career

In 2009 and 2010, Faraimo played for the

New Zealand Residents The New Zealand Residents (also previously known as New Zealand 'A', New Zealand XIII, the Lion Red Cup XIII and currently known as the Bartercard Premiership Selection) are a New Zealand rugby league football representative side that is selected ...

. In 2011, Faraimo played for the Queensland Rangers team. In 2013, Faraimo was selected in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

2013 Rugby League World Cup The 2013 Rugby League World Cup was the fourteenth World Cup for men’s national rugby league teams. It took place between the 26 October and 30 November and was hosted by England and Wales (although some games were played in France and Ire ...

squad, qualifying because his father was born on

, an island administered by the

as part of

. Faraimo competed in the

2017 Rugby League World Cup The 2017 Rugby League World Cup was the fifteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup tournament and took place in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea between 27 October and 2 December 2017. The tournament featured the national teams ...

for the United States, featuring in all three pool matches: losing 12–58 to

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 ...

, 0–46 to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and 0–64 to

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 ...

. Faraimo returned to action for the United States two years later, playing in the

2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s The 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s was the first staging of the Rugby League World Cup 9s tournament and took place on 18 and 19 October 2019 at Sydney's Bankwest Stadium. The tournament featured teams from 12 International Rugby League membe ...

before heading to

Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

, Florida for the nation's

2021 Rugby League World Cup The 2021 Rugby League World Cup (RLWC2021) was a collection of world cups in the sport of rugby league, held in England from 15 October to 19 November 2022. England won hosting rights for the competition on 27 October 2016. The bid received � ...

qualifier match against

Cook Islands The Cook Islands is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands whose total land area is approximately . The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers of ocean. Avarua is its ...

References

External links

Hull FC profile
*
2017 RLWC profileSL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Faraimo, Bureta 1990 births Living people American expatriate rugby league players American expatriate sportspeople in Australia American expatriate sportspeople in England Castleford Tigers players Doncaster R.L.F.C. players Hull F.C. players Mackay Cutters players New South Wales Residents rugby league team players New Zealand people of Tokelauan descent New Zealand people of American Samoan descent New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand expatriate rugby league players in England New Zealand expatriate rugby league players in Australia Parramatta Eels players Naturalized citizens of the United States Rugby league players from Wellington City Rugby league wingers United States national rugby league team players Wainuiomata Lions players Wellington rugby league team players Wentworthville Magpies players