David Ioane Vaealiki () (born 13 November 1980) 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 ...

and

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 ...

footballer who most recently played for

SC Albi Sporting Club Albigeois is a professional France, French rugby union club playing the third-level Championnat Fédéral Nationale, Nationale. During the past years it went back and forth between Top 14, the highest level of the National Rugby Leagu ...

. He has represented New Zealand in

and previously played in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

in Australia and 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 ...

, primarily as a .

Early years and Parramatta

A product of New Zealand junior side Sydenham, David Vaealiki attended Linwood High School and became Canterbury's youngest ever representative when he made his début for the province aged just 17 years and 199 days in a match against the West Coast.John Coffe
Youngsters in Canty side for West Coast fixture
''The Press'', 29 May 1998 He then signed 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 ...

and made his first grade début in 1999. During this time he taught Physical Education at Castle Hill High School, where the league team he coached had 0 wins. He went on to play for Parramatta at centre in their 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 ...

. Vaealiki scored the fastest hat-trick in the NRL versus Penrith 17 March 2002. In 2004, David's season was cut short by an

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcaneus (h ...

injury, he played only eight games.

Wigan Warriors career

He signed a 3-year contract with the Wigan Warriors in July 2004. He joined the club for the 2005

and his first appearance for Wigan Warriors on 30 January 2005 in a pre-season friendly against the

London Broncos The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club in London, England. The club competes in the RFL Championship. It was a member of Super League from its inaugural season in 1996 until the end of the 2014 season, when they were relegat ...

after starting the match from the bench. He made his first start for the Wigan Warriors in their 15–4 win over the

Salford City Reds The Salford Red Devils are a professional rugby league club in Salford, Greater Manchester, England, who play in the Super League. Formed in 1873, they have won six Championships and one Challenge Cup. Their home ground since 2012 has been t ...

in the

his last game was the semi-final versus

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 ...

during October 2007.

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles

David Vaealiki was expected to join the

Harlequins RL The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club in London, England. The club competes in the RFL Championship. It was a member of Super League from its inaugural season in 1996 until the end of the 2014 season, when they were relegat ...

when his

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors are a professional rugby league club in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the Super League. Formed in 1872 as Wigan Football Club, Wigan was a founding member of the Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby ...

contract expired at the end of 2007's

Super League XII Engage Super League XII is the official name for the year 2007's Super League season in the sport of rugby league. The 2007 season kicked off on the weekend of 2 February 2007 at the Galpharm Stadium. For the first time, the league had a stagger ...

and it was not known if he was offered a new contract. During September 2007 he was linked with a move to French

side Sporting Club Albigeois. Instead Vaealiki joined 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 a one-year deal and played two games for the club in early 2008.

French rugby union

Vaealiki was released by Manly after round 7 of the NRL to enable him to take up the offer of a two-year contract with Top 14 French rugby union club,

International career

Vaealiki earned international selection for the

Junior Kiwis The Junior Kiwis side represents New Zealand in the sport of rugby league. They are commonly known as the Junior Kiwis, after the native bird of that name. Since 2010, they are an under-20s side, with players selected from the NRL, Intrust Super ...

in 1998 and played for

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 ...

between 2000 and 2003, including the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

in 2000.

References

External links

*
David Vaealiki Wigan Career Page
on the Wigan RL Fansite''.
Wigan Warriors ProfileSuper League Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaealiki, David 1980 births Living people Canterbury rugby league team players Expatriate rugby union players in France Manly Warringah Sea Eagles players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in France New Zealand expatriate rugby union players New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand sportspeople of Tongan descent New Zealand national rugby league team players Parramatta Eels players Junior Kiwis players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Christchurch Rugby union players from Christchurch Sydenham Swans players Wigan Warriors players