Petero Benjamin "Ben" Nakubuwai (born 15 March 1996) is a

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

international

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 112 ...

footballer who plays as a for the

Leigh Leopards The Leigh Leopards are a professional rugby league club based in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England, who compete in the Betfred Super League. The club was founded in 1878, and is one of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Ru ...

in the Betfred Super League. Nakubuwai previously played for the Gold Coast Titans in the National Rugby League and the Salford Red Devils in the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

, and was a member of Fiji's squad for the 2017 World Cup.

Background

Nakubuwai was born in Leeton, New South Wales, Australia to Fijian parents Pio and Eseta. His father was a

dual-code rugby international A dual-code rugby international is a rugby footballer who has played at the senior international level in both codes of rugby, 13-a-side rugby league and 15-a-side rugby union. Rugby league started as a breakaway version of rugby in Northern Eng ...

for Fiji during the 1990s, and is known as one of the pioneers of

rugby league in Fiji Rugby league is a popular team sport played in Fiji since 1992. History Joe Levula and Orisi Dawai were the first Fijians to play rugby league after they were recruited to play professionally for the Rochdale Hornets in 1961. Voate Driu and Laiti ...

. Nakubuwai grew up playing

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

from the age of eight for the Leeton Phantoms, and later took up rugby league at a junior level at age fourteen, playing for the Yanco-Wamoon Hawks and Bidgee Hurricanes. Having been spotted by the Melbourne Storm, Nakubwai moved to Melbourne after completing his Higher School Certificate to play in 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 players aged under 19. Teams from Canberra and Melbourne (Victoria Thunderbolts) also participate. Prior to the C ...

team.

Playing career

Early career

Nakubuwai joined Melbourne's National Youth Competition team in 2015, playing 42 matches over two seasons. He made his international debut for Fiji against

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

in May 2016. In December 2016, Nakubuwai signed with the Gold Coast Titans.

2017

Nakubuwai spent most of the 2017 season playing for one of the Titans' feeder clubs, the Tweed Heads Seagulls, in the Queensland Cup. He was called upon to play two NRL matches for the Titans at the end of the season. On 29 November 2017, it was revealed Nakubuwai had signed a two-year deal to join English side Salford Red Devils in the

2022

On 26 April 2022 it was announced that Nakubuwai had signed for

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staf ...

until the end of the season. On 28 May 2022, he played for Leigh in their

2022 RFL 1895 Cup The 2022 RFL 1895 Cup, known as the 2022 AB Sundecks 1895 Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the third playing of the RFL 1895 Cup, a rugby league football competition for clubs in the United Kingdom. The competition for clubs who play below the top ...

final victory over Featherstone.

References

External links

Salford Red Devils profileNRL profile2017 RLWC profileSL profileFiji profile
1996 births Living people Australian rugby league players Australian people of Fijian descent Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Fiji national rugby league team players Gold Coast Titans players Leigh Leopards players Norths Devils players Rugby league props Rugby league players from New South Wales Salford Red Devils players {{Fiji-rugbyleague-bio-stub