Alaimatagi "Ali" Lauitiiti (born 13 July 1979) is a former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

footballer who played in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s, as a . Both a

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

international representative forward, Lauitiiti played for the

New Zealand Warriors The New Zealand 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 ...

in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

competition and for English clubs

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, betw ...

and the

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was formed in 1870 as Leeds St John's and play in the Super League, the top tier of English rugby league. They have played home matches at Headin ...

in the Super League. Whilst at the Leeds Rhinos, he was part of their 2004, 2007, 2008 and 2009 championship-winning sides.

Background

Of Samoan descent, Lauitiiti was born in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

, New Zealand on 13 July 1979. He played

football for the Mangere East club in 1996, and shone as a junior in their U19 side in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

, scoring 17 tries in 19 games. He went on to gain international honours with 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 Super ...

that year, and again in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

Auckland

Lauitiiti made his

(NRL) début in April 1998 for the

Auckland Warriors The New Zealand 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 ...

. He was selected for the

test squad for the 2000 ANZAC test but missed out on final selection for the match, instead making a try-scoring début against the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

at Reading in the 2000 Rugby League World Cup. He also scored against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

in the next game at the Millennium Stadium. In 2002 he was named the NRL's second-rower of the year. He was an integral part of the Warriors squad that reached the

2002 NRL Grand Final The 2002 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2002 NRL season. It took place on Sunday, 6 October 2002, at Sydney's Telstra Stadium. 80,130 people saw the Sydney Roosters beat the New Zealand Warriors 30–8. T ...

, the first time in the club's history, however they lost the match to the

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won fifteen Ne ...

. Lauitiiti, who would go on to play 14 times for New Zealand, was part of the Kiwis side that toured Great Britain and France in 2002, featuring in seven out of the eight games on the tour, including all three

test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

s against the

Lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus '' Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adult ...

, plus games against St Helens, England A, Wales and France. He also scored in the third test against Great Britain. When Lauitiiti was released from his contract with the Warriors it sparked a worldwide chase for his signature. However, the

beat competition from 14 other clubs in Australia and England to secure the second rower. He had appeared in 115 games for the Warriors and scored 33 tries by the time he left the club after the

2003 NRL season The 2003 NRL premiership was the 96th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the sixth run by the National Rugby League. Fifteen teams competed, with the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles returning in place of their failed join ...

Leeds

Lauitiiti joined Leeds in May 2004 on a two-and-a-half-year contract. He made his début for Leeds against Salford and took little time to settle in, scoring his first try in the subsequent game against

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is predom ...

. His incredible ball-handling skills earned him a place in the Tetley's

Super League Dream Team The Super League Dream Team is an annually-selected rugby league All Star Team consisting of the players deemed to have been the best in their respective positions in the Super League competition. The team is selected by a panel of journalists an ...

in 2004. He played for the

at second-row forward in their

2004 Super League Grand Final The 2004 Super League Grand Final was the 7th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding game of Super League IX. It was held on Saturday 16 October 2004, at Old Trafford, Manchester, and was played between Leeds Rhinos, who ...

victory against the

. As

Super League IX Tetley's Super League IX was the name of the 2004 Super League championship season due to sponsorship by Tetley's Bitter. This was the 110th season of top-level professional rugby league held in Britain, and the ninth championship decided by Super ...

champions, the Rhinos faced

2004 NRL season The 2004 NRL season (also known as the 2004 Telstra Premiership due to sponsorship from Telstra) was the 97th season of professional rugby league football in Australia, and the seventh run by the National Rugby League. Fifteen clubs competed dur ...

premiers,

Canterbury-Bankstown Canterbury-Bankstown is a customary region of Sydney, Australia, in the south-western suburbs. The area is located around the Bankstown railway line, to the west of the St George region and to the south of the Inner West region. The suburbs ...

in the

2005 World Club Challenge The year 2005 Carnegie World Club Challenge was contested by Super League IX champions Leeds Rhinos and 2004 NRL season premiers, the Bulldogs. The match was played on 4 February at Elland Road, Leeds before 37,208 spectators. Australian Sean ...

. Lauitiiti played from the interchange bench in Leeds' 39–32 victory. In 2005 Lauitiiti scored 14 tries in 32 appearances including 17 as a replacement. His 14 tries includes an incredible five tries against Wakefield when he came off the bench to become the first forward in the summer era to score five tries. He also appeared in the

2005 Challenge Cup The 2005 Powergen Rugby League Challenge Cup was played by teams from across Europe during the 2005 rugby league season. Hull F.C. won the cup defeating Leeds Rhinos in the final. Qualifying Round First Round Second Round Third Round Fou ...

Final. He was subsequently named in 2005's

. He helped Leeds to their second successive

Super League Grand Final The Super League Grand Final is the championship-deciding game of rugby league's Super League competition. It is played between two teams who have qualified via the Super League Play-Off series. The winning team receives the Super League Trop ...

appearance when he scored the winning try against St Helens with an 80-metre run in the Grand Final Qualifier, then played in the

2005 Super League Grand Final 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. It has attained significance throughout history in part because typical humans have five digits on eac ...

which ended in defeat for Leeds. In the 2005 Tri Nations tournament Lauitiiti once again joined the New Zealand squad and scored a try against Great Britain after coming on from the bench, and was then part of the successful squad who defeated Australia in the historic final victory. ALI LAUITIITI

Lauitiiti played in Leeds' three Grand Final wins in a row between 2007 and 2009. He was also selected to represent the All Golds side in the match against The Northern Union at the

Halliwell Jones Stadium The Halliwell Jones Stadium is a rugby league stadium in Warrington, England, which is the home ground of the Warrington Wolves. It has also staged Challenge Cup semi-finals, the European Nations Final, the National League Grand Finals' Day, ...

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

in October 2007, scoring two tries in the match. Lauitiiti was named in the Samoa squad for their

2008 Rugby League World Cup The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup since its inauguration in 1954, and the first since the 2000 tournament. The tournament was held in Australia from 26 October, culminating in the final ...

campaign. He played in the

2009 Super League Grand Final The 2009 Super League Grand Final was the 12th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding match of the Super League XIV season. It was held on Saturday 10 October 2009, at Old Trafford, Manchester, and was contested by defen ...

victory over St. Helens at Old Trafford. He played in the

2011 Super League Grand Final The 2011 Super League Grand Final was the 14th official Grand Final and the championship-deciding game of the Super League XVI season. It was held on Saturday, 8 October at Manchester, England's Old Trafford stadium. The match was contested by ...

victory over St. Helens at Old Trafford.

Wakefield Trinity

Lauitiiti joined

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the ...

for the 2012 season and remained with the club until the end of 2015. On 15 October 2015, it was announced that Lauitiiti would play one more time for Leeds in a one-off exhibition match against New Zealand, one of the countries he had previously represented.

New Zealand Warriors

In November 2015 it was announced that Lauitiiti would return to the New Zealand Warriors, with the signing of a second-tier contract for

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

. He retired at the end of the season.

References

External links

New Zealand Warriors profileLeeds Rhinos profile
*(archived by web.archive.org
Ali Lauitiiti Official Player Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lauitiiti, Ali 1979 births Living people New Zealand people of Samoan descent New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England Rugby league players from Auckland People educated at Otahuhu College New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand national rugby league team players Wakefield Trinity players Leeds Rhinos players New Zealand Warriors players Mangere East Hawks players Junior Kiwis players Rugby league second-rows Samoa national rugby league team players