Sunia Turuva (born 4 September 2002) is a

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 ...

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 plays as a er 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 ...

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 ...

and

at international level. He previously played for the

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 ...

, where he was a 2-time premiership winner; he won Dally M Rookie of the year in 2023. Turuva was a part of the extended squad in

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

and

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

until he would cement himself in the starting 13 and go on to win the

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

and 2024 NRL Grand Finals with the

Background

Turuva played his junior rugby league for the Berala Bears, before moving to play for St.Marys Saints club in the Penrith district. Turuva played both

Harold Matthews Cup The NSWRL Harold Matthews Cup is a junior rugby league competition played in New South Wales between teams made up of players aged under 17. The competition is administered by the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL). The competition is made up ...

(2018), and

SG Ball The S. G. Ball Cup is a junior rugby league football competition played predominantly in New South Wales, between teams made up of male players aged under 19. Teams from Canberra and Melbourne, and Auckland also participate. Prior to the COVID ...

Cup (2020) for the

before being given a train and trial contract in 2021 . He was educated at

Patrician Brothers' College, Blacktown Patrician Brothers' College, Blacktown is a Roman Catholic single-sex secondary day school for boys, located in Blacktown, a western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. History The College was founded in 1952 by the Patrician Bro ...

.. He is the cousin of

Api Koroisau Apisai Koroisau (born 7 November 1992) is a Fiji international rugby league footballer who plays as a and is the captain of the Wests Tigers in the National Rugby League (NRL). A triple NRL premiership winner with the South Sydney Rabbitohs ...

Career

2022

Turuva made his international debut for

, scoring two tries and running 252 metres in a 24–12 loss in the 2022 Pacific Test vs Papua New Guinea. In round 21 of 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 ...

, Turuva made his first grade debut for Penrith 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 ...

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 ...

. Turuva spent the majority of 2022 playing for Penrith's

NSW Cup The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserve ...

team. Turuva scored two tries for Penrith in their 2022 NSW Cup Grand Final victory over

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

. On 2 October, Turuva scored a try in Penrith's 44–10 victory over

Norths Devils The Northern Suburbs Devils, or North Brisbane Devils, or often simply referred to as Norths for short, are a rugby league club representing the northern suburbs of Brisbane, Australia. The team colours are sky blue, navy blue and gold. They pl ...

in the

NRL State Championship The NRL State Championship is a rugby league match contested by the premiers of the two elite second-tier competitions in Australia, the New South Wales Cup and the Queensland Cup. The match has been played as a curtain-raiser to the NRL Grand ...

final. In October, he was named in the Fiji squad for the

2021 Rugby League World Cup The 2021 Rugby League World Cup (RLWC2021) was a collection of world cups in the sport of rugby league, held in England from 15 October to 19 November 2022. England won hosting rights for the competition on 27 October 2016. The bid received � ...

. In November, he was named in the 2021 RLWC Team of the Tournament.

2023

On 18 February, Turuva played in Penrith's 13–12 upset loss to

St Helens RFC 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 ...

in the

2023 World Club Challenge The 2023 World Club Challenge (known as the 2023 Betfred World Club Challenge for sponsorship reasons) was the 29th staging of the World Club Challenge. The match was contested by the NRL winners Penrith Panthers, and Super League champions S ...

. In round 5 of 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 ...

, Turuva scored two tries for Penrith in their 53–12 victory over

. In round 27, Turuva scored two tries for Penrith in their 44–12 victory over North Queensland. In the 2023 qualifying final against the New Zealand Warriors, Turuva scored two tries for Penrith in their 32–6 victory. Turuva played 26 games for Penrith in the 2023 NRL season including the clubs 26–24 victory over Brisbane in the

2023 NRL Grand Final The 2023 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2023 National Rugby League season in Australia. It was contested between the Penrith Panthers and the Brisbane Broncos on Sunday the 1st of October at Stadium Aus ...

as Penrith won their third straight premiership.

2024

On 24 February, Turuva played in Penrith's

2024 World Club Challenge The 2024 World Club Challenge was the 30th staging of the World Club Challenge, an annual rugby league match between the reigning champions of the Super League and the National Rugby League. The Wigan Warriors hosted the Penrith Panthers at DW S ...

final loss against

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 ...

. In round 4 of 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 ...

, Turuva scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

in Penrith's 22-16 victory over the Sydney Roosters. On Friday 26 April, Turuva signed a three-year deal with the

from the 2025 season onward. In round 14, Turuva scored two tries for Penrith in their 32-22 victory over Manly. In round 23, Turuva scored two tries in Penrith's 36-34 comeback victory against Parramatta. In round 26, he scored two tries for Penrith in their 34-12 victory over South Sydney. Turuva played a total of 23 games for Penrith in the 2024 NRL season including their 14-6 grand final victory over Melbourne. Turuva scored a first half try during the match.

2025

In round 2 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 ...

, Turuva scored a hat-trick for the Wests Tigers in their 32-6 victory over Parramatta.

Statistics

source; *denotes season competing

References

External links

Panthers profileFiji profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turuva, Sunia 2002 births Living people Australian rugby league players Australian people of Fijian descent Fiji national rugby league team players Penrith Panthers players Wests Tigers players Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league wingers Rugby league players from Sydney People educated at Patrician Brothers' College, Blacktown 21st-century Australian sportsmen