Mahe Fonua

Mahe Fonua (born 24 December 1992) is a Tonga international[3] rugby league footballer who plays as a winger or centre for Hull F.C. in the Betfred Super League.

Mahe Fonua
Personal information
Born (1992-12-24) 24 December 1992
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Height179 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight105 kg (16 st 7 lb)
Playing information
PositionWing, Centre
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2012–15 Melbourne Storm 50 24 0 0 96
2016–17 Hull F.C. 58 31 0 0 124
2018–19 Wests Tigers 21 6 0 0 24
2020– Hull F.C. 6 3 0 0 0
Total 135 64 0 0 244
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2013–17 Tonga 6 3 0 0 12
As of 29 September 2019
Source: [1][2]

He previously played for the Melbourne Storm and the Wests Tigers in the NRL and Hull F.C. in the Super League. In 2012 he became the first Victorian born and bred player to play for the Melbourne Storm at NRL level.[4]

Early life

Fonua was born in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. He was educated at Wellington Secondary College before moving to Canberra and attending Erindale College in the years of 2008 & 2009 and completing year 12. At the end of 2009 Fonua returned to Victoria where he attended Hallam Secondary College In the following year repeating year 12 to play for the Hallam School rugby league team.

He played his junior football for the South Eastern Titans in the Melbourne Rugby League, before being signed by the Canberra Raiders.[5]

In 2006 and 2007, Fonua represented the Victoria Under 15s team, he also represented the Victoria Under 18s team.

In 2008 and 2009, he represented the Australian Capital Territory Under 18s team. He played for the Raiders' SG Ball team as the Storm did not have an SG Ball team at that time, before returning to Melbourne after being signed by the Melbourne Storm.

Playing career

Fonua played for the Storm's NYC team from 2010 to 2012, scoring 32 tries in 45 games.[6] At the end of the 2011 season, Fonua was named at centre in the 2011 NYC Team of the Year.

2012

In Round 23 of the 2012 NRL season, Fonua made his NRL debut for the Storm against the Gold Coast Titans on the wing in the Storms 24-16 win at AAMI Park,[7] becoming the first Victorian born and bred player to represent the Storm in first-grade.[8] In Fonua's third game for the Storm in the Finals 1 week match against the South Sydney Rabbitohs, Fonua scored his first NRL try in the 24-10 win at AAMI Park, after previously being denied tries on four occasions by the video referee, once in his debut, twice in his second game, and once prior to his try in his third game.[9] Fonua finished off his debut year with 4 matches and one a try. On 2 October, Fonua was named at wing in the Junior Kangaroos team to face the Junior Kiwis.[10]

2013

Fonua played in Storm's 2013 World Club Challenge victory over Leeds Rhinos. He was selected to play for his parents' country of origin Tonga on 20 April against Samoa in the Pacific Rugby League International at Penrith Stadium. He scored 2 tries in the 36-4 victory. On 10 June, Fonua extended his contract with the Storm, keeping at the club till the end of the 2015 season.[11][12] In Round 21 against Raiders at Canberra Stadium, Fonua scored a hat-trick of tries in the 68-4 win[13] including a spectacular set up for Will Chambers after the ball seemed almost certain to go dead, with some commentators comparing it to the famous set up by Greg Inglis during the centenary test.[14] Fonua was selected in the Tonga 24 man 2013 Rugby League World Cup squad, playing in 2 of their 3 matches.[15]

2014

Fonua was selected in the Storms' inaugural 2014 NRL Auckland Nines squad.[16] He finished the Storms' 2014 NRL season with him playing in 20 matches and scoring 10 tries.

2015

On 2 May, Fonua played on the wing for Tonga 16-18 loss in the Polynesian Cup.[17][18] He finished his last season with the Melbourne Storm with 13 matches and 4 tries. On 17 October, he represented Tonga again, this time in their Asia-Pacific Qualifier match against the Cook Islands for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.

2016

On 1 August, he signed a 3-year contract with Super League team Hull F.C. starting in 2016.[19] Fonua had an outstanding first season with the club and quickly established himself as a fan favourite. He helped Hull F.C. reach the Challenge Cup Final where they would go on to beat the Warrington Wolves by a narrow score of 12-10.[20] Fonua scored the first of Hull FC's two tries at Wembley Stadium.[21][22]


In his first season in the Super League, he scored 15 tries which contributed to him being selected for the Super League Dream Team along with 5 other Hull teammates.

