Louis Manu "Lui" Anderson (born 27 June 1985) is a New Zealand

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 plays for Villegailhenc-Aragon XIII in the

Elite Two Championship Elite 2 (formerly the Elite Two Championship) is the second tier semi-professional rugby league competition in France below Super XIII, but above the National Division 1. The season runs from September to April. The clubs play each other hom ...

. A New Zealand former international representative forward, he previously played 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

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 ...

competition and for 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 ...

and

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 ...

in the Super League. He is the brother of

Vinnie Vinny or Vinnie is a masculine given name, usually a shortened version of Vincent, Vincenzo, or Vicente, which may refer to: Vincents * Vinnie Anderson (born 1979), New Zealand rugby league footballer * Vinny Appice (born 1957), American rock ...

and Fraser Anderson, and is a member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

. Anderson played for Warrington in their 2010 Challenge Cup Final victory over the

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home games at Headingley Rugby Stadium, AMT Headingley Rugby Stadium and compete in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby lea ...

. In 2011, he agreed a 3-year-deal with

Background

Anderson was born in

Dargaville Dargaville () is a town located in the North Island of New Zealand. It is situated on the bank of the Northern Wairoa River (Northland), Wairoa River in the Kaipara District of the Northland Region, Northland region. Dargaville is located south ...

, New Zealand.

Playing career

His junior clubs were the

East Coast Bays Barracudas The East Coast Bays Barracudas is a rugby league club based in Browns Bay, New Zealand. Currently, they compete in the Sharman Cup, the second division in Auckland Rugby League. Coached by Ken McIntosh and managed by Cameron Dick, the "Cudas" ar ...

in Auckland and the Taniwharau Rugby League Club in Huntly. He made his first grade début for the

against the

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Greater Western Sydney suburb of Penrith, New South Wales, Penrith that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The team is based west of the cen ...

at Ericsson Stadium on 28 March 2004. Anderson represented the

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 ...

national side and played for the

Junior Kiwis The Junior Kiwis side represents New Zealand in the sport of rugby league. They are commonly known as the Junior Kiwis, after the native bird of that name. Since 2010, they are an under-20s side, with players selected from the NRL, Intrust Sup ...

in 2002 and Captained them in 2003. Anderson was named in the

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

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 ...

but withdrew due to injury. He played in the 2009 Challenge Cup Final victory over Huddersfield and went back to back in the 2010 Challenge Cup Final victory over the

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

. Anderson was selected for the

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 ...

on 10 June 2011.

Legacy

In 2015, he was named in the in Taniwharau's team of their first 70 years.

Match Fit

Anderson made his debut for "Match Fit: Union vs. League" in 2024. He made his debut with Paul Whatuira and

Carlos Spencer Carlos James Spencer (born 14 October 1975) is a former New Zealand rugby union player and previously the head coach of the and the . He is currently an assistant coach for the New Orleans Gold of Major League Rugby (MLR). During his playing ...

in Match Fit: Union vs. League. Despite having a lower metabolic age than his biological age, it was revealed that both he and Spencer have a family history of high blood cholesterol despite having lower metabolic age than biological age and are two of the fittest in the group. He also lacks the enzyme to effectively break down cholesterol. Anderson finished second on the initial bronco test at 5:39, two seconds behind Paul Whatuira. Despite being a good

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

and freestyle swimmer, he suffered

PTSD Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that develops from experiencing a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, warfare and its associated traumas, natural disaster, traffic collision, ...

, panic attacks depression and suicidal thoughts after he and his two teenage nieces almost drowned in France after being caught in a rip. At the final weigh-in, while he didn't change in terms of weight, he gained 4kg of muscle while losing 4kg of fat, which meant his metabolic age became the youngest overall at 23, which is a perfect -15 off his biological age. In the final match, both brothers scored a try. Louis scored the opening try under

rules, while Vinnie scored under

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

rules.

References

External links

Catalans Dragons profileProfile at warringtonwolves.comStatistics at rugby-league.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Louis 1985 births Living people 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen Louis Anderson Auckland rugby league team players Catalans Dragons players East Coast Bays Barracudas players Exiles rugby league team players New Zealand Latter Day Saints New Zealand Māori rugby league players New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand sportspeople of Tongan descent New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand Warriors players North Harbour rugby league team players People educated at the Church College of New Zealand Rugby league players from Dargaville Rugby league second-rows Taniwharau Rugby League Club players Villegailhenc Aragon XIII players Warrington Wolves players