Jacob Loko (born 12 August 1992) is an Australian

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 most recently played for the Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles in the

Intrust Super Premiership NSW 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 ...

Early life

Loko is of Fijian and Tongan descent. Loko was raised in

Claymore, New South Wales Claymore is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Claymore is located 54 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Campbelltown and is part of the Maca ...

, a small suburb in Campbelltown.

Rugby league career

Loko began playing junior rugby league for Campbelltown City Kangaroos and Eagle Vale, while also attending Eaglevale High School. Loko then moved 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, ...

playing junior league with the

Cabramatta Two Blues Cabramatta Two Blues, colloquially known as ''Cabra'', is an Australian rugby league football club that was originally formed in 1919 and then later completely formed as the Two Blues in 1939. They have always based from the Parramatta Junior Le ...

and Allsaints Toongabbie, before completing his senior year at The Hills Sports High School. He was part of the team that won the

ARL Schoolboy Cup The NRL Schoolboy Cup is the premier Education in Australia#Secondary schools, secondary schools rugby league competition in Australia, held annually since 1975. Formerly known under such names as the Amco Shield, Commonwealth Bank Cup, Arrive A ...

and also played for the

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

under 18's team at the state championships.

2010–14: Parramatta

During Loko's senior year in high school, Loko performed strongly on the

Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and ...

S. G. Ball Cup The S. G. Ball Cup is a junior rugby league football competition played predominantly in New South Wales, between teams made up of male players aged under 19. Teams from Canberra and Melbourne, and Auckland also participate. Prior to the COVID ...

squad, which earned him a place in the National Youth Competition team. Loko played 16 games for the

' National Youth Competition team over the

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

and 2011 seasons, in which he has scored 7 tries including a hat-trick against 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 ...

. Loko made his debut for the

in round five of the

2011 NRL season The 2011 NRL season was the 104th season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the fourteenth and last run by the National Rugby League's partnership committee of the Australian Rugby League and News Ltd. The ...

, playing against the

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm is a rugby league football club based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia that participates in the National Rugby League (NRL). The club plays its home games at AAMI Park, and wears a purple and navy blu ...

in a 38–0 defeat. He suffered a torn

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

(ACL) in the Round 17 game against the Brisbane Broncos. He was ruled out of the remainder of the

. In the 2012 preseason, Loko sustained another knee injury whilst boxing. He was once again ruled out for the season. Loko returned to first grade in the

2013 NRL season The 2013 NRL season was the 106th season of professional rugby league club competition in Australia. The National Rugby League's main competition, named the 2013 Telstra Premiership after major sponsors Telstra Corporation, was contested by sixt ...

and made his return in round 1 against 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 ...

, where Parramatta won 40–10. Loko made a total of 13 appearances for Parramatta in the

as the club finished last on the table and claimed the wooden spoon.

2014–2015: Canterbury-Bankstown

Canterbury-Bankstown signed Loko in 2014.

Terry Lamb Terence John Lamb (born 15 September 1961), also nicknamed "Baa", is an Australian former rugby league footballer and coach. He played 350 games, with the Western Suburbs (1980–1983) and Canterbury (1984–1996). Lamb was known for his su ...

said that Loko has the same physical traits and dimensions as a young

Sonny Bill Williams Sonny William Williams (born 3 August 1985) is a New Zealand heavyweight boxer, and a former professional rugby league and rugby union player. He is only the second person to represent New Zealand in rugby union after first playing for the cou ...

. On 2 January 2015, Loko was arrested and charged for high-range drink driving, with a

blood alcohol level Blood alcohol content (BAC), also called blood alcohol concentration or blood alcohol level, is a measurement of alcohol intoxication used for legal or medical purposes. BAC is expressed as mass of alcohol per volume of blood. In US and many i ...

almost four times above the legal limit. In October 2015, Loko was caught with five capsules filled with ecstasy on his person at The Star casino. He was sacked by Canterbury as a result and didn't manage to make a single first grade appearance for the club.

Later years

In 2016, Loko played for the Thirlmere Roosters in the

Group 6 Rugby League The Macarthur Conference Rugby League is a senior Rugby league competition in New South Wales, Australia, administered by the New South Wales Rugby League. Formerly known as Group 6 Rugby League, the competition was, until 2019, run under the a ...

competition. At the end of 2017, Loko signed a contract with the Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles for the 2018

season. On 24 July 2018, a Sydney Morning Herald report revealed that Loko had quit playing for Blacktown Workers to play local park football and start an apprenticeship. In 2021, Loko returned to the Thirlmere Roosters, resuming his role in the backrow.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Loko, Jacob 1992 births Living people Australian rugby league players Australian people of Fijian descent Australian sportspeople of Tongan descent Blacktown Workers players Parramatta Eels players Cabramatta Two Blues players Rugby league centres Rugby league second-rows Wentworthville Magpies players 21st-century Australian sportsmen Rugby league players from Campbelltown, New South Wales