Liligiifo Sao (born 11 October 1992) is a

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

international

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who plays as a and for

Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and wer ...

in the Betfred Super League. Sao previously played for the

Manly Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...

and the

New Zealand Warriors The New Zealand 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 ...

in the

NRL The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

Background

Sao was born in

Auckland, New Zealand Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

and is of Samoan descent. He played his junior football for the Manurewa Marlins 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. It is responsible for rugby league in the region, including both club and school rugby league. It began in 1910 when the fir ...

competition.

Playing career

Club career

Early career

He was then signed by the

, playing in the 2012 Toyota Cup for the Junior Warriors.

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles

In 2013, Sao signed with the

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...

. Sao played in both the 2013 Holden Cup and the 2013

NSW 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 reserv ...

before making his first grade debut on 15 July 2013 against the

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest town in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...

New Zealand Warriors

On 22 July 2015, three days before they were due to play Manly in Auckland, the Warriors announced that they had signed Sao for the 2016 and 2017 seasons.

Hull F.C.

He joined

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of w ...

side

for the 2020 season. Sao played 16 games for

in the 2020 Super League season including the club's semi-final defeat against

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington ...

. Sao played 21 games for Hull F.C. in the 2021 Super League season which saw the club finish 8th on the table and miss the playoffs. In round 20 of the 2022 Super League season, Sao was sent off for a dangerous high tackle in Hull FC's 46-18 loss against

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the town centre the River Calder joins th ...

International career

In October 2022 Sao was named in the Samoa squad for the

2021 Rugby League World Cup The 2021 Rugby League World Cup (RLWC2021) was a collection of world cups in the sport of rugby league, held in England from 15 October to 19 November 2022. England won hosting rights for the competition on 27 October 2016. The bid received £ ...

.Full list of every squad at the Rugby League World Cup 2021
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References

External links

New Zealand Warriors profileNRL profileSamoa profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sao, Ligi 1992 births Living people Combined Nationalities rugby league team players Hull F.C. players New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand people of Samoan descent New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate sportspeople in Australia New Zealand Warriors players Manly Warringah Sea Eagles players Manurewa Marlins players Rugby league players from Auckland Rugby league props Samoa national rugby league team players Samoan sportspeople