Atu Bosenavulagi

Atunaisa "Atu" Bosenavulagi (born 17 September 2000) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Atu Bosenavulagi
Personal information
Full name Atunaisa Bosenavulagi[1]
Date of birth (2000-09-17) 17 September 2000
Place of birth Sawani, Naitasiri, Fiji
Original team(s) Oakleigh Chargers
Draft No. 77, 2018 AFL draft, Collingwood
Debut 10 July 2020, Collingwood
vs. Hawthorn, at GIANTS Stadium
Height 180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight 82 kg (181 lb)
Position(s) Forward
Club information
Current club Collingwood
Number 40
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2020– Collingwood 3 (0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of round 8, 2020.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Early football

Bosenavulagi played junior football for the Boroondara Hawks in the Yarra Junior Football League, helping them win the premiership in 2017.[2] Bosenavulagi also played under-18s football for the Oakleigh Chargers in the TAC Cup, before getting selected by Collingwood.[1] In his junior years, Bosenavulagi represented Australia as a junior representative in rugby sevens, as well as playing Australian rules football.[3] He played for the Oakleigh Chargers 9 games in 2017, while juggling both codes, seeing him often play football on Saturday and rugby on Sunday.[4] In 2018, he played all 18 games for the Oakleigh Chargers, kicking 15 goals,[5][6] and helping lead them to the Grand Final,[7] which they lost to the Dandenong Stingrays by four points.[8]

AFL career

Bosenavulagi was part of Collingwood's Next Generation Academy.[9] The club drafted him to their Australian Football League (AFL) squad with the 77th draft pick in the 2018 AFL draft.[10] He debuted for Collingwood in Round 6 of the 2020 AFL season, in the club's 32-point victory over Hawthorn,[11][12] collecting 16 disposals, taking four marks, and laying one tackle.[13] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, his debut was in a game with no fans, meaning his mother, Meri, couldn't attend the game, making it only the third game of his that she missed.[14]

Personal life

Bosenavulagi was born in Fiji in the Sawani village in the Naitasiri Province, and has Fijian heritage.[3][15][16] He is the great-nephew of Collingwood's cheer squad leader, Joffa Corfe, who is married to Bosnavulagi's grandma's sister, but Bosenavulagi refers to Corfe as 'grandpa'.[1] Despite Corfe's efforts, Bosenavulagi grew up supporting the Western Bulldogs.[10] Bosenavulagi's father, Atu, played rugby in Fiji and continued when the family moved to Australia in 2003.[17] Bosenvulagi was educated at Christian Brothers College in Melbourne.[18]

gollark: Void main got popular, so they just allow it.
gollark: Lax compilers.
gollark: Exit codes go to 255.
gollark: `void** main(char* argd, long long argc)`
gollark: There's a JIT compiler, which is stupidly designed too.

References
  1. Waterworth, Ben (22 November 2018). "AFL draft 2018: Atu Bosenavulagi could join Collingwood — the club his 'grandpa' Joffa loves so much". Fox Sports. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  2. "2018 AFL Draft". Yarra Junior Football League. 26 November 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  3. "Atu Bosenavulagi". Collingwood. Telstra Media. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  4. Cleary, Mitch (9 July 2020). "Pies pull second selection stunner, gun Sun to finally debut". Australian Football League. Telstra Media.
  5. "Atu Bosenavulagi". DraftGuru. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  6. "Atu Bosenavulagi". AFL Draft Central. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  7. "Preliminary Final match review – Gippsland Power v Oakleigh Chargers". Gippsland Power. 19 September 2018.
  8. "AFL draft: Oakleigh Chargers deliver record haul from a TAC Cup club". Herald Sun. 25 November 2018.
  9. Sankey, Daniel (23 November 2018). "AFL Draft 2018 Day 2 live coverage: Pies land Joffa's great nephew Atunaisa Bosenavulagi". The Australian.
  10. Johnson, Adrian (23 November 2018). "Joffa's 'grandson' an X-factor with late pick for Pies". Australian Football League. Telstra Media. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  11. Cherny, Daniel (9 July 2020). "Hawks and Magpies turn to the kids". The Age.
  12. McGowan, Marc (10 July 2020). "Horror fortnight ends as Pies punish Hawks in new low for Clarko". Australian Football League. Telstra Media. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  13. Ratcliffe, Damien (10 July 2020). "As it happened: Easy win for Pies, Kelly injured on debut". The Age.
  14. Oudyn, Tamara (10 July 2020). "Atu Bosenavulagi's Mum can't wait to see him run out for Collingwood - from afar". ABC News.
  15. Cama, Akuila (10 July 2020). "Fiji born Bosenavulagi to make AFL debut tonight". Fijian Broadcasting Corporation.
  16. Cama, Akuila (16 July 2020). "Bosenavulagi's proud of Atu's achievement". Fijian Broadcasting Corporation.
  17. "Atu Bosenavulagi". Harlequin Rugby Melbourne. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  18. McKenna, Paddy (27 November 2018). "ACC has the Numbers in the AFL Draft". Associated Catholic Colleges.
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