Ricky Leutele

Ricky Leutele (born 10 April 1990) is a Samoa international rugby league footballer who plays as a centre for the Toronto Wolfpack in the Betfred Super League.

Ricky Leutele
Personal information
Born (1990-04-10) 10 April 1990
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Height182 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight94 kg (14 st 11 lb)
Playing information
PositionCentre
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2010–18 Cronulla Sharks 129 30 0 0 120
2019–20 Toronto Wolfpack 27 18 0 0 72
2020– Melbourne Storm 0 0 0 0 0
Total 156 48 0 0 192
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2014–17 Samoa 6 1 0 0 4
As of 16 March 2019
Source: [1][2]

He previously played for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the NRL. He was part of the Cronulla team that won their maiden premiership title in the 2016 season, making the final tackle.

Background

Leutele was born in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, and is of Samoan descent.

He played his junior rugby league for the Logan Brothers Rugby League Football Club.

Playing career

Leutele played his junior football for Logan Brothers before being signed by the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks. Leutele played for the Sharks Toyota Cup team in 2009 and 2010, scoring 5 tries in 38 games before moving on to the Sharks' NSW Cup reserve-grade team in 2011.[3]

2010

In round 24 of the 2010 NRL season, Leutele made his NRL debut for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks against the Melbourne Storm at centre in Cronulla's 24-4 loss at AAMI Park.[4] This was the only match Leutele played in his debut year.

2011

In round 22 against the Gold Coast Titans, Leutele scored his first NRL try in Cronulla-Sutherland's 20-16 loss at Remondis Stadium.[5] At the end of the season, he was named at centre in the 2011 NSW Cup Team of the Year. Leutele played in 2 matches and scored a first grade try.

2012

In July 2012, Leutele played 3 games in 6 days, playing for the NSW Residents on 4 July, the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks NSW Cup team on 7 July and then the Sharks' NRL team on 9 July.[6] On 12 September 2012 Leutele was again named at centre in the 2012 NSW Cup Team of the Year.[7] Leutele played in 7 matches and scored 4 tries for the Sharks in the 2012 NRL season.

Leutele playing for the Sharks in 2012

2013

On 25 June 2013, Leutele extended his contract with the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks for two years till the end of the 2015 season.[8] Leutele played in 3 matches for the season.

2014

In February 2014, Leutele was selected for the Sharks inaugural 2014 Auckland Nines squad.[9] On 3 May 2014, Leutele played for Samoa in the 2014 Pacific Rugby League International against Fiji at centre in Samoa's 32-16 win.[10] Leutele finished off the season with him playing in 23 matches and scoring 2 tries as Cronulla finished last on the table and claimed the wooden spoon. On 7 October 2014, Leutele was named in the Samoa 24-man squad for the 2014 Four Nations.[11] Leutele played in one match for Samoa in the tournament.[12]

2015

On 31 January and 1 February, Leutele played for the Sharks 2015 NRL Auckland Nines.[13] On 2 May, he played for Samoa in their Polynesian Cup clash with Pacific rivals Tonga, playing at centre in Samoa's 18-16 win at Cbus Super Stadium.[14] On 18 August, he extended his contract with Cronulla for a further three years to the end of the 2018 season.[15] He finished off the 2015 season having played in 23 matches and scoring 7 tries for the Sharks.[16]

2016

On 28 January 2016, Leutele was named in the Sharks 2016 Auckland Nines squad.[17] On 7 May 2016, Leutele played for Samoa in the 2016 Polynesian Cup against Tonga, where he played at centre and scored a try in the 18-6 win at Parramatta Stadium.[18] On October 2 he played in the club's first ever premiership victory, famously making the final tackle on Storm winger Marika Koroibete after the siren had sounded. Cronulla-Sutherland won the game 14-12 at ANZ Stadium.

2017

Leutele was part of the Cronulla side which finished 5th on the ladder at the end of the regular season. The following week, Cronulla suffered a shock finals defeat by North Queensland losing the match 15-14 at the Sydney Football Stadium.[19]

2018

On 24 May 2018, Leutele signed a three-year deal to join the Toronto Wolfpack starting in 2019.[20] Leutele played 25 games for Cronulla in 2018 as the club finished in the top four and reached the finals. Leutele's final game for Cronulla was the preliminary final defeat against Melbourne at AAMI Park.[21]

2019

On 5 October, Leutele was part of the Toronto Wolfpack side which won the Million Pound Game against Featherstone and earned promotion to the Super League for the first time in the club's history.[22]

References
  1. loverugbyleague
  2. "Ricky Leutele - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
  3. "rleague.com - Leutele, Ricky". Web.archive.org. 29 November 2010. Archived from the original on 29 November 2010. Retrieved 6 October 2017.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  4. "Melbourne Storm Whips Cronulla 24-4". Dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
  5. "Gold Coast Titans Beat Cronulla Sharks 20-6". Couriermail.com.au. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
  6. "Cronulla Sharks Centre Ricky Leutele Plays Three Games in Five Days". Dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
  7. "Wayback Machine". Web.archive.org. 10 October 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  8. "Tupou and Leutele re-sign with the Sharks". Zero Tackle. 25 June 2013. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
  9. "Squads For Auckland Nines". Rugby League Week. 14 February 2014. Archived from the original on 15 January 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
  10. "Gutsy Samoa Secures Place in Four Nations Tournament". Dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
  11. "Toa Samoa name Four Nations squad". NRL.com. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
  12. "Sharks set for wooden spoon after defeat to Raiders". The Guardian.
  13. "SHARKS NAME 2015 NINES SQUAD". Rugby League Week. 23 January 2015. Archived from the original on 3 February 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
  14. "Sam Kasiano Try Saving Tackle on Jorge Taufua Secures Pacific Test Win for Samoa Against Tonga". Foxsports.com.au. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
  15. "Ricky Leutele Signs Three Year Contract with Sharks Securing His NRL Future". Dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
  16. "Custom Match List". Rugby League Project. 25 October 2015. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  17. "Cronulla Sharks name 2016 Nines squad". Rugby League Week. 29 January 2016. Archived from the original on 31 January 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  18. "Samoa triumph over Tonga in brutal affair". Dailytelegrpah.com.au. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  19. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-10/nrl-finals-cronulla-sharks-north-queensland-cowboys-scorecentre/8886596
  20. http://torontosun.com/sports/other-sports/wolfpack-add-centre-ricky-leutele-for-next-season
  21. "Melbourne v Cronulla preliminary final". The Guardian.
  22. "Toronto beat Featherstone to reach Super League". BBC.
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