David Niumataiwalu, better known as David Niu (born 3 January 1966), is an Australian-American dual-code international

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 ...

administrator, coach and former player. Regarded as one of the founders of rugby league in the United States, he established the

American National Rugby League The American National Rugby League (AMNRL) was a rugby league organization in the United States that operated from 1997 to 2014. The country's first domestic rugby league competition, it hosted an annual league from 1998 through 2013. Throughout it ...

(AMNRL), the United States' first domestic rugby league competition and formerly the national governing body for the sport. He later served as president of AFL Global, an organization promoting

arena football Indoor American football, or arena football, is a variation of gridiron football played at ice hockey-sized indoor arenas. While varying in details from league to league, the rules of indoor football are designed to allow for play in a smaller ...

. Niu played for the St. George Rugby Union Club from 1984 to 1989 before shifting to the rugby league code. His professional league career included two seasons with the

St. George Dragons The St. George Dragons is an Australian rugby league football club from St George District in Sydney, New South Wales that played in the top level New South Wales competition and Australian Rugby League competitions from the 1921 until the ...

in Australia's

New South Wales Rugby League The New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was ...

(now 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 ...

) from 1990 to 1991; his position was . In 1993 he relocated to the United States where he was involved in promoting both codes. He was one of the founders of the

United States national rugby league team The United States national rugby league team represents the United States in international rugby league football competitions. The team is managed by the USA Rugby League (USARL). The United States competed with little success in some internat ...

, and played on the

USA Eagles The United States men's national rugby union team represents the United States in men's international rugby union. Nicknamed the Eagles, it is controlled by USA Rugby, the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United Stat ...

national rugby union team, appearing in the

1999 Rugby World Cup The 1999 Rugby World Cup was the fourth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial international rugby union championship. It was principally hosted by Wales, and was won by Australia. This was the first Rugby World Cup to be held in the sport's professi ...

. In 1997 he founded the competition that became the modern AMNRL, serving as its president until 2013.

Early life and rugby career

Niumataiwalu was born and raised in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. He attended

James Cook Boys Technology High School James Cook Boys Technology High School is a boys' secondary school situated on Princes Highway in Kogarah, Australia. The school is named after Captain James Cook, the first recorded European contact with the eastern coastline of Australia. Hi ...

in nearby

Kogarah Kogarah () is a suburb of Southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Kogarah is located 14 kilometres (9 miles) south-west of the Sydney central business district and is considered to be the centre of the St George area. Loca ...

."R2K interviews David Niu"
''R2K'', 19 May 2002 He is of

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 ...

an descent. Niu played

for St. George Rugby Union Club from 1984 to 1989, playing a total of 250 first division games. He also represented Sydney, the

New South Wales Waratahs The New South Wales Waratahs ( or ;), referred to as the Waratahs, are an Australian professional rugby union team representing the majority of New South Wales in the Super Rugby competition. The Riverina and other southern parts of the state, ...

and was a member of the

Australian Barbarians The Australian Barbarians, nicknamed the "Baa-Baas", is an invitational rugby union team which has been a major part of Australian rugby since the team was founded in 1957. The club is based in Australia. The idea came from the concept of the B ...

, and captained the Australian College and University teams from 1984 to 1988. In 1986 he was one of three winners of the

Ken Catchpole Kenneth William Catchpole (21 June 1939 – 21 December 2017) was an Australian rugby union footballer. A New South Wales Waratahs, state and Australia national rugby union team, national representative half-back, he played twenty-seven matche ...

Medal. In 1987 he earned a spot on the

Australian national rugby union team The Australia national rugby union team, nicknamed the Wallabies, is the representative national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of Australia. The team first played at Sydney in 1899, winning their first test match against the ...

training squad for the

1987 Rugby World Cup The 1987 Rugby World Cup was the first Rugby World Cup. It was co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia – New Zealand hosted 21 matches (17 pool stage matches, two quarter-finals, the third-place play-off and the final) while Australia hosted 11 ...

. Niu shifted to professional

in 1989. In 1990 he was signed by the

of the

New South Wales Rugby League premiership The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia and contributor to today's National Rugby League. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League (initially named the New Sout ...

(now the

), Australia's highest rugby league competition, as a . He played for St. George for two seasons, appearing in a total of nineteen games and scoring two tries and one

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...

