Connelly Lemuelu (born 7 July 1998) is a 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 forward for the

Dolphins A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the cetacean clade Odontoceti (toothed whale). Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontopori ...

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 ...

. He previously played for the

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

in the

as a .

Background

Born and raised in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, New Zealand, Lemuelu played rugby union for

Papatoetoe Papatoetoe is a suburb in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest suburb in Auckland by population and is located to the northwest of Manukau, Manukau Central, and southeast of Auckland CBD. Papatoetoe was traditionally an important area fo ...

before moving to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

as a fifteen-year old to attend

Keebra Park State High School Keebra Park State High School (KPSHS), referred to as Keebra Park or Keebra, is a co-educational public secondary school, located in the Gold Coast suburb of Southport, Queensland, Australia. The school falls within Division 6 of Gold Coast ...

. While at Keebra Park, he signed with the

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers is an Australian professional rugby league football team, based in the Inner West of Sydney and South Western Sydney. The Tigers have competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) since being formed at the end of the 1999 N ...

Playing career

Early career (2016-2019)

In 2016, Lemuelu was a member of Keebra Park's rugby league team. In the Queensland state championship game, he kicked the winning field goal in a 27–26 win over Coombabah State High School. On 14 September 2016, he started at fullback in Keebra Park's 24–26 loss to

Westfields Sports High School Westfields Sports High School (abbreviated as WSHS) is a Education in Australia#Government schools, government-funded Mixed-sex school, co-educational Comprehensive education, comprehensive and specialist secondary school, secondary day school, ...

in the

GIO Schoolboy Cup The NRL Schoolboy Cup is the premier secondary schools rugby league competition in Australia, held annually since 1975. Formerly known under such names as the Amco Shield, Commonwealth Bank Cup, Arrive Alive Cup and GIO Schoolboy Cup nearly 450 ...

final, scoring two tries. In 2017, Lemuelu moved to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, joining the

under-20 side. In 2019, after two seasons with the Tigers, Lemuelu joined the

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilitated by ...

, playing for their

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 ...

side. On 3 July 2019, he was elevated to the Bulldogs' NRL squad, signing a development contract. On 29 October 2019, he signed a two-year deal with the

North Queensland Cowboys (2020-2022)

In February, Lemuelu was a member of the Cowboys' 2020 NRL Nines winning squad. On 22 February, he started on the wing in the Cowboys 18–16 pre-season trial win over the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...

, scoring a try. He started the 2020 season playing for the Cowboys'

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 ...

feeder club, the Northern Pride. In Round 6 of the

2020 NRL season The 2020 NRL season was the 113th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 23rd season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 14th consecutive year. ; Notes : : : Pre-season ...

, Lemuelu made his NRL debut against the

. In Round 14, he scored his first NRL try in a 30–31 loss to the

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney District Rugby League Football Club, also known as the South Sydney Rabbitohs, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Maroubra, New South Wales, Maroubra that competes in the Nat ...

. In 2021, Lemuelu played thirteen matches and scored one try for North Queensland. In 2022, he played four matches and scored two tries. International After missing out on initial international selection, he was called up as a replacement into the Samoa squad for the

2021 Rugby League World Cup – Men's tournament The 2021 Men's Rugby League World Cup was the 16th Rugby League World Cup, and one of three major tournaments of the 2021 Rugby League World Cup. The tournament was held in England from 15 October 2022 to 19 November 2022. It was originally d ...

in late 2022.

Dolphins (2023-present)

In round 1 of the

2023 NRL season The 2023 NRL season was the 116th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 26th season run by the National Rugby League. The season consisted of 27 competition rounds, the longest in league history, followed by a finals series ...

, Lemuelu made his club debut for the

and scored a try in their inaugural game in the national competition, defeating the

Sydney Roosters Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club, known as the Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs. The club competes in the National Rugby Lea ...

28-18 at Suncorp Stadium. In round 9, he scored two tries in the Dolphins 30-31 loss to the

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugb ...

at McDonalds Park,

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 57,003 as of 2021, it is an important agricultural, m ...

. In total, Lemuelu played twenty-three games and scored seven tries for the Dolphins in 2023. He played a total of 18 games for the Dolphins in the

2024 NRL season The 2024 NRL season was the 117th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 27th season run by the National Rugby League (NRL). The season consisted of 27 competition rounds, followed by a finals series contested by the top eight ...

as the club finished 10th on the table. On 18 December, the Dolphins announced that Lemuelu had re-signed with the club until the end of 2026. In round 14 of the

2025 NRL season The 2025 NRL season is the 118th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 28th season run by the National Rugby League (NRL). The regular season will be followed by a finals series contested by the top eight teams on the competiti ...

, he scored two tries as the Dolphins defeated St. George Illawarra 56-6.

Statistics

Achievements and accolades

Team

* 2020 NRL Nines: North Queensland Cowboys – Winners

References

External links

Dolphins profileNorth Queensland Cowboys profile
1998 births Living people Dolphins (NRL) players New Zealand rugby league players North Queensland Cowboys players Northern Pride RLFC players Rugby league centres Rugby league wingers Rugby league players from Auckland Rugby league second-rows Samoa national rugby league team players {{Samoa-rugbyleague-bio-stub