David Joseph Solomona
(born 26 January 1978) 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 112 ...
footballer, who last played for 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 ...
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 ...
.
He was regularly amongst the top off-loaders in the competition.
Background
Solomona was born in
Auckland, New Zealand
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 ...
and is of Samoan and Egyptian descent. He attended
St. Paul's College, Auckland
St Paul's College is a Catholic secondary school for boys owned by the Marist Brothers and located in the central Auckland suburb of Ponsonby on a spacious 7.3 hectare campus. The Marist Brothers first opened a school on the site ( Sacred Heart ...
, a school known for consistently producing the best rugby league team in the national secondary school competition.
National Rugby League
Solomona started his career in Australia with the
Sydney City Roosters
The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby league, 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 ...
making his first grade debut in round 16 of the
1999 NRL season
The 1999 NRL season was the 92nd season of professional rugby league football in Australia, and the second to be run by the National Rugby League. With the exclusion of the Adelaide Rams and Gold Coast Chargers, and the joint venture of the St. Ge ...
against
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
. He played from the interchange bench for the Roosters in their
2000 NRL grand final loss to the
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 com ...
. He played for
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 the
2000 Rugby League World Cup.
In 2001, Solomona signed for Parramatta. He played 25 games for the club in the
2001 NRL season
The 2001 NRL season was the 94th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the fourth run by the National Rugby League. Also called the 2001 Telstra Premiership (due to sponsorship from Telstra Corporation) it was contested b ...
as the club were runaway
Minor Premiers and set a number of point scoring records. Solomona played for 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 ...
from the interchange bench in their shock
2001 NRL Grand Final loss to the
Newcastle Knights
The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, th ...
at
Stadium Australia
Stadium Australia, currently known as Accor Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Sydney Olympic Park, in Sydney, Australia. The stadium, which in Australia is sometimes referred to as Sydney Olympic Stad ...
.
Super League
Solomona spent three years at
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 Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the c ...
(
Heritage № 1217) where his skills helped keep them 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 ...
. In 2004 he was named in the
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 and ...
. He helped
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 ...
to defeat Australia to win the
2005 Rugby League Tri Nations tournament.
Solomona signed for the
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 ...
on 24 October 2006 for the 2007 season. He was the Bulls only ever-present player in 2007, making 32 appearances in his first year at the club. Blessed with tremendous ball handling skills he also has the ability to score tries himself and he scored 14 tries in 2007, including a hat trick.
Solomona missed the first 5 games of 2008 due to injury picked up in pre-season. He again represented Samoa in the
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 b ...
.
Solomona played in the
2010 Challenge Cup Final victory over 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 Headi ...
at
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...
.
Solomona continued to feature in 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 ...
squad throughout the 2011 season. He was mainly brought on as a replacement making good use of his strength and ball handling skills to make in-roads into the opposing defence.
His tenure with the Warrington Wolves came to a close due to an injury he suffered in the 2012 season, causing him to retire before returning to Australia.
References
External links
Bradford Bulls profileBradford sign David SolomonaSolomona tipped to be hot stuff
{{DEFAULTSORT:Solomona, David
1978 births
Living people
Bradford Bulls players
Junior Kiwis players
New Zealand national rugby league team players
New Zealand people of Samoan descent
New Zealand rugby league players
New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England
Parramatta Eels players
People educated at St Paul's College, Auckland
Richmond Bulldogs players
Rugby league players from Auckland
Rugby league props
Rugby league second-rows
Samoa national rugby league team players
Samoan sportspeople
David
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
Sydney Roosters players
Wakefield Trinity players
Warrington Wolves players