David Fa'alogo (born 9 September 1980) 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 played as a and in the 2000s and 2010s. He played for the

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional Australian rugby league club based in Redfern, a suburb of inner-southern Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and are one of nine existing team ...

and

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 ...

in the

NRL 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 ...

, the

Huddersfield Giants Huddersfield Giants are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, the birthplace of rugby league, who play in the Super League competition. They play their home games at the John Smiths Stadium which is sh ...

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 ...

and the

Ipswich Jets The Ipswich Jets are an Australian rugby league football club based in Ipswich, Queensland. Their name comes from nearby RAAF Base Amberley, one of the largest airbases in Australia. The Jets compete in the Queensland Cup competition. Originall ...

in the

Queensland Cup The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by fou ...

. He represented both

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 country ...

and

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 and Apolima); ...

at international level.

Background

Born in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about It ...

, New Zealand, Fa'alogo is of Samoan descent. He is the younger brother of the rugby league footballer; Sala Fa'alogo. Fa'alogo played his junior football for the

Mount Albert Lions The Mount Albert Lions are a rugby league club based in Mount Albert, New Zealand. The Lions home ground is at Fowlds Park. Their patron is the former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark. In 2008 and 2009 the Lions won the Fox Memorial. ...

in the

Bartercard Cup The Bartercard Cup (successor of the Lion Red Cup) was the top level 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 th ...

, and Papatoetoe Panthers before being signed by the

.Coffey and Wood ''The Kiwis: 100 Years of International Rugby League''

Professional playing career

South Sydney Rabbitohs

In Round 10 of

2003 NRL season The 2003 NRL premiership was the 96th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the sixth run by the National Rugby League. Fifteen teams competed, with the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles returning in place of their failed join ...

Fa'alogo made his

début for the Rabbitohs against the

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Cronulla, in the Sutherland Shire, Southern Sydney, New South Wales. They compete in the National Rugby League ( NRL), Australasia's premier rugby league ...

. In 2006, Fa'alogo made his international début for

against Australia in the ANZAC Test. He played in 4 more games at the end of the season. In 2006, he won the

George Piggins Medal The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional Australian rugby league club based in Redfern, a suburb of inner-southern Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and are one of nine existing team ...

as South Sydney's best and fairest player of the season. Fa'alogo was selected to play for the New Zealand national team at lock forward in the 2007 ANZAC Test loss against Australia. In Round 25 of the

2007 NRL season The 2007 NRL season was the one hundredth season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the tenth run by the National Rugby League. Sixteen teams contested the NRL's 2007 Telstra Premiership, and with the inclusio ...

, Fa'alogo was sin binned against the

Sydney 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 ...

after punching Roosters player

Braith Anasta Braith Anastasakis (born 14 January 1982), better known as Braith Anasta, is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a and in the 2000s and 2010s. An Australian and Greek international, Anasta played in the NR ...

, which resulted in a 7-week suspension from the

NRL Judiciary The NRL Judiciary is the disciplinary judiciary of the National Rugby League (NRL), a rugby league competition. The Judiciary regulates the on-field conduct of players from NRL clubs. Due to changes announced on the eve of the 2022 NRL season, th ...

. In 2008, he was sent home from a club trip to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to th ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

, and fined $10,000 after punching a member of the public at a taxi rank. David Fa'alogo

Fa'alogo was again selected for the ANZAC Test again in 2008. In August 2008, Fa'alogo was named in the New Zealand training squad for 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 ...

, and in October 2008, he was named in the final 24-man

Kiwi Kiwi most commonly refers to: * Kiwi (bird), a flightless bird native to New Zealand * Kiwi (nickname), a nickname for New Zealanders * Kiwifruit, an edible berry * Kiwi dollar or New Zealand dollar, a unit of currency Kiwi or KIWI may also ref ...

squad. Fa'alogo played in the New Zealand team that defeated Australia in the final of the 2008 World Cup to claim New Zealand's first title. In September 2009, he punched coach Jason Taylor during end of season celebrations, knocking him to the ground. He was reportedly provoked by Taylor's 'rough horseplay' and had his contract terminated due to the incident.

Huddersfield Giants

In May 2009, Fa'alogo signed a 4-year contract with

club

starting in 2010. In 2011, Fa'alogo was selected in the inaugural Exiles squad for the

Rugby League International Origin Match International Origin was an annual series of rugby league football matches between England RL and the Exiles. The International Origin was created by the Rugby Football League (RFL) to ensure that the English national side had a good strong mid ...

against England at

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headin ...

. He was again selected to play for the Exiles in 2012.

Newcastle Knights

On 3 October 2012, Fa'alogo signed a 1-year contract with the

starting in 2013. On 22 May 2013, Fa'alogo re-signed with the Knights on a 1-year contract. In October 2013, Fa'alogo was selected for

in their

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 Festival of World C ...

campaign. He featured in all four of the Samoans' games at the Tournament. In May 2014, Fa'alogo captained

in the 2014 Pacific Rugby League International. He led

to a 32–16 win and a place in the 2014 Four Nations. On 8 September 2014, Fa'alogo was selected for the

Four Nations train-on squad. On 7 October 2014, Fa'alogo was selected in the

Samoa national rugby league team The Samoa national rugby league team represents Samoa in rugby league football and has participated in international competition since 1986. Known as Western Samoa before 1997, the team is administered by Rugby League Samoa and are nicknamed T ...

Final 24-man squad for the 2014 Four Nations series. On 31 October 2014, Fa'alogo re-signed with the Knights on a 1-year contract. On 8 August 2015, Fa'alogo announced his immediate retirement from rugby league due to a neck injury. He finished having played 198 games in the NRL. However, in 2016, he extended his career by joining the

in the

References

External links

2015 Newcastle Knights profileNRL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fa'alogo, David 1980 births Living people Exiles rugby league team players Expatriate rugby league players in Australia Huddersfield Giants players Ipswich Jets players Mount Albert Lions players New Zealand expatriate rugby league players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Australia New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent New Zealand rugby league players Newcastle Knights players Papatoetoe Panthers players Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Auckland Rugby league props Rugby league second-rows Samoa national rugby league team captains Samoa national rugby league team players South Sydney Rabbitohs players