Tuimoala Lolohea
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Tuimoala Lolohea (born 23 January 1995) is a 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 plays as a or for 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 ...
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 ...
. He has played for both
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
and
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 ...
at international level. Lolohea previously played for 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 ...
and 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 ...
(NRL). He also played for the
Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home games at Headingley Rugby Stadium, AMT Headingley Rugby Stadium and compete in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby lea ...
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 spent time on loan from
Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home games at Headingley Rugby Stadium, AMT Headingley Rugby Stadium and compete in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby lea ...
at
Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...
during the
2019 Super League season Super League XXIV, known as the Betfred Super League XXIV for sponsorship reasons, was the 2019 iteration of and the 24th season of the Super League and 125th season of Rugby Football League Championship, rugby league in Great Britain. Twelve ...
. He has also played as a er and in his career.


Background

Lolohea was born in Manukau, Auckland, New Zealand, and is of
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 ...
n and Pākehā descent.


Playing career

A
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, Lolohea is of Tongan descent and signed with the New Zealand Warriors in 2013, playing in all 28 matches in the Holden Cup. Lolohea was named the Warriors' 2013 NYC Young Player of the Year and also played for the
Junior Kiwis The Junior Kiwis side represents New Zealand in the sport of rugby league. They are commonly known as the Junior Kiwis, after the native bird of that name. Since 2010, they are an under-20s side, with players selected from the NRL, Intrust Sup ...
that year. He attended Kelston Boys’ High School.


2014

In February, Lolohea was selected in the Warriors'
2014 NRL Auckland Nines The 2014 NRL Auckland Nines (known as the Dick Smith NRL Auckland Nines due to sponsorship) was the first NRL Auckland Nines tournament, contested between all sixteen teams of the National Rugby League. The draw was released on 30 October 2013 ...
squad. He started the season playing for the Warriors
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 ...
squad. Lolohea made his first grade debut in round 20 against the
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Manly club debuted in the 1947 New South Wales Rugby Football League sea ...
, playing off the interchange bench in the Warriors 22-12 loss at Mt Smart Stadium after halfback
Shaun Johnson Shaun Ly Johnson (born 9 September 1990) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who last played as a for the New Zealand Warriors in the National Rugby League and New Zealand national rugby league team, New Zealand at in ...
was ruled out with injury. Lolohea played in the 2014 Holden Cup Grand Final, won by the Junior Warriors 34-32 over the Junior
Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...
.Warriors survive Broncos scare to win Holden Cup
''nrl.com'', 5 October 2014


2015

Lolohea was again named in the Warriors' Auckland Nines squad. In Round 3 against the
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 ...
, Lolohea scored his first NRL try in the Warriors 29-16 win at
Mt Smart Stadium Mount Smart Stadium, currently known as Go Media Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Penrose, Auckland, New Zealand. It is the main home ground of the New Zealand Warriors of the National Rugby League a ...
. On 2 May, he played fullback for
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 ...
against
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 ...
in the
Polynesian Cup The Polynesian Cup is a rugby league football test match played between Samoa and Tonga first played in 2010. The matches in 2015, 2016 and 2018 were played as double-headers with the Melanesian Cup. Results See also *Polynesia Cup – sim ...
, in Tonga's 18-16 loss at Cbus Super Stadium. In round 18, against 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 ...
, Lolohea scored one of the best tries of the 2015 season when he finished a sensational team effort; Nathan Friend was upended and displayed his best acrobatic moves when he chased a Chad Townsend bomb kick and delivered a stunning back flip pass to Sam Tomkins, the ball passed between further Warriors before Lolohea scored in the corner. Lolohea finished the
season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...
with 23 matches, 11 tries and 13 goals, while mid-season his contract was extended until the end of 2018. Lolohea was selected in the final 23-man squad for the New Zealand Kiwis' tour of Great Britain. After injuries to
Kieran Foran Kieran Foran (born 13 July 1990) is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who plays as a or for the Gold Coast Titans in the National Rugby League (NRL). Foran previously played for the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in two separate ...
and Shaun Johnson, the Kiwis were forced to search for a new halves pairing. Lolohea had recently been playing in the halfback role for the Warriors so he was chosen by Kearney to play at halfback with
Peta Hiku Peta Hiku (born 4 December 1992) is a New Zealand rugby league footballer who plays as a er and for Hull KR in the Super League, and New Zealand and the New Zealand Māori at international level. He previously played for the Manly-Warringah ...
. Many people were questioning the inexperience of the halves pairing but it was revealed by Stephen Kearney that the two had been training together in secret during the NRL finals to become better adapted to the situation. He played halfback in the first test against
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, in the 26-12 loss at
KC Stadium The MKM Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Kingston upon Hull, England. It has a current capacity of 25,586. The stadium is home to both association football club Hull City A.F.C. of the EFL Championship and rugby league club Hull F.C. of ...
, but was not selected for any further games in the series.


