Samy Kibula (born 7 August 1999) is a Congolese 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 ...

player who plays as a forward for Batley Bulldogs in the Betfred Championship. He has previously played for the

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors is an English professional rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club competes in the Super League, the top tier of the British rugby league system. Formed in 1872, the club is a founding member of the Ru ...

, 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 ...

and 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 ...

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 ...

, and for the

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. The club have won the League Championship six times, the Challenge Cup f ...

and the Batley Bulldogs in the RFL Championship. He has spent time on loan at the

Swinton Lions The Swinton Lions are a professional rugby league club based in Swinton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the RFL League 1 . The club has won the Rugby Football League Championship, Championship six times and three Challenge Cups ...

, the

Dewsbury Rams The Dewsbury Rams are a professional rugby league club based in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, England that compete in RFL League 1, League One, the third tier of British rugby league system, British rugby league. History 1875–1887: Dewsbury Athl ...

and

Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Post Office Road and currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. Featherstone ...

in the Championship, and at the

London Skolars The London Skolars are a rugby league club based at the White Hart Lane Community Sports Centre, New River Stadium in Wood Green, London Borough of Haringey, Haringey, North London. Founded in 1995, the club operated as a semi-professional team ...

and

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

in League 1.

Background

Kibula was born in

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ), formerly named Léopoldville from 1881–1966 (), is the Capital city, capital and Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa is one of the world's fastest-grow ...

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

to a Congolese father and South African mother. Aged 2, his family moved to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, settling in

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

and later

Tyldesley Tyldesley () is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan in Greater Manchester, England. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county of Lancashire, it is north of Chat Moss near the foothills of the Wes ...

. Growing up, Kibula played junior

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 ...

for Leigh RUFC and

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks are a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom. Its team play in Premiership Rugby, and have been in England's top division of rugby union continuously since 1995. Originally founded in 1861 as ...

and

for Leigh Miners Rangers. He joined the

youth system, winning two Academy Grand Finals in 2017 and 2018.

Playing career

Wigan Warriors

On 12 July 2018, Kibula made his

début for the

against the

Huddersfield Giants The Huddersfield Giants are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. Huddersfield play their home games at the John Smiths Stadium and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league sy ...

Swinton Lions (loan)

Kibula joined the

in the RFL Championship on loan at the start of the 2018 season. On 18 February, he made his professional debut for Swinton against the Batley Bulldogs. In June 2019, Swinton announced the return of Kibula on a month-long loan deal, which was later extended until the end of the season. He made 11 appearances in his second stint at the club, scoring tries against

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

and

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2021–2022 United Kingdom censuses, 2021 census had a population of 62,400. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, ...

London Skolars (DR)

Kibula made two appearances for the

in League 1 during the 2018 season, through their dual registration agreement with Wigan. On 23 June, he scored two tries against the North Wales Crusaders.

Dewsbury Rams (loan)

Kibula joined the

in the

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 ...

on loan at the start of the 2019 season. He was sent off, but avoided suspension, for a "minor" altercation after conceding a try to Swinton. He made 12 appearances, scoring tries against

Featherstone Featherstone is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, two miles south-west of Pontefract. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, in 2011 ...

and Thatto Heath, before departing in June.

Warrington Wolves

In September 2019, the

announced the signing of Kibula on a one-year deal ahead of the 2020 season. His younger brother Ambrose was already on the club's scholarship system. He made his Warrington debut on 30 August against

Wakefield Trinity 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 (Wakefield), Belle Vue and currently compete in the Super League, the top tier o ...

Newcastle Thunder (loan)

On 20 December 2020, it was announced that Kibula would join the

Newcastle Thunder The Newcastle Thunder is a professional rugby league club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It was founded in 2000 as Gateshead Thunder, after the merger of the original Gateshead Thunder into Hull F.C. in 1999. The Thunder were based in ...

in the

on a season-long loan. However, in March, he suffered a ruptured

Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus () was a hero of the Trojan War who was known as being the greatest of all the Greek warriors. The central character in Homer's ''Iliad'', he was the son of the Nereids, Nereid Thetis and Peleus, ...

in training, forcing him to miss the entirety of the season.

Bradford Bulls

On 4 October 2021, the

announced the signing of Kibula on a one-year deal for the 2022 Championship season. In his sole season at the club, he made 14 appearances and scored tries against

Dewsbury Dewsbury is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder, West Yorkshire, River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, ...

and Halifax.

Dewsbury Rams (loan)

In May 2022, Kibula joined the

on a two-week loan deal for his second spell with the Rams. He made two appearances and scored a try against

Batley Bulldogs

On 18 November 2022, it was announced that Kibula had signed for the Batley Bulldogs for the 2023 season. He featured in Batley's 1895 Cup final defeat against the Halifax Panthers at Wembley. He made a total of 19 appearances, his highest tally yet in a first-grade season, and scored three tries against

Keighley Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford. Keighley is north-west of Bradford, n ...

, Halifax and Barrow. Head coach Craig Lingard later said, "last season he really developed at Batley and turned out to be a standout player there."

Oldham (loan)

In May 2023, Kibula joined League 1 side

on a one-month loan deal. He made four appearances for the Roughyeds and scored one try.

Castleford Tigers

On 19 October 2023, the

announced the signing of Kibula. He would join on a one-year deal for 2024, with an option for a further year. This move would see him return to a full-time environment and follow former coach Craig Lingard, who had been appointed the new head coach at Castleford. Kibula made his Castleford debut on 25 February against the

Salford Red Devils The Salford Red Devils are a professional rugby league club in Salford, England. They play home games at Salford Community Stadium in Barton upon Irwell and compete in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league system, British rugb ...

in round 2 of the 2024 season.

Batley Bulldogs (DR)

Kibula featured for his former club

Batley Batley is a market town in the Kirklees district, in West Yorkshire, England, south-west of Leeds, north-west of Wakefield and Dewsbury, south-east of Bradford and north-east of Huddersfield, in the Heavy Woollen District. In 2011, the popu ...

in the 2024 Championship through their dual registration partnership with Castleford.

Featherstone Rovers (loan)

On 26 Jul 2024, it was announced that he had signed for

in the RFL Championship on season-long loan.

Return to Batley Bulldogs

On 31 October 2024, it was announced that Kibula had signed for the Batley Bulldogs in the RFL Championship.

Club statistics

References

External links

Wigan Warriors profileSL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kibula, Samy 1999 births Living people Batley Bulldogs players Bradford Bulls players Castleford Tigers players Democratic Republic of the Congo rugby league players Dewsbury Rams players English people of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent English people of South African descent Featherstone Rovers players London Skolars players Newcastle Thunder players Oldham R.L.F.C. players Rugby league props Sportspeople of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent Swinton Lions players Warrington Wolves players Wigan Warriors players