Suliasi Bainiua Vunivalu (born 27 November 1995) is a professional

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 ...

footballer who plays for the

Queensland Reds The Queensland Reds is the rugby union team based in Brisbane for the Australian state of Queensland that competes in the Southern Hemisphere's Super Rugby competition. Prior to 1996, they were a representative team selected from the rugby union ...

in the

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

and the Australian national team. His regular playing position is wing. Vunivalu previously played 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 ...

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

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 ...

, and

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

at international level. He is a dual NRL premiership winning player of 2020 and 2017.

Early life

Vunivalu was born in

Suva Suva (, ) is the Capital city, capital and the most populous city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rew ...

, and grew up in the province of Bua and was educated at Nehru Memorial Primary School and later continued his studies at Lelean Memorial School. Vunivalu then moved to

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, at the age of 16 and played

for

Saint Kentigern College Saint Kentigern College is a private co-educational Presbyterian secondary school in Auckland, New Zealand. The school is operated by the Saint Kentigern Trust Board. Established in 1953, the college is semi co-educational, with a single-gender ...

. When Vunivalu turned 17, he made the

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

development team after impressing in schoolboy rugby. He was then signed by the

at 18 years old.

Rugby league career

Melbourne Storm

In 2014 and 2015, Vunivalu played for the Melbourne Storm's NYC team.

2016–17

Vunivalu graduated to the Storm's

Queensland Cup The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league, rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League, Queensland Rugby ...

team,

Eastern Suburbs Tigers The Brisbane Tigers are a rugby league club based at Langlands Park, in the suburb of Coorparoo in Brisbane, Australia. Since 1996, they have competed in the Queensland Cup, having competed in the Brisbane Rugby League premiership (rugby league ...

. In Round 7, he made his

debut for the Storm against 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 ...

, scoring two tries on debut. He went on to score doubles in his second, third, fifth and eighth games also, gaining top position on the club's try-scorers list for the 2016 season. On 3 September, Vunivalu set the record for most tries in a debut season record by scoring his 22nd try of the season 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 ...

, eclipsing the previous record of 21 tries set by

Israel Folau Israel ‘Isileli Folau (; born 3 April 1989) is a professional dual-code rugby player who plays as a fullback for Japan Rugby League One club Urayasu D-Rocks. Born in Australia, he represents Tonga at international level after qualifying ...

back in 2007. He was also the top-try scorer of the season. On 2 October, he played in the

2016 NRL Grand Final The 2016 NRL Grand Final was a rugby league match between the Melbourne Storm and the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks to determine the premiers of the National Rugby League for the 2016 season. The match was held at Sydney's ANZ Stadium on Sunday ...

loss against Cronulla-Sutherland. On 31 August, Vunivalu extended his contract with the Melbourne club until the end of the 2020 season. He was part of the Melbourne's premiership winning team against the

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest city in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...

in the

2017 NRL Grand Final The 2017 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2017 National Rugby League season and was played on Sunday October 1 at Sydney's ANZ Stadium. The match was contested between minor premiers the Melbourne Storm ...

2018–19

On 16 February 2018, Vunivalu played in the

2018 World Club Challenge The 2018 World Club Challenge (also known as the 2018 Downer World Club Challenge was the 26th staging of the World Club Challenge. It took place on 16 February 2018, and featured Super League champions Leeds Rhinos, and NRL winners Melbourne Sto ...

victory over

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 ...

, scoring a try. Vunivalu represented Fiji Bati in the

2018 Pacific Rugby League Tests International rugby league matches were played throughout 2018. A † denotes a recognised, but unofficial match that did not contribute to the RLIF World Rankings. Men January ''No men's international test matches were played.'' ---- Februar ...

. He played in the

2018 NRL Grand Final The 2018 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2018 National Rugby League season and was played on Sunday September 30 at Sydney's ANZ Stadium. The match was contested between minor premiers the Sydney Roost ...

loss against 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 ...

. Vunivalu played 24 games for

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 ...

in 2019, scoring 11 tries, including a hat-trick in Melbourne's 22-10 round 2 victory over the

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugb ...

GIO Stadium Canberra Stadium, commercially known as GIO Stadium Canberra, is a facility primarily used for rugby league and rugby union games, located adjacent to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, the capital of Australia. It is the largest sp ...

. He also played for the

Fiji Bati The Fiji national rugby league team, nicknamed the Bati (pronounced ), has been participating in international rugby league football since 1992. The team is controlled by the governing body for rugby league in Fiji, Fiji National Rugby League (FN ...

in the mid season and post season tests. Melbourne finished as

Minor Premiers A minor premiership is the title given to the team which finishes a sporting competition first in the league standings after the regular season but prior to commencement of the finals in several Australian sports leagues. Origins The etymology ...

in the

2019 NRL season The 2019 NRL season was the 112th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 22nd season run by the National Rugby League. The Sydney Roosters became the first team to win back-to-back Premierships since the Brisbane Broncos in 1992 ...

and were favourites to win the premiership but were defeated in the preliminary final against the

2020

In his final season with the Melbourne, Vunivalu played 17 games, including Melbourne's 26–20 win over Penrith in the

2020 NRL Grand Final The 2020 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2020 National Rugby League season held at Sydney's ANZ Stadium on October 25. The match was contested between minor premiers Penrith Panthers and second-placed Me ...

, where he scored a try, his 14th of the season.

Rugby union career

Queensland Reds

In December 2019 it was confirmed by the

that Vunivalu signed with the

team, returning to the sport for the first time since he was eighteen-years old. Vunivalu signed a two-year deal to begin in 2021.