2017

On 9 June 2017, it was confirmed that Fonua would return to the NRL, to join the Wests Tigers, starting in the 2018 season.[23]

On 26 August 2017, Fonua would go on to win the Challenge Cup for a second year in a row, contributing massively to the 18-14 win over the Wigan Warriors by scoring two of Hull's three tries at Wembley Stadium.[24]

Fonua finished the year with making the 2017 Super League Dream Team for a second year in a row, but this time as a winger.

2018

At the start of the 2018 season, Fonua spent the first few weeks playing for The Western Suburbs Magpies in The Intrust Super Premiership NSW. After a number of good performances, Fonua was called up to play for The Wests Tigers. Fonua made his debut for the club in their 22-20 defeat by The Parramatta Eels. He played two games on the wing before being switched to centre. On 15 May, Fonua was demoted to reserve grade for showing up late to training, days after a Man of the Match performance.[25][26] Weeks later, he was sidelined after breaking his arm,[27] but made a return later in the year.

Despite only scoring one try from his ten appearances, Fonua lead the club and was fifth in the NRL for post-contact metres.[28] He also gained attention for his mullet haircut.[29] For the 2020 season after a season ending injury Fonua announced his return to Super League side Hull FC

Honours

Club

Melbourne Storm

Hull F.C.

Individual
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References
  1. loverugbyleague
  2. "Mahe Fonua - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  3. "Tonga name 58-man squad for Cook Islands qualifier". theroar.com.au. 12 September 2015. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  4. "Victorian Kennar gets his chance". melbournestorm.com.au. 6 June 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  5. "Mahe Fonua". Melbourne Storm. 15 April 2015. Archived from the original on 19 April 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  6. "Mahe Fonua". Archived from the original on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
  7. "Rd 23 Late Mail & Live Chat". Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  8. "Storm Proud of Hometown Boy Mahe Fonua". Heraldsun.com.au. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  9. "No Storm Cloud for Stoked Fonua". Heraldsun.com.au. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  10. "Junior Kangaroos side announced". NRL.com. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  11. "Storm re-signs young talent | NRL". Zero Tackle. 10 June 2013. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  12. "Storm Lock Up Young Talent Including Local Boy Mahe Fonua". Dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  13. "Melbourne Storm snap Raiders' 12-game home streak with 64-point thrashing - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)". Abc.net.au. 4 August 2013. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  14. Ryan, Nathan (5 August 2013). "Freakish Mahe Fonua the new Greg Inglis following try-assist heroics in Melbourne victory". News.com.au. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  15. "Tonga Names Rugby League World Cup 2013 Squad | News". Triple M. 8 October 2013. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  16. "Squads For Auckland Nines". Rugby League Week. 14 February 2014. Archived from the original on 15 January 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  17. "Tonga Named To Face Samoa In Pacific Test". Rugby League Week. 26 April 2015. Archived from the original on 3 February 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  18. "Video : Samoa v Tonga". Foxpsorts.com.au. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  19. Laybourn, Ian (1 August 2015). "Mahe Fonua signs for Hull from Melbourne Storm on three-year deal | Daily Mail Online". Dailymail.co.uk. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  20. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/37169016
  21. "Hull FC's Jamie Shaul's late try takes Challenge Cup away from Warrington". Guardian. 27 August 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  22. "Challenge Cup final: Hull FC 12-10 Warrington Wolves". BBC. 27 August 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  23. "Wests Tigers sign former NRL wingers Corey Thompson and Mahe Fonua from 2018". Fox Sports. 8 June 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  24. "Hull FC 18-14 Wigan recap as the Black and Whites claim back-to-back Challenge Cup triumphs". Mirror. 26 August 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  25. https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-premiership/wests-tigers-cult-hero-mahe-fonuna-dropped-to-reserve-grade-for-being-late-to-training/news-story/2821de917dd82bdf8c9a7f586b513409
  26. https://www.nswrl.com.au/news/2018/03/22/magpie-fonua-prepares-nrl-swoop/
  27. "Wests Tigers cult hero Mahe Fonua's season in doubt with broken arm". Sporting News.
  28. Chris Kennedy. "Wests Tigers: 2018 season by the numbers". nrl.com.
  29. Christian Nicolussi. "Tigers give 'Mullet Man' Mahe the chop after late start". Sydney Morning Herald.
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