. As a former Dragons player, Niu has been outspoken about the club moving away from Kogarah's

WIN Jubilee Oval Jubilee Stadium, also known as Kogarah Oval or by its sponsored name Netstrata Jubilee Stadium, is a multipurpose stadium in Carlton, New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. The stadium is mainly used for rugby league and the A-League, and is one ...

. He later played for the

Villeneuve Leopards Villeneuve XIII RLLG originally called Sports Athletic Villeneuvois XIII are a semi-professional rugby league team based in Villeneuve-sur-Lot in the region of Aquitaine in southern France. Formed in 1934, the first French rugby league club, the ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, and had spells with the Bramley and

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 ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

before retiring.

American career

In 1991, Niu met his future wife Donna Camac while on a St. George team retreat in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. He gained a release from the final years of his contract with the Dragons and relocated to her hometown of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, where he took a job as a teacher at the

Glen Mills Schools The Glen Mills Schools is a youth detention center for juvenile delinquents located near Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, Glen Mills in Thornbury Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, for boys between 12 and 21 years of age. The sch ...

, a reform school for court-referred youth with an aptitude for sports.Hannan, Tony (April 2002)
"Niu York, Niu York!"
''Rugby League World''. Retrieved 16 June 2011. He worked to introduce rugby league at the school, drawing the attention of American rugby league enthusiast Mike Mayer. Niu and Mayer organized a U.S. national rugby league team for a trip to the 1992

Rugby League World Sevens The Rugby League World Sevens, usually referred to as the World Sevens and sometimes as the World Cup Sevens, was a pre-season rugby league sevens tournament made up over the years primarily of New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL), Australian Rug ...

in Sydney. After Mayer departed Niu continued developing the national team, bringing them to international competitions such as the 1995 Emerging Nations Tournament and a short tour of Australia in 1997. During this time, Niu also played rugby union in the U.S. He was named in the

United States national rugby union team The United States men's national rugby union team represents the United States in men's international rugby union. Nicknamed the Eagles, it is controlled by USA Rugby, the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United Stat ...

, making eleven international appearances, including at the

. In 2000 he became head coach of

Philadelphia Whitemarsh RFC Philadelphia - Whitemarsh Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US. They are currently members of the Eastern Pennsylvania Rugby Union, the organizational body for the sport in eastern Pennsylvania, and cur ...

in the Rugby Super League, the highest level of rugby union in the United States. In 1997 Niu was one of the founders of

Super League America The American National Rugby League (AMNRL) was a rugby league organization in the United States that operated from 1997 to 2014. The country's first domestic rugby league competition, it hosted an annual league from 1998 through 2013. Throughout it ...

, the first major attempt to organize a domestic rugby league competition in the United States, and served as the new league's executive director. The organization managed the national team and launched a six-club domestic competition. On top of serving as head of Super League America, Niu was also

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

for the Glen Mills Bulls (now the

Aston Bulls The Aston Bulls were a rugby league football team based in Aston Township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The team played in the American National Rugby League (AMNRL), the United States' oldest competition, from 1998 until 2013. They were kno ...

), the most dominant team in the league. In 2000 Super League America reorganized as the United States Rugby League, and the following year it became the American National Rugby League. In 2009 Niu was involved in a proposed American professional rugby league competition, the National Rugby League USA (NRLUS), though this failed to get off the ground. Niu was also heavily involved in planning the

Atlantic Cup The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe and ...

tournament, beginning in 2009, and in the United States being awarded the qualifying tournament for the final berth in 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 ...

. David has served as head-coach for the

USA Tomahawks The United States national rugby league team represents the United States in international rugby league football competitions. The team is managed by the USA Rugby League (USARL). The United States competed with little success in some internat ...

on three separate occasions.

AFL Global

In February 2013, Niu resigned from the AMNRL to take a position as president of AFL Global. The organization is an independent business venture that hopes to work with the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

to expand

to China and abroad.

References

External links

Bio at AMNRL Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Niu, David 1966 births Living people American National Rugby League American people of Australian descent American people of I-Taukei Fijian descent American rugby league players American rugby union players Aston Bulls coaches Aston Bulls players Australian people of I-Taukei Fijian descent Australian rugby league administrators Australian rugby league players Bradford Bulls players Bramley RLFC players Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from Sydney St. George Dragons players United States international rugby union players United States national rugby league team captains United States national rugby league team coaches United States national rugby league team players Villeneuve Leopards players