Eloni Vunakece (born 27 May 1987) is a former

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 ...

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 ...

footballer who played as a for the Sydney Roosters 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 ...

. He also played for Toulouse Olympique in the French Elite One Championship.

Background

Vunakece was born in

Sydney, New South Wales 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 Mountains ...

, Australia to a Fijian father, Meli, from Tavua and an Australian mother Julie Young from St Arnaud, Victoria. He played his junior rugby league for the

Holy Cross Rhinos The Sydney Combined Competition (SCC) formerly Inner City Combined Competition (ICCC) is an amateur rugby league competition for both senior and junior rugby league clubs in the St. George, Canterbury-Bankstown, Balmain, Western Suburbs and Ea ...

and

Leichhardt Wanderers The Leichhardt Wanderers are a rugby league club based at Leichhardt, New South Wales. They compete in the Sydney Combined Competition. Their jersey is traditionally predominantly Red and Black. In recent years they have included white in their ...

, before being signed by the

Balmain Ryde-Eastwood Tigers The Balmain Tigers (also known as the Sydney Tigers from 1995–96) are a rugby league club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and one of the most successful in t ...

. Vunakece is married with four children.

Playing career

Early career

From 2006 to 2011, Vunakece played for the Balmain Ryde-Eastwood Tigers, while also having a stint with the Western Suburbs Magpies New South Wales Cup side in 2011. In September 2011, he signed a 1-year contract with French team Toulouse Olympique in the Elite One Championship. In 2012, he re-signed with Toulouse on a 1-year contract. Eloni Vunaceke 2013

2013

In April, Vunakece played in two games for Toulouse in the

2013 Challenge Cup The 2013 Challenge Cup (also known as the Tetley's Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 112th staging of the most competitive European rugby league tournament at club level and was open to teams from England, Wales, Scotland and France. ...

, scoring 2 tries. At the conclusion of the 2012/2013 Elite One Championship season, he returned to Australia to play with the Wyong Roos in the New South Wales Cup. In October and November, he played 5 games for

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 ...

, scoring 1 try.

2015

On 2 May, Vunakece played for Fiji against

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

in the 2015 Melanesian Cup. At the end of the 2015 season, he got the chance to join the Sydney Roosters first-grade squad for the 2016 pre-season.

2016

In round 4 of the

2016 NRL season The 2016 NRL season was the 109th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 19th season run by the National Rugby League. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, and was followed by the All Stars Match, w ...

, Vunakece made his

debut for the Sydney Roosters against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles. On 7 May, he again played for Fiji against Papua New Guinea in the 2016 Melanesian Cup, where he played at lock and scored a try. In September, he was named at prop in the 2016 Intrust Super Premiership NSW Team of the Year.

2017

On 28 August 2017, Vunakece was named at Prop in the 2017 Intrust Super Premiership NSW team of the year.

Post rugby league and Reality TV

In September 2018, Vunakece announced his retirement from

. He has been working for the council as a garbage collector and also doing some modelling. He also donated his brain, currently as a living participant in post-concussion cognitive research. Vunakece competed in the Australian Ninja Warrior (season 3). He returned in seasons 4 and 5. Vunakece will appear as a contestant on the sixth season of

The Celebrity Apprentice Australia ''The Celebrity Apprentice Australia'' is an Australian reality television series which aired on the Nine Network. Based on NBC's ''The Apprentice'', it first aired on 24 October 2011 and originally featured Mark Bouris, the founder and chairm ...

References

External links

Sydney Roosters profile
*
Toulouse Olympique profile2017 RLWC profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vunakece, Eloni 1987 births Living people Australian rugby league players Australian people of I-Taukei Fijian descent Balmain Ryde-Eastwood Tigers players Expatriate rugby league players in France Fiji national rugby league team players I-Taukei Fijian people Rugby league props Rugby league players from Sydney Sydney Roosters players Toulouse Olympique players Western Suburbs Magpies NSW Cup players Wyong Roos players