Danny Fualalo (born 20 October 1994) is an Australian 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 last played for the

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilit ...

in the NRL.

Background

Fualalo was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He is of Tongan and

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

descent. He played his junior football for the

Cabramatta Two Blues Cabramatta Two Blues, colloquially known as ''Cabra'', is an Australian rugby league football club that was originally formed in 1919 and then later completely formed as the Two Blues in 1939. They have always based from the Parramatta Junior Le ...

, before being signed by the

Playing career

Early career

From 2012 to 2014, Fualalo played for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs'

NYC New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

team.

2015

In 2015, Fualalo moved on to the Bulldogs'

New South Wales Cup The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserv ...

team. In Round 7 of the

2015 NRL season The 2015 NRL season was the 108th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 18th season of the National Rugby League in Australia and New Zealand. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, which was followed ...

, he made his NRL debut for the Bulldogs against the

Manly Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...

. On 3 May, he played for the New South Wales Residents against the

Queensland Residents The Queensland Residents rugby league team is a representative rugby league team consisting of players who compete in the Intrust Super Cup (Queensland Cup) competition. They currently play an annual fixture against NSW Cup Representative Team, ...

. On 11 September, he was named in the 58-man

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

squad to play 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 ...

on 17 October.

2016

Fualalo made 11 appearances for Canterbury in 2016 as the club qualified for the finals. Fualalo played in Canterbury's elimination final defeat against the

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith that competes in the NRL. The team is based west of the centre of Sydney, at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Penrit ...

2017

Fualalo made 24 appearances for Canterbury-Bankstown in 2017 as the club missed the finals for the first time since 2012. At the end of 2017,

Des Hasler Desmond John Hasler (born 16 February 1961) is an Australian professional rugby league coach, and a former professional rugby league footballer who played as and . He initially played for the Penrith Panthers, and then spent most of his playi ...

was terminated as head coach.

2018

Fualalo made 20 appearances for Canterbury as the club endured one of their worst seasons on the field. At one stage, Canterbury were running second last on the table until upset victories over

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite c ...

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 ...

and St. George saved them from claiming the wooden spoon.

2019

Fualalo started the first two games for Canterbury in 2019 but after suffering heavy defeats against

and arch-rivals the

Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League. The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and their ...

, Fualalo was demoted to reserve grade by coach

Dean Pay Dean Pay (born 3 June 1969) is a former Australian professional rugby league footballer and former head coach of the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the NRL, a professional player who played in the late 1980s and 1990s. He played for the Cant ...

. On 16 September, it was revealed that Fualalo would be released at the end of the season after not being offered a new contract for the 2020 season.

References

External links

Canterbury Bulldogs profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fualalo, Danny 1994 births Living people Australian people of Portuguese descent Australian sportspeople of Tongan descent Australian rugby league players Cabramatta Two Blues players Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs players New South Wales Residents rugby league team players Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Sydney Rugby league props