David Fa'alogo (born 9 September 1980) is a former professional

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 played as a and in the 2000s and 2010s. He played for 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 ...

and

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league team based in Newcastle, New South Wales that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, the Knights joined the top-tier competition in New ...

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 ...

, the

Huddersfield Giants The Huddersfield Giants are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. Huddersfield play their home games at the John Smiths Stadium and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league sy ...

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 the

Ipswich Jets The Ipswich Jets are an Australian rugby league football club based in Ipswich, Queensland. Their name comes from nearby RAAF Base Amberley, one of the largest airbases in Australia. The Jets compete in the Queensland Cup competition. Original ...

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 ...

. He represented both

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

at international level.

Background

Born 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, Fa'alogo is of Samoan descent. He is the younger brother of the rugby league footballer; Sala Fa'alogo. Fa'alogo played his junior football for the

Mount Albert Lions The Mount Albert Lions are a rugby league club based in Mount Albert, New Zealand. The Lions home ground is at Fowlds Park. Their patron is the former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark. In 2008 and 2009 Auckland Rugby League season, 2009 ...

in the

Bartercard Cup The Bartercard Cup (successor of the Lion Red Cup) was the top level rugby league club competition in New Zealand from 2000 until 2007. For the entire life of the tournament it was sponsored by Bartercard. The cup was administered by the New Ze ...

, and Papatoetoe Panthers before being signed by the

.Coffey and Wood ''The Kiwis: 100 Years of International Rugby League''

Professional playing career

South Sydney Rabbitohs

In Round 10 of

2003 NRL season The 2003 NRL premiership was the 96th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the sixth run by the National Rugby League. Fifteen teams competed, with the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles returning in place of their failed joint ...

Fa'alogo made his

début for the Rabbitohs 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 ...

. In 2006, Fa'alogo made his international début for

against

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 ...

in the ANZAC Test. He played in 4 more games at the end of the season. In 2006, he won the George Piggins Medal as South Sydney's best and fairest player of the season. Fa'alogo was selected to play for the New Zealand national team at lock forward in the 2007 ANZAC Test loss against

. In Round 25 of the

2007 NRL season The 2007 NRL season was the one hundredth season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the tenth run by the National Rugby League. Sixteen teams contested the NRL's 2007 Telstra Premiership, and with the inclusi ...

, Fa'alogo was sin binned against 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 ...

after punching Roosters player

Braith Anasta Braith Anastasakis (born 14 January 1982), better known as Braith Anasta, is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a and in the 2000s and 2010s. An Australia national rugby league team, Australian and Greece ...

, which resulted in a seven-week suspension from the

NRL Judiciary The NRL Judiciary is the disciplinary judiciary of the National Rugby League (NRL), a rugby league competition. The Judiciary regulates the on-field conduct of players from NRL clubs. Due to changes announced on the eve of the 2022 NRL season, th ...

. In 2008, he was sent home from a club trip to

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, United States, and fined $10,000 after punching a member of the public at a taxi rank. Fa'alogo was again selected for the ANZAC Test again in 2008. In August 2008, Fa'alogo was named in the New Zealand training squad for the

2008 Rugby League World Cup The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth World Cup for men’s rugby league national teams. It was held between 26 October and 22 November and was won by New Zealand, who defeated Australia 34–20 in the final in one of the greatest ...

, and in October 2008, he was named in the final 24-man

Kiwi Kiwi most commonly refers to: * Kiwi (bird), a flightless bird native to New Zealand * Kiwi (nickname), an informal name for New Zealanders * Kiwifruit, an edible hairy fruit with many seeds * Kiwi dollar or New Zealand dollar, a unit of curren ...

squad. Fa'alogo played in the New Zealand team that defeated

in the final of the 2008 World Cup to claim New Zealand's first title. In September 2009, he punched coach Jason Taylor during end of season celebrations, knocking him to the ground. He was reportedly provoked by Taylor's 'rough horseplay' and had his contract terminated due to the incident.

Huddersfield Giants

In May 2009, Fa'alogo signed a four-year contract with

club

starting in 2010. In 2011, Fa'alogo was selected in the inaugural

Exiles Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

squad for the Rugby League International Origin Match against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...

. He was again selected to play for the Exiles in 2012.

Newcastle Knights

On 3 October 2012, Fa'alogo signed a one-year contract with the

starting in 2013. On 22 May 2013, Fa'alogo re-signed with the Newcastle club on a one-year contract. In October 2013, Fa'alogo was selected for

in their

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 ...

campaign. He featured in all four of the Samoans' games at the Tournament. In May 2014, Fa'alogo captained

in the 2014 Pacific Rugby League International. He led

to a 32–16 win and a place in the 2014 Four Nations. On 8 September 2014, Fa'alogo was selected for the

Four Nations train-on squad. On 7 October 2014, Fa'alogo was selected in the

Samoa national rugby league team The Samoa national rugby league team represents Samoa in rugby league football and has participated in international competition since 1986. Known as Western Samoa before 1997, the team is administered by Rugby League Samoa and are nicknamed To ...

Final 24-man squad for the 2014 Four Nations series. On 31 October 2014, Fa'alogo re-signed with the Knights on a 1-year contract. On 8 August 2015, Fa'alogo announced his immediate retirement from rugby league due to a neck injury. He finished having played 198 games in the NRL. However, in 2016, he extended his career by joining the

in the

References

External links

2015 Newcastle Knights profileNRL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Faalogo, David 1980 births Living people 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen Exiles rugby league team players Huddersfield Giants players Ipswich Jets players Mount Albert Lions players New Zealand expatriate rugby league players in Australia New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent New Zealand rugby league players Newcastle Knights players Papatoetoe Panthers players Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Auckland Rugby league props Rugby league second-rows Samoa national rugby league team captains Samoa national rugby league team players Samoan rugby league players South Sydney Rabbitohs players