Daniel Fepuleai (born 25 November 1988) is a Cook Islands 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 112 ...

footballer for the North Sydney Bears in the NSW Cup. He previously played with Sydney Roosters in

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...

's National Rugby League, and the

St. George Illawarra Dragons The St. George Illawarra Dragons is an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League since 1999 after a joint-ve ...

as well as a stint with the

New Jersey Turnpike Titans Rugby league has been played in the United States by club teams since the 1970s. In that time a number of amateur and semi-professional clubs have been established and ended up going defunct. American National Rugby League *Aston Bulls (1998–2 ...

in the USA Rugby League. He plays primarily as a . Despite never featuring for the Dragons' first grade team, Fepuleai reached the final of the

2009 Pacific Cup The 2009 Pacific Cup, known as the 2009 SP Brewery Pacific Cup due to sponsorship, was a rugby league competition held in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. The competing teams were the , , , , . Tonga, Fiji and PNG had their places in the draw co ...

with 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 ...

. He made his NRL debut for Sydney Roosters against the Penrith Panthers in round 5 of the competition in 2010.

Background

Fepuleai is of Cook Island heritage and played for Hurstville United as a junior. He won the

Arrive Alive Cup The NRL Schoolboy Cup is the premier secondary schools rugby league competition in Australia, held annually since 1975. Formerly known under such names as the Amco Shield, Commonwealth Bank Cup, Arrive Alive Cup and GIO Schoolboy Cup nearly 450 s ...

for his school Endeavour Sports High School in 2006. He is the cousin of new Dragons youth signing Hayden Fepuleai, who joined the Dragons from Hurstville as well.

Playing career

Fepuleai signed for the Dragons as an 18-year-old in 2006 but could not force his way into first-grade reckoning. He played for the

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 and later the National Youth Competition (under 20's) team as he could not gain first team football. In 2009, however, after playing for the Dragon's feeder team, Shellharbour Dragons, he was selected to play for the Cook Islands in the

. Fepuleai signed with the Sydney Roosters for the 2010 season and made his first-grade début in football in round five of this particular season, coming off the interchange bench in a 28–6 loss to the Penrith Panthers.

Representative career

During the Pacific Cup, he played in the victory over

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 Island, Manono an ...

, in which he scored in a 22–20 win that qualified the Cooks for the tournament proper. He then scored twice and kicked two goals in a 24–22 win over

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 ...

in a man-of-the-match performance. His side were defeated in the final, 44–14 by

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 ...

. Additionally, he finished as top points scorer in the tournament with 16 points. Fepuleai played for 'the Kukis' at the

2013 Rugby League World Cup The 2013 Rugby League World Cup was the fourteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup and took place in England, Wales, France and Ireland. between 26 October and 30 November 2013. It was the main event of the year's 2013 Festival of World ...

. He was an influential player throughout the campaign, and he scored a try in their last game against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fepuleai, Daniel 1988 births Australian rugby league players Australian sportspeople of Samoan descent Australian people of Cook Island descent Cook Islands national rugby league team players New Jersey Turnpike Titans players Sydney Roosters players Rugby league hookers Expatriate rugby league players in the United States Living people Cook Island rugby league players Rugby league players from Sydney Sportsmen from New South Wales