Tyrell Fuimaono (born 6 March 1996) is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

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 last played as a and forward for the

St. George Illawarra Dragons The St. George Illawarra Dragons are an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) since 1999 after a j ...

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

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney District Rugby League Football Club, also known as the South Sydney Rabbitohs, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Maroubra, New South Wales, Maroubra that competes in the Nat ...

and 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 ...

in the NRL, and at representative level for the Indigenous All Stars.

Early life

Fuimaono was born in

Penrith, New South Wales Penrith is a city in New South Wales, Australia, located in Greater Western Sydney, 55 kilometres (31 mi) west of the Sydney central business district on the banks of the Nepean River, on the outskirts of the Cumberland Plain. Its elevati ...

, Australia. He is of

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

(

Wiradjuri The Wiradjuri people (; ) are a group of Aboriginal Australian people from central New South Wales, united by common descent through kinship and shared traditions. They survived as skilled hunter-fisher-gatherers, in family groups or clans, a ...

) and

Samoan Samoan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Samoan Islands, an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean ** Something of, from, or related to Samoa, a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands ** Something of, from, ...

and

Tokelau Tokelau (; ; known previously as the Union Islands, and, until 1976, known officially as the Tokelau Islands) is a dependent territory of New Zealand in the southern Pacific Ocean. It consists of three tropical coral atolls: Atafu, Nukunonu, an ...

descent. He played his junior rugby league for

St Marys Saints The St Marys Saints are an Australian rugby league club who were formed in 1908.St Marys''/ref> They were the founding Member of the Penrith District Rugby League. They have previously competed in the NSWRL Jim Beam Cup, winning three titles ...

, and was selected to represent the

Australian Schoolboys The Australian Schoolboys refer to junior teams that represent Australia in various sports. The name is mainly used in rugby league, rugby union and baseball. Other popular team sports in Australia such as cricket, basketball, association footbal ...

while attending

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 ...

in 2014.

Playing career

2016

Fuimaono was signed by 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 ...

, playing for their

S. G. Ball Cup 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 ...

and National Youth Competition teams. He was named on the interchange bench in the 2016 NYC team of the year.

2017

Fuimaono joined South Sydney in 2017. Tyrell Fuimaono

Before making his

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 ...

Debut, Fuimaono played the first half of the 2017 season in the

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 ...

with the

North Sydney Bears The North Sydney Bears are an Australian rugby league football club based in Cammeray on Sydney's North Shore (Sydney), North Shore. The club currently competes in the NSW Cup, having exited the National Rugby League following the 1999 NRL s ...

and made a total of 8 appearances. Fuimaono made his NRL debut for Souths in their match 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 ...

on 12 May. Fuimaono finished the season playing 15 games without missing a match since his debut, scoring 2 tries.

2018

Fuimaono only made 5 appearances for Souths as the player struggled with injuries and did not feature in Souths finals campaign.

2019

In 2019, Fuimaono signed a contract to join the

after being released by South Sydney at the end of 2018. Fuimaono made his debut for Penrith against Parramatta in round 1 of 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 ...

which ended in a 20-12 loss. On 16 September 2019, Fuimaono was one of ten players named who were being released by the Penrith club at the end of the

2020

On 7 January 2020, Fuimaono signed a two-year deal for St. George Illawarra which be applicable for the 2020 and 2021 seasons. In round 11 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 ...

, he scored his first try for St. George Illawarra in a 28-24 loss to rivals Cronulla-Sutherland at

Kogarah Oval Jubilee Stadium (also known as Kogarah Oval) is a multi-purpose stadium in Carlton, a suburb in Sydney, Australia. The stadium is mainly used for rugby league and the A-League, and is one of the home grounds of the National Rugby League (NRL) ...

. Fuimaono played 17 games for St. George Illawarra in the

as the club finished 13th on the table and missed out on the finals.

2021

In round 10 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 ...

, Fuimaono was sent off in the club's 44-18 loss against Melbourne after a high tackle on Melbourne's

Ryan Papenhuyzen Ryan Papenhuyzen (born 10 June 1998) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Melbourne Storm in the National Rugby League. Papenhuyzen won the 2020 NRL Grand Final with Melbourne, winning the Clive Churchi ...

. On 17 May 2021, Fuimaono was suspended for five matches by the NRL judiciary for his tackle on Papenhuyzen. He played a total of 17 matches for St. George Illawarra in the

as the club finished 11th on the table and missed out on the finals.

2022

On 20 February during St. George Illawarra’s first pre-season trial match, Fuimaono was placed on report and sent to the sin-bin for a hip-drop tackle on Parramatta's

Haze Dunster Haze Dunster (born 1 March 1999) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a er for the Parramatta Eels in the National Rugby League (NRL). Playing career Dunster graduated from Parramatta's Jersey Flegg team in the Intrust Super ...

which ruled the player out of the entire

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 ...

. Fuimaono was subsequently suspended for five matches with an early guilty plea to a grade 3 dangerous contact charge.

Post NRL

After being released by the Dragons, Fuimaono signed to play with the Thirroul Butchers in the Illawarra Competition.

Statistics

Controversy

On 11 June 2019, Fuimaono was handed a 12-month good behaviour bond at court after pleading guilty to hindering police. The sentence was handed down in relation to an incident which happened in 2018 when Fuimaono tried to prevent police from arresting his cousin following a brawl on Oxford Street in Sydney's CBD. On 5 July 2021, he was fined $12,000 by the

and suspended for one game after breaching the game's

Covid-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

biosecurity protocols when he attended a party along with 12 other St. George Illawarra players at

Paul Vaughan Paul William Vaughan (24 October 1925 – 14 November 2014) was a British journalist, radio presenter (of art and science programmes) throughout the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and a narrator of many BBC Television science documentaries, among them ...

's property.

References

External links

St. George Illawarra Dragons profilePenrith Panthers profileSouth Sydney Rabbitohs profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fuimaono, Tyrell 1996 births Living people Australian rugby league players Indigenous Australian rugby league players 21st-century Indigenous Australian people Australian people of Tokelauan descent Australian sportspeople of Samoan descent South Sydney Rabbitohs players North Sydney Bears NSW Cup players Junior Kangaroos players Rugby league centres Rugby league second-rows Rugby league players from Penrith, New South Wales Penrith Panthers players St. George Illawarra Dragons players Wiradjuri people People educated at Patrician Brothers' College, Blacktown 21st-century Australian sportsmen