2016

In February, Lolohea played for the Warriors in the Auckland Nines. Starting the season playing on the wing, he finished the year mostly playing at fullback. He finished the
season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...
with 23 matches, scoring 5 tries and kicking 9 goals.


2017

On 6 May, Lolohea was selected for Tonga to play against
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 ...
in the 2017 Pacific Cup, he played at five-eighth in the 26-24 win. After playing in the first 4 rounds, Lolohea was dropped to the Warriors
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. He subsequently attracted interest from 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 ...
,
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 ...
and 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 ...
. On 27 May, Lolohea was granted a release from his contract with the Warriors. He played 52 first-grade matches for the club, scoring 17 tries and 18 goals for a total of 104 points. Warriors coach
Stephen Kearney Stephen Peter Kearney (born 11 June 1972) is a New Zealand professional rugby league football coach who until 2020 was the head coach of the New Zealand Warriors in the NRL and a former player. A New Zealand national captain and second-row for ...
said that Lolohea was granted a release so he could play in the halves at another club. He signed with the Wests Tigers on 29 May. Lolohea said of his move from the Warriors, "I was overweight. I was unhappy. I was struggling. Playing reserve grade on the wing probably didn't help. I was off it a little bit. I've lost six kilograms since coming here and each week I'm feeling better on the field. In the first month at the Tigers, I was struggling and my weight had a lot to do with it." He made his club debut in round 13, and remained at five-eighth for the rest of the season, also taking over goal-kicking duties. He scored 4 tries and 92 points in his 13 matches with his new club. Returning to the Tongan rugby league team, Mate Ma'a Tonga, for the
World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...
, Lolohea played in every game of the tournament at five-eighth. Tonga won five straight games before losing to England in the semi-final. Lolohea scored a try in each of the last 3 games. Considered to have played a major part in the team's success in the series, Lolohea was gifted land in Tonga as a reward. Coach
Kristian Woolf Kristian Woolf (born 6 July 1975) is an Australian professional rugby league football coach who is the head coach of the Dolphins (NRL), Dolphins in the National Rugby League (NRL). At international level, he has coached Tonga national rugby ...
said, "Jason and Tui were given land by the nobles in the villages of their families. I guess it was a reward for what they have done … it’s certainly taken the nation on an amazing ride."


2018

With departure of
James Tedesco James Tedesco (born 8 January 1993), nicknamed "Teddy", is a professional rugby league footballer who captains and plays as a for the Sydney Roosters in the National Rugby League, NRL. A former Australia national rugby league team, Australia a ...
in the off-season, Lolohea was chosen as the new fullback for round 1, and kicked the game-winning conversion to defeat the Roosters 10-8. July 2018. It was announced that Lolohea would be departing West Tigers at the end of the season and joining the
Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home games at Headingley Rugby Stadium, AMT Headingley Rugby Stadium and compete in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby lea ...
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 ...
.


2019

He played in the
2019 Super League Grand Final The 2019 Super League Grand Final was the 22nd official Grand Final and championship-deciding game of Super League XXIV. It was held at Old Trafford in Manchester on 12 October 2019. The final was contested by St. Helens and Salford Red Devils ( ...
defeat by St Helens at
Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...
.


2020

On 17 October 2020, he played in the 2020 Challenge Cup Final defeat for Salford against Leeds at
Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...
.


2021

On 21 September 2021, it was reported that he had signed for
Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...
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 ...
.


2022

On 28 May, Lolohea played for Huddersfield in their 16-14 2022 Challenge Cup 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 ...
. Lolohea managed only one successful conversion from five attempts in the match. In the third group stage match at 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 ...
, Lolohea scored two tries in Tonga's 92-10 victory over the Cook Islands.


2023

Lolohea played 26 matches with Huddersfield in the 2023 Super League season as the club finished ninth on the table and missed the playoffs.


2024

Lolohea played 25 games for Huddersfield in the 2024 Super League season finishing with 16 try assists as the club once again finished 9th on the table.


Statistics


References


External links


Salford Red Devils profileSL profileNRL profile2017 RWLC profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lolohea, Tuimoala 1995 births Living people Huddersfield Giants players Junior Kiwis players Marist Saints players New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand sportspeople of Tongan descent New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand Warriors players People educated at Kelston Boys' High School Rugby league centres Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from Auckland Rugby league wingers Tonga national rugby league team players Tongan rugby league players Western Suburbs Magpies NSW Cup players Wests Tigers players