Motu Iosefo Tony (born 29 May 1981) is a former

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 ...

international

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 played as a in the 2000s and 2010s. He previously played 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 ...

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 ...

and 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 ...

before playing 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 ...

for the

Castleford Tigers The Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England. They play their home games at Wheldon Road (currently known as the Mend-A-Hose Jungle for sponsorship reasons) and compete in the Super League, t ...

( Heritage No. 815), Hull F.C. ( Heritage No. 1025) (with whom he won the

2005 Challenge Cup The 2005 Powergen Rugby League Challenge Cup was played by teams from across Europe during the 2005 rugby league season. Hull F.C. won the cup defeating Leeds Rhinos in the final. Qualifying round First round Second round Third round F ...

) and the

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home fixtures at the DIY Kitchen Stadium, Belle Vue and currently compete in the Super League, the top tier of the British rugby le ...

( Heritage No. 1299), and in the

RFL Championship The Rugby Football League Championship, (known as the Betfred Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the second highest division of rugby league in British rugby league system, Britain (with one team in the league also being based in France) ...

for

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and civil parish in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. It is a port on the north-west coast, and lies outside the Lake District National parks of England and Wales, National Park. ...

Background

Tony was born in

Saleimoa Saleimoa is a small village on the Samoan island of Upolu. It is located on the northwestern coast of the island. The village is split into five sub-villages (Levi, Alamutu, Lotoso’a, Salepouae, and Nonoa) and has a total population of 3816. It i ...

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 ...

. He attended De La Salle College and played for the First XIII rugby league team. He played for the

Marist Saints The Marist Saints is a rugby league club based in Mount Albert, New Zealand. They currently compete in the top grade in Auckland Rugby League, the Fox Memorial Premiership. History Founded in 1919, the Marist club first won the Fox Memorial in 1 ...

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 before being signed by the

. He played for the Marist-Richmond Brothers in the

2000 Bartercard Cup The 2000 New Zealand rugby league season was the 93rd season of rugby league that had been played in New Zealand. The main feature of the year was the inaugural season of the Bartercard Cup competition that was run by the New Zealand Rugby League ...

and also toured Australia with the

New Zealand Residents The New Zealand Residents (also previously known as New Zealand 'A', New Zealand XIII, the Lion Red Cup XIII and currently known as the Bartercard Premiership Selection) are a New Zealand rugby league football representative side that is selected ...

that year.NZ Residents end trip with a flourish
''The Press'', 27 July 2000

Professional playing career

National Rugby League

Tony made his professional début for the

in 2001. He went on to play 55 games for the club, including his appearance at five-eighth in the Warriors'

2002 NRL grand final The 2002 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2002 NRL season. It took place on Sunday, 6 October 2002, at Sydney's Telstra Stadium. 80,130 people saw the Sydney Roosters beat the New Zealand Warriors 30–8. ...

loss to the

Sydney Roosters Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club, known as the Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs. The club competes in the National Rugby Lea ...

. In 2004 he moved to the

but only played in three games for the club before leaving to play in the

. 17 year old Karmichael Hunt took over his spot in Brisbane.

Super League

Tony initially played for English club

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield district, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the t ...

. In 2005 he joined Hull F.C. Tony played for Hull in the

Final, scoring a try in the victory against

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 ...

. He was part of the New Zealand side that won the Gillette Tri-Nations in 2005, beating Australia in the final 24–0. Hull reached the 2006 Super League Grand final to be contested against

St Helens R.F.C. St Helens R.F.C., commonly known as Saints, is a professional rugby league club in St Helens, Merseyside, England. Founded in 1873, the club is one of the oldest members of the Rugby Football League, and one of the most successful clubs in its ...

and Tony played on the wing in his side's 4–26 loss. He played in 109 games for Hull before crossing codes to play for National 2 (North) Rugby Union club

Hull RUFC Hull Rugby Union Football Club is one of two rugby union clubs based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They currently play in National League 2 North. History The club was formed in 1992 as a result of two c ...

. Following the end of the

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 ...

season Tony signed for

. Tony had represented the

New Zealand national rugby league team The New Zealand national rugby league team () has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the Kiwi (bird), native bird of that name. The team' ...

18 times between 2001 and 2006.Roll of Honour
''nzrl.co.nz'', Accessed 18 August 2009 In 2008 he chose to represent

and was named in the Samoa training 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. In July 2010 it was announced that Tony had signed for a 1-month trial with

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

union side Nottingham Rugby. On 28 October 2010, Super League club Wakefield Trinity announced the signing of Tony. On 12 June 2010, Tony made his début for Trinity at fullback in their 13–10 home victory over Huddersfield.

References

External links

Hull profileCastleford Tigers profileKiwi star Tony to play for SamoaWildcats Capture Kiwi International
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tony, Motu 1981 births Living people Brisbane Broncos players Castleford Tigers players Hull F.C. players Marist Richmond Brothers players Marist Saints players New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand people of Niuean descent New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent New Zealand Warriors players People educated at De La Salle College, Māngere East Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Gaga'emauga Rugby league wingers Samoan rugby league players Samoan rugby union players Wakefield Trinity players Whitehaven R.L.F.C. players