Brendon Ephia Tuuta (born 29 April 1965) is a New Zealand former

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 of

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

(

Ngāti Mutunga Ngāti Mutunga is a Māori iwi (tribe) of New Zealand, whose original tribal lands were in north Taranaki. They migrated from Taranaki, first to Wellington (with Ngāti Toa and other Taranaki Hāpu), and then to the Chatham Islands (along with ...

) and

Moriori The Moriori are the native Polynesian people of the Chatham Islands (''Rēkohu'' in Moriori; ' in Māori), New Zealand. Moriori originated from Māori settlers from the New Zealand mainland around 1500 CE. This was near the time of the ...

descent. Tuuta played a variety of positions including and . He was known as "the baby-faced assassin" and had a reputation as a brawler.

Background

He is related to Lewis Brown.

Early years

Originally from the

Chatham Islands The Chatham Islands ( ) (Moriori: ''Rēkohu'', 'Misty Sun'; mi, Wharekauri) are an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean about east of New Zealand's South Island. They are administered as part of New Zealand. The archipelago consists of about te ...

, Tuuta played much of his youth league for

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

. Tuuta withdrew from the New Zealand Māori squad for the

1986 Pacific Cup The 1986 Pacific Cup was the 3rd Pacific Cup, a rugby league tournament held between Pacific teams. The tournament was hosted in the Cook Islands and eventually won by the New Zealand Māori side, who defeated Western Samoa in the final. Backgrou ...

.John Coffey, Bernie Wood.
100 Years: Maori Rugby League, 1908–2008
'. Auckland, Huia Publishers, 2008. He was a

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 between 1989 and 1995 and played at the

1995 Rugby League World Cup The 1995 Rugby League World Cup was held during October in the United Kingdom. It was the eleventh staging of the Rugby League World Cup and was marketed as the Halifax Centenary World Cup, reflecting the tournament's sponsorship and the fact ...

. During his début in 1989 he was involved in an incident where it was claimed he kneed

Paul Vautin Paul Vautin (born 21 July 1959) nicknamed Fatty, is an Australian football commentator and formerly a professional rugby league footballer, captain and coach. He has provided commentary for the Nine Network's coverage of rugby league since join ...

. At the end of the 1989 season he toured England with the Kiwis and played in Featherstone for the first time.

Playing career

Tuuta first played professionally when he played for the

Western Suburbs Magpies The Western Suburbs Magpies (legal name: Western Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club Ltd) are an Australian rugby league football club based in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Formed in 1908, Wests, as they are commonly r ...

in the

New South Wales Rugby League premiership The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia and contributor to today's National Rugby League. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League (initially named the New Sout ...

between 1989 and 1990. He then moved to the

Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England, who play in the Championship (rugby league), Championship. Featherstone is a former coal mining town with a population of around 16,000 and Rover ...

in England, playing in the second division. In 1993 he was suspended for six matches for breaking

Nigel Heslop Nigel John Heslop (born 4 December 1963) is an English former rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. He played representative level rugby union (RU) for England, and at club level for Orrell R.U ...

's jaw with a punch. He played in the Rovers' 20–16 victory over

Workington Town Workington Town R.L.F.C. is a semi-professional rugby league club playing in Workington in west Cumbria. Their stadium is Derwent Park, which they share with Workington Comets, a speedway team. They became Rugby League Champions in 1951 and ...

in the 1992–93 Division Two Premiership Final at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

on 19 May 1993. Tuuta was a

representative and famously returned to New Zealand for the 1993 provincial grand final where Canterbury upset

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, earning the man of the match award that day. During the 1995 Australian season, he returned to play for the

Western Reds The Western Reds were a rugby league football club based in Perth, Western Australia. Founded in 1992 as the Western Reds, they entered into the Australian Rugby League competition in 1995 before defecting to the rival Super League competition ...

, before signing for the

Castleford Tigers The Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England, that compete in the Super League, the top-level professional rugby league club competition in the Northern Hemisphere. The club have competed i ...

( Heritage № 724) for the English 1995/96 season. Tuuta joined the

Warrington Wolves The Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league club based in Warrington, England, that competes in the Super League. They play rugby at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2004. Founded as Warrington Z ...

for the 1998 season but struggled with knee problems. Despite deciding to retire after 1998 he reconsidered and returned to the Featherstone Rovers for one more season.

Honours

Tuuta is a Featherstone Rovers' Hall of Fame inductee.

References

External links

World Cup 1995 detailsProfile at thecastlefordtigers.co.uk

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tuuta, Brendon 1965 births Living people Canterbury rugby league team players Castleford Tigers players Featherstone Rovers players Halswell Hornets players Hornby Panthers players New Zealand Māori rugby league players New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand rugby league players Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league locks South Island rugby league team players Warrington Wolves players Western Reds players Western Suburbs Magpies players Ngāti Mutunga people Moriori people