Stefano Utoikamanu (born 15 May 2000) is a

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 ...

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 A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a for the

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm is a rugby league football club based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia that participates in the National Rugby League (NRL). The club plays its home games at AAMI Park, and wears a purple and navy blu ...

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 ...

(NRL). He previously played for the

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers is an Australian professional rugby league football team, based in the Inner West of Sydney and South Western Sydney. The Tigers have competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) since being formed at the end of the 1999 N ...

and

Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and ...

Background

Utoikamanu played his junior rugby league for the

Cabramatta Two Blues Cabramatta Two Blues, colloquially known as ''Cabra'', is an Australian rugby league football club that was originally formed in 1919 and then later completely formed as the Two Blues in 1939. They have always based from the Parramatta Junior Le ...

. Utoikamanu played for Parramatta's under 20's team in 2018 and 2019, moving into ISP competition for Wentworthville. Utoikamanu is of Samoan descent.

Playing career

2020

On 29 January 2020, Utoikamanu signed a three-year deal with the

from 2021 worth $800,000 which was significantly higher than Parramatta's offer of $70,000 a season. Utoikamanu made his first grade debut in round 9 of the

2020 NRL season The 2020 NRL season was the 113th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 23rd season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 14th consecutive year. ; Notes : : : Pre-season ...

for Parramatta against 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 ...

. He came off the bench in the final ten seconds of the game and made one hit-up as Parramatta won the match 10-4. Following the game, Utoikamanu was spotted hugging and interacting with fans which was strictly against player protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic.

2021

He made his club debut for the

in round 1 of the

2021 NRL season The 2021 NRL season was the 114th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 24th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 15th consecutive year. Regular season Ladd ...

against Canberra which ended in a 12-30 defeat. He scored his first try 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 ...

during round 3 of the competition as the club defeated Newcastle 24-20. On 5 July, he was called into the New South Wales squad for game 3 of the

2021 State of Origin series The 2021 State of Origin series was the 40th annual best-of-three series between the Queensland and New South Wales rugby league teams. Before this series, Queensland has won 22 times, NSW 15 times, with two series drawn. The venue for Game 1 w ...

. He was named on the extended bench but did not feature in the match. He played a total of 22 games for the

in the

as the club finished 13th and missed the finals.

2022

On 31 January, he extended his existing contract that was until the end of 2023, for a further two seasons, keeping him at the club until the end of the 2025 season. On 29 March, it was announced that Utoikamanu would miss six to eight matches with an ankle injury which occurred during the club's loss to 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 round 9, he made his return to the side against Manly but was sent to the sin bin for a professional foul during the club's 36-22 loss at

Brookvale Oval Brookvale Oval, currently known as 4 Pines Park for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Brookvale, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The ground is owned by Northern Beaches Council and is primarily used by the M ...

. Utoikamanu played a total of nine games for the Wests Tigers club in the

2022 NRL season The 2022 NRL season was the 115th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 25th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 16th consecutive year. This became the second longest ...

as they finished bottom of the table and claimed the

Wooden Spoon A wooden spoon is a Kitchen utensil, utensil commonly used in food preparation. In addition to its culinary uses, wooden spoons also feature in folk art and culture. History The word ''spoon'' derives from an ancient word meaning a chip of woo ...

for the first time.

2023

On 22 May, Utoikamanu was selected by New South Wales as part of their extended squad ahead of game one in the

2023 State of Origin series The 2023 State of Origin series was the 42nd annual best-of-three series between the Queensland and New South Wales rugby league teams. Before this series, Queensland had won 23 times, NSW 16 times, with two series drawn. Venues Game I was hel ...

. On 12 June, Utoikamanu was named on the interchange bench for New South Wales in game two of the 2023 State of Origin series. Utoikamanu played a total of 21 games for the Wests Tigers in the

2023 NRL season The 2023 NRL season was the 116th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 26th season run by the National Rugby League. The season consisted of 27 competition rounds, the longest in league history, followed by a finals series ...

as the club finished with the

for a second straight year.

2024

On 29 July, Utoikamanu announced that he would be departing the Wests Tigers at the end of the season. On 2 August, Utoikamanu signed a three-year deal to join

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

starting in 2025. He played 24 games for the Wests Tigers throughout the

2024 NRL season The 2024 NRL season was the 117th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 27th season run by the National Rugby League (NRL). The season consisted of 27 competition rounds, followed by a finals series contested by the top eight ...

as the club finished with the

for a third consecutive year.

2025

In round 1 of the

2025 NRL season The 2025 NRL season is the 118th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 28th season run by the National Rugby League (NRL). The regular season will be followed by a finals series contested by the top eight teams on the competiti ...

, Utoikamanu made his

debut against the

. He was presented with his debut jersey (cap 239) by former Melbourne Storm Front Rower

Robbie Kearns Robbie Kearns (born 12 December 1971) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s, and 2000s. An Australia international and New South Wales State of Origin representative forward, he played for the Cr ...

. In June, Utoikamanu was selected by New South Wales for game two of the 2025 State of Origin series. Before the game, Utoikamanu stated he would be targeting the Queensland forwards but in the match itself he only managed five carries for 39 metres. New South Wales would go on to lose the match 26-24. Utoikamanu was once again retained for game three in the series which New South Wales would lose 24-12. Utoikamanu was criticised for his performance in game three with the player only making four runs and gaining 41 metres.

References

External links

Parramatta Eels profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Utoikamanu, Stefano 2000 births Living people 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen Melbourne Storm players New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent Parramatta Eels players Rugby league players from Auckland Rugby league props Samoa national rugby league team players Wentworthville Magpies players Wests Tigers players