Marvin Filipo (born 20 March 1987) is a New Zealand professional

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 currently plays for the Dora Creek Swampies in the

Newcastle & Hunter Rugby League Newcastle & Hunter Community Rugby League is the governing body of second tier rugby league in the Newcastle and Hunter region. Formed in 2006 after a merger between the Maitland & Coalfields Rugby League and Lower Hunter Rugby League Competitio ...

. He plays at and . He previously played for the

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league team based in Newcastle, New South Wales that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, the Knights joined the top-tier competition in New ...

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 ...

Playing career

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, Filipo played his junior football for the

Mangere East Hawks The Mangere East Hawks are a rugby league club based in Māngere, New Zealand. The Hawks compete in Auckland Rugby League's Fox Memorial competition. History The club was formed in 1963, the first fourteen junior teams took the field in 1964. ...

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 and the

Counties Manukau Jetz 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 of New Zealand have competed in the Lion Red Cup and Barte ...

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 ...

before being signed by 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 2004, he played a pre-season trial match for the Warriors. In 2005 he was part of the NZRL's Presidents selection that played a trial against the Warriors. In 2006, Filipo was elevated to the Warriors first-grade squad. He left the club at the end of that season due to lack of first-grade opportunities and instead joined a feeder club for 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 ...

. Filipo failed to settle in Brisbane so briefly switched codes to

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 ...

before heading home to

Ōtara Ōtara is a suburb of South Auckland, New Zealand (formerly Manukau City), situated 18 kilometres to the southeast of the Auckland CBD, Auckland City Centre. Ōtara lies near the head of the Tāmaki River. The area is traditionally part of t ...

in New Zealand. In 2008, Filipo returned to Australia, joining the Nelson Bay Northern Blues in the

Newcastle Rugby League The Newcastle Rugby League is a local rugby league football competition in Newcastle, Australia. It is one of the oldest rugby league competitions in Australia, founded in 1910. A Newcastle rugby league team, Newcastle representative team was al ...

competition. He represented Newcastle at regional rugby league championships. He made the 2009 Country Firsts Team, while playing for Nelson Bay, which caught the interest of the

. In 2010, Filipo joined the

on a second-tier contract. He played for the Knights'

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 reserve ...

reserve-grade team from 2010 to 2012 and was named the Centurions, Newcastle's feeder team, Player of the Year in 2010. In round 10 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 ...

, Filipo made his

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 ...

debut for the Newcastle side against his former team, the

. In August 2011, Filipo re-signed with Newcastle on a one-year contract. On 30 August 2012, Filipo again re-signed with Newcastle on a one-year contract. On 12 September 2012, Filipo was named at in the 2012

Team of the Year. He also won the

Representative Player of the Year for his performance with the NSW Residents earlier in the year. In May 2013, Filipo was released from his Newcastle contract after being involved in an altercation, however Newcastle CEO

Matthew Gidley Matthew "Matt" Gidley (born 1 July 1977) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and administrator. Gidley played for the Newcastle Knights in the ARL Premiership and the NRL, and St Helens in the Super League, and for Ne ...

said they would review his position at the completion of the season and would consider signing him again. For the rest of 2013 and early 2014, Filipo played for the Wyong Roos in the

New South Wales 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 reserve ...

and the

Limoux Grizzlies XIII Limouxin, also known as Limoux Grizzlies, are a semi-professional rugby league club from the town of Limoux in the Aude area in southern France. They play in the Super XIII. The club was formed in 1951. They have won the French rugby league ...

in the

Elite One Championship Super XIII is the top level rugby league competition in France, sanctioned by the French Rugby League Federation. The season runs from September to April, which is in contrast to the majority of other major domestic rugby league competitions ...

. In December 2013, Filipo returned to

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle, also commonly referred to as Greater Newcastle ( ; ), is a large Metropolitan area, metropolitan area and the second-most-populous such area of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the cities of City of Newcastle, Newcastle and Ci ...

to talk to the club about a return when his French contract ended in May 2014. On 24 May 2014, Filipo signed back with the Newcastle Knights for the remainder of the

2014 NRL season The 2014 NRL season was the 107th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 17th season of the National Rugby League in Australia and New Zealand. The season started in New Zealand, for the Auckland Nines, replacing the Rugby Leagu ...

. On 4 November 2014, Filipo re-signed with the Newcastle club on a one-year contract. On 27 September 2015, Filipo played in Newcastle's 2015 New South Wales Cup Grand Final win over the

Wyong Roos The Wyong Rugby League Football Club are an Australian rugby league club based on the Central Coast (New South Wales), Central Coast of New South Wales. The club competed in the New South Wales Cup from 2013 to 2018 and still competes in the Cen ...

. In September 2015, it was revealed that he would be leaving the Newcastle outfit after their 2015 NRL State Championship match against the

Ipswich Jets The Ipswich Jets are an Australian rugby league football club based in Ipswich, Queensland. Their name comes from nearby RAAF Base Amberley, one of the largest airbases in Australia. The Jets compete in the Queensland Cup competition. Original ...

. In 2016, Filipo joined the

Cessnock Goannas The Cessnock Goannas Rugby League Football Club is an Australian rugby league football club based in Cessnock, New South Wales, formed in 1911. They currently play in the Newcastle Rugby League competition Notable Rugby League Juniors *Matthew ...

in the Newcastle Rugby League.

Representative career

In 2004 and 2005, Filipo 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 2008, while in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

, Filipo represented Newcastle at regional rugby league championships and made the Country Firsts Team in 2009. In 2012, Filipo was selected at second-row for the NSW Residents team to play the QLD Residents at

Suncorp Stadium Brisbane Stadium (Lang Park), currently known as Suncorp Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Milton, Queensland, Milton, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Nicknamed The Cauldron, it is a three-tiered rect ...

as a curtain raiser to the Game 3, State of Origin decider. After the game he was voted Players' Player.

Controversy

In May 2008, he was summoned to the Newcastle Local Court after being involved in an incident at a local kebab store. He was sentenced to 300 hours of community service.

References

External links

2015 Newcastle Knights profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Filipo, Marvin 1987 births Living people Central Coast Centurions players Cessnock Goannas players Counties Manukau rugby league team players New Zealand expatriate rugby league players in Australia Junior Kiwis players Limoux Grizzlies players Mangere East Hawks players Nelson Bay Blues players New Zealand rugby league players Newcastle Knights players Rugby league second-rows Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Auckland Wyong Roos players