2021–22

In 2021, Vunivalu made his debut for the Reds in the 40-19 loss to the Highlanders, coming off the bench at the beginning of the second-half and scoring 2 tries in the loss. His next game was against the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

, again scoring a try in the 28-63 loss. Vunivalu finished the 2021

Super Rugby Trans-Tasman Super Rugby Trans-Tasman (known as Harvey Norman Super Rugby Trans-Tasman in Australia and Sky (New Zealand), Sky Super Rugby Trans-Tasman in New Zealand) was a professional men's rugby union club competition in Australia and New Zealand. It fea ...

season with 4 matches and 4 tries. In 2022, Vunivalu played in 10 matches and scored 3 tries for the

International career

Rugby league

Early in the

2017 NRL season The 2017 NRL season was the 110th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 20th season run by the National Rugby League. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, and was followed by the All Stars Match, ...

, Suliasi was selected for his

international debut at the Pacific Rugby League Test against

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 ...

, played at the

Campbelltown Stadium Campbelltown Sports Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Leumeah, a suburb in South Western Sydney, Australia, owned by Campbelltown City Council. Formerly known as Orana Park and Campbelltown Sports Ground, it is currently the home ground ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

on 6 May. Vunivalu was selected in the Fiji 24-man squad for the

2017 Rugby League World Cup The 2017 Rugby League World Cup was the fifteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup tournament and took place in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea between 27 October and 2 December 2017. The tournament featured the national teams ...

. On 28 October in the

, he scored 2 tries in the 58-12 victory over the

Hawks Hawks are bird of prey, birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are very widely distributed and are found on all continents, except Antarctica. The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks, and othe ...

1300SMILES Stadium The Willows Sports Complex (last known as 1300SMILES Stadium due to naming rights) was a grass football stadium situated in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. It was used predominantly as a rugby league ground as the home ground of the North Que ...

. On 5 November, Vunivalu scored his hat trick tries in the record scored of 72–6 victory over

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. On 10 November, he scored his second hat trick of tries in the 60th minute mark after beating Italy in the 38-10 win at

Canberra Stadium Canberra Stadium, commercially known as GIO Stadium Canberra, is a facility primarily used for rugby league and rugby union games, located adjacent to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, the capital of Australia. It is the largest sp ...

. After the Bati reached the semi-final, he was nominated for the

Rugby League World Golden Boot Award The IRL Golden Boot Award (previously ''Open Rugby'' Golden Boot Award and ''Rugby League World Golden Boot'' Award) is an annual rugby league award, presented by the International Rugby League (IRL), awarded to the best player of the calendar yea ...

, which was won by Storm teammate

Cameron Smith Cameron or Cam Smith may refer to: * Cammie Smith (Cameron Wilberforce Smith, born 1933), West Indian cricketer * Cam Smith (artist), British comic book artist * Cameron Smith (rugby league, born 1983), Australian rugby league player * Cameron S ...

Rugby union

Based on

World Rugby World Rugby is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international competit ...

's laws, at international level, Vunivalu is eligible to represent the country of his birth:

, and the country of his 36 consecutive month residency:

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 ...

. Vunivalu was brought in to the

Wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and som ...

training camp on 11 November 2020, less than a week after their two-point win over the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

Coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

Dave Rennie Dave Rennie (born 22 November 1963) is a New Zealand and Cook Islands professional rugby union coach and former player. He will take over the Kobe Steelers as head coach for the 2023–24 season. He previously was the head coach of the Austral ...

stated, after speculation of Vunivalu's place in the Wallabies squad for the

Tri Nations Series The Rugby Championship, formerly known as the Tri Nations Series (1996–2011), is an international rugby union competition contested annually by Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. These are traditionally the four highest ran ...

, that "there’s no plan to use Suli in the two Argentina games unless we have got a spate of injuries," adding, "the key for him is to earn the right to play and e arekeen to reward the guys who have been working for the last three months." Vunivalu made his

debut in the third test against England during the

2022 England rugby union tour of Australia In July 2022, England played a three-test series against Australia as part of the 2022 mid-year rugby union tests. They played the Wallabies at three locations across Australia within as many weeks, with the overall winner receiving the Ella-Mobb ...

. Coming off the bench in the final five minutes of the match in a 17 – 21 loss. That same year, as part of the

2022 end-of-year rugby union internationals The 2022 end of year rugby union tests, also known as the 2022 Autumn internationals, were a number of rugby union test matches played during the months of October and November. Some of the games were known as the Autumn Nations Series for marketin ...

, Vunivalu debuted for the second national team, Australia A, against

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. Vunivalu scored a try in the 34 – 22 victory.

Honours

Individual * 2016:

- Most tries in a debut season (23) * 2016:

- Most tries in a season (23) * 2016: Dally M Top Try Scorer (23) * 2017:

- Most tries in first two seasons (46) * 2017: Dally M Top Try Scorer (23) Club *

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Minor Premiership A minor premiership is the title given to the team which finishes a sporting competition first in the league standings after the regular season but prior to commencement of the finals in several Australian sports leagues. Origins The etymolo ...

Winners *

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

Winners *

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Winners *

Winners

References

External links

Suliasi Vunivalu
at Melbourne Storm
Suliasi Vunivalu
at 2017 RLWC

at ESPNscrum * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vunivalu, Suliasi 1995 births Living people 2023 Rugby World Cup players Australia international rugby union players Dual-code rugby internationals Brisbane Tigers players Fijian expatriate rugby league players in Australia Fiji national rugby league team players Fijian emigrants to New Zealand Fijian expatriates in Australia Fijian rugby league players Fijian rugby union players Melbourne Storm players People educated at Saint Kentigern College Queensland Reds players Rugby league players from Suva Rugby league wingers Rugby union players from Suva Rugby union wings Sunshine Coast Falcons players