Iafeta Iakopo "Feka" Paleaaesina (born 10 February 1983) is a New Zealand former

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 ...

, exrugbyer. He played as a for 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 ...

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 for the

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors is an English professional rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club competes in the Super League, the top tier of the British rugby league system. Formed in 1872, the club is a founding member of the Ru ...

, Salford City Reds and Hull F.C. 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 ...

Background

Paleaaesina was 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, and of Tokelau and Samoan descent. He was educated at

Penrose High School One Tree Hill College is a Education in New Zealand, state coeducational secondary school located in the district of Ellerslie, New Zealand, Ellerslie in Auckland, New Zealand. One Tree Hill College, known as Penrose High School until 2008, ope ...

(now

One Tree Hill College One Tree Hill College is a Education in New Zealand, state coeducational secondary school located in the district of Ellerslie, New Zealand, Ellerslie in Auckland, New Zealand. One Tree Hill College, known as Penrose High School until 2008, ope ...

) in Auckland.

Career

New Zealand

He started playing rugby league at the age of nine with New Zealand club

Otahuhu Leopards The Otahuhu Leopards are a rugby league club based in Ōtāhuhu, Auckland. Founded in 1911 Auckland Rugby League season, 1911, the club has produced 49 New Zealand national rugby league team players. The club competes in the Fox Memorial compet ...

. He made his

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 ...

(NRL) début with the

against

Northern Eagles The Northern Eagles were a rugby league team that competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) between 2000 and 2002. The club was formed during the rationalisation process of the NRL by forming a joint venture with the North Sydney Bears and th ...

in June 2001, and went on to become one of the club's most effective performers. Before his NRL debut, he had previously played for Papatoetoe in the Auckland competition, and

Hibiscus Coast Raiders The Hibiscus Coast Raiders are a rugby league club based on the Hibiscus Coast, New Zealand. They compete in Auckland Rugby League's Fox Memorial competition and between 2000 and 2005 were also involved in the Bartercard Cup competition. Histor ...

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 ...

. Paleaaesina played for the Junior Kiwis in 2001, and the Kiwis in 2005.

Wigan Warriors

In June 2005 he signed a three-year deal to play for Wigan Warriors, starting in 2006. Recently arrived Wigan Warriors coach

Ian Millward Ian "Basil" Millward (born 22 August 1960) is an Australian rugby league coach, occasional pundit and former player. Millward is now the assistant coach of St George Illawarra in the National Rugby League (NRL). Millward is the former head co ...

commented: "This is a great signing for us. He will add size and pace to our pack for next year and he is only 22 years of age." Paleaaesina said: "It's a great thrill to be joining Wigan and my good friend Jerry Seu Seu. I had several offers but Wigan is still the biggest name down here and it will be a thrill to play for them." Iafeta Paleaaesina impressed on his league début for the Wigan Warriors scoring a try in the opening 2006

Super League XI Engage Super League XI was the official name for the year 2006's Super League season in the sport of rugby league in Europe. Bradford Bulls were looking to retain the title they won in Super League X. The competition kicked off the weekend after ...

match against the

Catalans Dragons The Catalans Dragons (French language, French: ''Dragons Catalans'', Catalan language, Catalan: ''Dracs Catalans'') are a professional rugby league club from Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales department, France. Despite being based in France the ...

. Paleaaesina also scored again in Wigan Warriors' 36–20 victory over 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 ...

on 24 February 2006. He was one of the best players for Wigan Warriors in the 2006 Super League season despite damaging his calf muscle in a game against the

Warrington Wolves Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league club based in Warrington, England. They play home games at the Halliwell Jones Stadium and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league system, British rugby league. Warringto ...

. His return from injury was against the

on 22 April 2006 which Wigan Warriors won 46–14. Iafeta Paleaaesina played a key role in Wigan Warriors: 2007 squad making a noticeable impact to their performances. Although his surname is often written with an apostrophe in the middle (between the 2 letter "a"s), this is incorrect. When the player first arrived at Wigan Warriors, he was handed his playing shirt with his name on it, and he returned it, stating that the spelling was incorrect. A new one was produced, minus the apostrophe, which he was happy with. On 4 October 2007 the

RLIF The International Rugby League (IRL) is the global governing body for the sport of rugby league football. The IRL organises the Rugby League World Cup, the oldest international rugby World Cup, as well as the Women's and Wheelchair equivalent. ...

gave permission for Paleaaesina to represent

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 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 ...

rather than

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 ...

who he had previously represented in international matches. He qualified to play for Samoa due to his Samoan heritage. He played in the

2010 Super League Grand Final The 2010 Super League Grand Final was the 13th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding game of Super League XV. Held on Saturday 2 October 2010, at Manchester's Old Trafford stadium, the match was contested by English clubs ...

victory over St. Helens at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

Later career

In 2014, Paleaaesina signed to play for Hull F.C. in the

. In 2016, Paleaaesina played for

Doncaster Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...

as a dual registration player before joining the club on a permanent basis at the end of the season. In September 2017, Paleaaesina announced he would be retiring at the end of the season.

Career highlights

*''Junior Club:''

Papatoetoe Panthers 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 Central, and southeast of Auckland CBD. Papatoetoe was traditionally an important area for Tāmak ...

*''First Grade Debut:'' Round 15, Warriors v Northern Eagles at Ericsson Stadium, 1 June 2001 *''Career Stats:'' 83 career games to date scoring 8 tries

References

External links

Iafeta Paleaaesina Official Player ProfileIafeta Paleaaesina NRL Player Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paleaaesina, Iafeta 1982 births Living people 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen Doncaster R.L.F.C. players Hibiscus Coast Raiders players Hull F.C. players Limoux Grizzlies players New Zealand expatriate rugby league players in England New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand people of Tokelauan descent New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent New Zealand Warriors players Otahuhu Leopards players Papatoetoe Panthers players Rugby league players from Auckland Rugby league props Salford Red Devils players Samoan rugby league players Wigan Warriors players