Gus Mailetoa-Brown (born 28 July 1975) is a former

Western 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, inhabit ...

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.

Playing career

Manurewa Manurewa is a suburb in South Auckland, New Zealand, located south of Manukau, Manukau Central, and southeast of the Auckland City Centre. It is home to the Auckland Botanic Gardens, which receives over a million visitors a year. Manurewa h ...

and

Papakura Papakura is a suburb of South Auckland, in northern New Zealand. It is located on the shores of the Pahurehure Inlet, approximately south of the Auckland CBD, Auckland City Centre. It is under the authority of the Auckland Council. The ar ...

junior, Mailetoa-Brown first attracted interest from 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 ...

. However, by 1994 he was playing for the

Counties Manukau Heroes The Counties Manukau rugby league team represents the Counties Manukau zone in the Albert Baskerville Trophy. Previously, teams representing Southern Auckland and the Franklin (district), New Zealand, Franklin district of New Zealand have competed ...

in the

Lion Red Cup The Lion Red Cup was a New Zealand domestic rugby league competition that ran from 1994 to 1996 sponsored by brewers Lion Nathan. It was created due to the increase in public awareness of domestic rugby league due to the Auckland Warriors being a ...

.''Lion Red Rugby League Annual 1994'',

New Zealand Rugby Football League The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in New Zealand. SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a tour of Great Britain that same year.Coffey and Wood '' ...

, 1994. p.94 He was signed with the

Auckland 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 ...

in 1995 but never played a first grade game for the club and was released in June 1996. He scored two tries in the 1996

grand final, being part of the Counties Manukau side that lifted the trophy. While playing for the

Eastern Tornadoes The Eastern Tornadoes were a New Zealand rugby league franchise that competed in the New Zealand Rugby League's Bartercard Cup and Auckland Rugby League's Super 12 competitions. They were formed to represent the rugby league clubs of East Aucklan ...

in 1999, Malietoa-Brown represented Auckland South. He played for the

Mt 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 2004 Bartercard Cup. Malietoa-Brown later played club games for the

Manurewa Marlins The Manurewa Marlins are a rugby league club based in Manurewa, New Zealand. In 2018 the Marlins will compete in Auckland Rugby League's Sharman Cup competition. Between 2000 and 2003 they competed in the national Bartercard Cup competition. ...

in the

Auckland Rugby League The Auckland Rugby League (ARL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. Founded in 1909, the ARL has played a pivotal role in the development and promotion of rugby league in Auckland and beyond. ...

competition, including in 2011.

Representative career

Mailetoa-Brown was a

Samoan Samoan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Samoan Islands, an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean ** Something of, from, or related to Samoa, a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands ** Something of, from, ...

international and played at the

1995 Rugby League World Cup The 1995 Rugby League World Cup (also known as Halifax Centenary World Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the eleventh World Cup for mens national rugby league teams. It was held between 7–28 October and hosted by England and Wales and was wo ...

Personal life

Malietoa-Brown, grew up in Manurewa and is the grandson of

Malietoa Tanumafili II Malietoa Tanumafili II (4 January 1913 – 11 May 2007) was a Samoan paramount chief and politician who was O le Ao o le Malo (head of state) of Samoa from its independence in 1962, and the holder of the Malietoa title from 1940, until his ...

. Malietoa-Brown is also first cousins to both

Nigel Nigel ( ) is an English masculine given name. The English ''Nigel'' is found in records dating from the Middle Ages; however, it was not used much before being revived by 19th-century antiquarians. For instance, Walter Scott published '' The F ...

and

Joe Vagana Joseph Sonny Vagana (born 21 January 1975), also known by the nickname of "Big Joe", is a former professional rugby league footballer who played as a Rugby league positions#Prop forward, Prop forward in the 1990s and 2000s. During his career Vag ...

. Gus attended De La Salle College in Auckland.

References

External links

World Cup 1995 details
{{DEFAULTSORT:Malietoa-Brown, Gus Living people Samoa national rugby league team players Samoan rugby league players Counties Manukau rugby league team players Papakura Sea Eagles players Manurewa Marlins players Mount Albert Lions players 1975 births Auckland rugby league team players Eastern Tornadoes players Junior Kiwis players New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league centres Rugby league locks