Roy Asotasi (born 6 January 1982) is a former 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 played as a in the 2000s and 2010s. A New Zealand international captain, he also played for

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 ...

. Asotasi 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 Australian clubs

Canterbury-Bankstown Canterbury-Bankstown is a customary region of Sydney, Australia, in Inner South-Western Sydney. The region is located to the north of the St George region (from which it is separated by Wolli Creek) and to the south of the Inner West region ...

(with whom he won the

2004 NRL Premiership The 2004 NRL season (also known as the 2004 Telstra Premiership due to sponsorship from Telstra) was the 97th season of professional rugby league football in Australia, and the seventh run by the National Rugby League. Fifteen clubs competed dur ...

) and 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 ...

from 2007 to 2013. He then played 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

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 ...

Background

Asotasi was 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. He is of Samoan descent, A product of 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 ...

junior club in

, he also attended

Marcellin College, Auckland Marcellin College is a Catholic, integrated, co-educational college in Royal Oak, Auckland, New Zealand for students in Year 7 to Year 13. The college was founded by the Marist Brothers in 1958 as a school for boys only. The school follows the ...

Professional playing career

Canterbury-Bankstown

Asotasi joined Sydney

club, the

club in 2000 as a where he was a regular member of their

Jersey Flegg Cup The Jersey Flegg Cup is a junior rugby league competition played in New South Wales, Australia, contested among teams made up of players aged 21 or under. The competition is administered by the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL), and is named ...

team, playing in the Premiership-winning team against Western Suburbs. In 2001 he was again a regular member of the

team and played in the Premiership-winning team against the

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in the Sutherland Shire of Southern Sydney, Southern Sydney, New South Wales. Cronulla compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugb ...

as a . By 2002 Asotasi became a regular member of the dogs of war'

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

team and received the opportunity to join the highest grade of Rugby League in Australia, the NRL against

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

, when

Glen Hughes Glen Hughes is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He played for Canterbury-Bankstown as a and , winning the 1995 ARL Premiership with them, also scoring a try in that match. Backgr ...

was injured. He returned to the Premier League to play in the Preliminary Final against

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 ...

but was injured and missed the Grand Final win. In 2004, Asotasi started the season in the NRL premiership and played every game of the season including the 2004 NRL grand final victory over cross-town rivals, 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 that same year he was also selected to play for New Zealand. He has played 14 Tests for New Zealand from 2004 to 2006. As 2004 NRL premiers, the

faced

Super League IX Tetley's Super League IX was the name of the 2004 Super League championship season due to sponsorship by Tetley's Bitter. This was the 110th season of top-level professional rugby league held in Britain, and the ninth championship decided by Supe ...

champions,

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

in the

2005 World Club Challenge The year 2005 Carnegie World Club Challenge was contested by Super League IX champions Leeds Rhinos and 2004 NRL season premiers, the Bulldogs. The match was played on 4 February at Elland Road, Leeds before 37,208 spectators. Australian Sean Ha ...

. Asotasi played as a in the Bulldogs' 32–39 loss. In 2005, Asotasi played every match of the season before his sequence of 74 consecutive games was interrupted in 2006. He was injured just before the finals but returned to play in the Preliminary Final against

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

South Sydney

Foundation club,

signed Roy Asotasi for the start of the 2007 NRL season. He was selected to captain the New Zealand national team as a in the 2007 ANZAC Test loss against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. With Souths he played a major part in helping the club to its first finals appearance in over two decades by finishing in seventh position. That year Asotasi was awarded the George Piggins Medal as the club's best and fairest player for the season. Asotasi was named the New Zealand national side captain, as of the 2008 Anzac Test

Match A match is a tool for starting a fire. Typically, matches are made of small wooden sticks or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by friction generated by striking the match against a suitable surface. Wooden matc ...

. He was named in the New Zealand 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 ...

. However, in the round 25 clash against the

, Asotasi picked up a pectoral injury and was sidelined for the remainder of the season and subsequently, took no part in New Zealand's

Rugby League World Cup The Rugby League World Cup is an international rugby league competition contested by senior men's national teams who each represent member nations of the International Rugby League who run and administer the tournament. The tournament has be ...

success. A pectoral injury also interrupted Asotasi's 2012 season. In April 2013, Asotasi captained

in their test match against fierce pacific rivals

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 ...

Warrington Wolves

On 2 July 2013, Roy signed a two-year contract to play for the English Super League club

. His contract began in 2014. On 20 August 2015, Tony Smith, coach of Warrington confirmed that he would be releasing Asotasi for the 2016 season as he wants space to sign one more player to the team next season. Asotasi finished his Warrington career with 58 appearances, 5 tries and one goal.

Statistics

Highlights

*''Junior Club:''

*''Career Stats:'' 218 career games to date scoring 15 tries * Three Premierships with the Bulldogs, 2000 and 2001 (Jersey Flegg), 2004 (NRL) * 3 May 2007: first game played in the famous red and green. * Appointed captain of South Sydney * Captain of

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' ...

(the Kiwis)

References

External links

South Sydney Rabbitohs profileNRL profileBulldogs profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Asotasi, Roy 1982 births Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs players Living people Marist Saints players New Zealand expatriate rugby league players in Australia New Zealand expatriate rugby league players in England New Zealand national rugby league team captains New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent New Zealand rugby league players North Sydney Bears NSW Cup players People educated at Marcellin College, Auckland Rugby league players from Auckland Rugby league props Samoa national rugby league team players Samoan rugby league players South Sydney Rabbitohs captains South Sydney Rabbitohs players Warrington Wolves players