Eloni Vunakece (born 27 May 1987) is a former

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 played as a for 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 ...

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 ...

. He also played for

Toulouse Olympique Toulouse Olympique or TO XIII is a professional rugby league club in Toulouse, south-west France. Founded in 1937, two years after the French Rugby League Federation, the club is a six-time winner of the French Rugby League Championship. The clu ...

in the French

Elite One Championship Super XIII is the top level rugby league competition in France, sanctioned by the French Rugby League Federation. The season runs from September to April, which is in contrast to the majority of other major domestic rugby league competitions ...

Background

Vunakece was born in

Sydney, New South Wales 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 ...

, Australia to a Fijian father, Meli, from Tavua and an Australian mother Julie Young from

St Arnaud, Victoria St Arnaud is a town in the Wimmera region of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 244 kilometres north west of the capital Melbourne. It is in the Shire of Northern Grampians local government area. At the , St Arnaud had a population of ...

. He played his junior rugby league for the Holy Cross Rhinos and

Leichhardt Wanderers The Leichhardt Wanderers are a rugby league club based at Leichhardt, New South Wales. They compete in the Sydney Combined Competition. Their jersey is traditionally predominantly Red and Black. In recent years they have included white in their ...

, before being signed by the

Balmain Ryde-Eastwood Tigers The Balmain Tigers (also known as the Sydney Tigers from 1995 to 1996) are a rugby league club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and one of the most successful ...

. Vunakece is married with four children.

Playing career

Early career

From 2006 to 2011, Vunakece played for the Balmain Ryde-Eastwood Tigers, while also having a stint with the

Western Suburbs Magpies The Western Suburbs Magpies (legal name: Western Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club Ltd) is an Australian rugby league football club based in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Formed in 1908, Wests, as the club is commonly ...

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 in 2011. In September 2011, he signed a 1-year contract with French team

in the

. In 2012, he re-signed with Toulouse on a 1-year contract. Eloni Vunaceke 2013

2013

In April, Vunakece played in two games for Toulouse in the 2013 Challenge Cup, scoring 2 tries. At the conclusion of the 2012/2013 Elite One Championship season, he returned to Australia to play with the

Wyong Roos The Wyong Rugby League Football Club are an Australian rugby league club based on the Central Coast (New South Wales), Central Coast of New South Wales. The club competed in the New South Wales Cup from 2013 to 2018 and still competes in the Cen ...

in the

. In October and November, he played 5 games for

in the

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 ...

, scoring 1 try.

2015

On 2 May, Vunakece played 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 the 2015 Melanesian Cup. At the end of the 2015 season, he got the chance to join the

first-grade squad for the 2016 pre-season.

2016

In round 4 of the

2016 NRL season The 2016 NRL season was the 109th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 19th season run by the National Rugby League. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, and was followed by the All Stars Match, ...

, Vunakece made his

debut for the

against the

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Manly club debuted in the 1947 New South Wales Rugby Football League sea ...

. On 7 May, he again played for Fiji against Papua New Guinea in the 2016 Melanesian Cup, where he played at lock and scored a try. In September, he was named at prop in the 2016 Intrust Super Premiership NSW Team of the Year.

2017

On 28 August 2017, Vunakece was named at Prop in the 2017 Intrust Super Premiership NSW team of the year.

Post rugby league and Reality TV

In September 2018, Vunakece announced his retirement from

. He has been working for the council as a garbage collector and also doing some modelling. He also donated his brain, currently as a living participant in post-concussion cognitive research. Vunakece competed in the Australian Ninja Warrior (season 3). He returned in seasons 4 and 5. Vunakece will appear as a contestant on the sixth season of

The Celebrity Apprentice Australia ''The Celebrity Apprentice Australia'' is an Australian reality television series which aired on the Nine Network. Based on NBC's '' The Apprentice'', it first aired on 24 October 2011 and originally featured Mark Bouris, the founder and chair ...

References

External links

Sydney Roosters profile
*
Toulouse Olympique profile2017 RLWC profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vunakece, Eloni 1987 births Living people Australian rugby league players Australian people of I-Taukei Fijian descent Balmain Ryde-Eastwood Tigers players Expatriate rugby league players in France Fiji national rugby league team players I-Taukei Fijian people Rugby league props Rugby league players from Sydney Sydney Roosters players Toulouse Olympique players Western Suburbs Magpies NSW Cup players Wyong Roos players 21st-century Australian sportsmen