Epalahame Lauaki (born 27 January 1984) is a Tongan 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 11 ...

footballer who last played 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 ...

in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

Background

Lauaki was born in Ha'apai, Tonga. He is the brother of former

All Black The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

Sione Lauaki Sione Tuitupu Lauaki (22 June 1981 – 12 February 2017) was a Tongan-born New Zealand rugby union footballer who played for Aviron Bayonnais, Bayonne. He previously played for the New Zealand national team, the All Blacks. His brother, Epalaham ...

. He is the cousin of rugby league and union star

Tevita Vaikona Tevita Vaikona (born 18 August 1974) is a Tongan professional rugby league and rugby union footballer, a winger who played rugby league and picked up many honours before switching codes to rugby union. In 2002, Vaikona was voted best rugby leagu ...

Early years

Lauaki was educated at Waitakere College and then at

Kelston Boys High School Kelston Boys' High School ("KBHS") (Te kura tuarua o nga tamatane o kerehana) is an all-boys state secondary school in Kelston, a suburb in the Waitakere region of Auckland, New Zealand. It was created in 1963 when the roll of Kelston High Scho ...

and played for the

Waitemata Seagulls Waitemata or Waitematā may refer to: * Waitematā Harbour, the primary harbour of Auckland, New Zealand * Waitematā (local board area), a local government area in Auckland, New Zealand ** Waitematā Local Board, a local board of Auckland Council, ...

and

Glenora Bears The Glenora Bears are a rugby league football club based in Glen Eden, New Zealand who compete in Auckland Rugby League's Fox Memorial competition. History The club was established in 1931 when the Auckland Rugby League Junior Management Com ...

in the Auckland Rugby League competition.

New Zealand Warriors

He was signed by the

New Zealand Warriors The New Zealand Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as ...

and made his

first grade First grade (also called Grade One, called ''Year 2'' in England or Primary 2 in Scotland) is the first grade in elementary school and the first school year after kindergarten. Children are usually 6–7 years old in this grade. Examples by ...

début on 14 March 2004 against

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 c ...

Suncorp Stadium Lang Park, also known as Brisbane Football Stadium, by the sponsored name Suncorp Stadium, and nicknamed: 'The Cauldron', is a multi-purpose stadium in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Milton. The current facility co ...

. During his Warriors career he was used mainly as an interchange player, starting only ten games in sixty nine appearances. When not selected for the first grade side, Lauaki played for the

Waitakere Rangers The Waitakere Rangers were a team in the now defunct Bartercard Cup Rugby league competition in New Zealand. They represented five clubs based in Waitakere City including the Glenora Bears who previously represented the City in the Bartercard C ...

in the Bartercard Cup and the

Auckland Lions The Auckland Lions were a rugby league club that had teams in both the New Zealand Bartercard Cup and the NSWRL Premier League. They were mostly drawn from the Mt Albert Lions Rugby League club. Mt Albert had a proud tradition in Auckland and had ...

and

Auckland Vulcans The Auckland Vulcans were an Auckland based rugby league club that participated in the New South Wales Cup. They were administered by the Rugby League Development Foundation. The team was selected from the Auckland Rugby League's Fox Memorial C ...

in the

NSW Cup The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserv ...

In 2007 he signed a three-year extension with the Warriors, making him a Warrior until the end of the 2010 season.

Hull

On 23 February 2009 it was announced that Lauaki had been released by the Warriors so he could sign a 3-year deal to play for

Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and were ...

in the Super League. He made his Super League début for Hull against

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 ...

on 21 August 2009 and has since made himself a crowd favourite at the

KC Stadium The MKM Stadium (also known as the Hull City Stadium due to UEFA sponsorship regulations) is a multi-purpose facility in the city of Kingston upon Hull, England. The stadium was previously called the KC Stadium, but was renamed the KCOM Stadi ...

. After finally arriving at the

late in 2009, Lauaki made his intentions clear with a number of brutally committed displays. The hard-working, powerful second-rower or prop forward will provide some serious physicality, along with good feet and a great offload and many teams will fear him this season. Those attributes were epitomised in 2010, with a stunning hand off on

Leon Pryce Leon Pryce (born 9 October 1981) is a professional rugby League coach who most recently coached Workington Town in League 1 and an English former professional rugby league footballer who played as a and in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. A Gre ...

to score against St. Helens on the opening day of the season, before a similar try against Salford later that year as he held off four men to touch down.

Wigan

Lauaki joined Wigan in 2012. He made 35 appearances for the club, scoring two tries, before being released in January 2014. He signed with 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 ...

, but did not play a game and was released at the end of 2014.

Bradford Bulls

2015 - 2015 Season Lauaki signed for Bradford on a 2 Year Deal. He did not feature in any of the pre-season friendlies. He featured in Round 3 (

Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England, who play in the Championship. Featherstone is a former coal mining town with a population of around 16,000 and Rovers are one of the last "smal ...

) then in Round 5 (

Batley Bulldogs Batley is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. Batley lies south-west of Leeds, north-west of Wakefield and Dewsbury, south-east of Bradford and north-east of Huddersfield. Batley is part of the ...

) to Round 7 ( Halifax). He played in Round 9 ( London Broncos) then in Round 11 ( Sheffield Eagles) to Round 18 (

Workington Town Workington Town R.L.F.C. is a semi-professional rugby league club playing in Workington in west Cumbria. Their stadium is Derwent Park, which they share with Workington Comets, a speedway team. They became Rugby League Champions in 1951 and ...

). He played in Round 21 ( Sheffield Eagles) to Round 23 ( Halifax). Lauaki played in Qualifier 1 ( Sheffield Eagles) to Qualifier 7 ( Halifax). Epalahame played in the £1 Million Game against

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 Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, betw ...

. He also featured in the Challenge Cup in Round 4 (

). He scored against

(1 try). 2016 - 2016 Season Lauaki featured in the pre-season friendlies against

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 Headin ...

and Castleford Tigers. He featured in Round 1 (

) then in Round 16 (

Dewsbury Rams The Dewsbury Rams are a professional English rugby league club based in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire that compete in the Championship. They play their home games at the Tetley's Stadium, on Owl Lane. The Rams' main fanbase comes from their hometo ...

) to Round 18 (

). He played in Round 20 ( Leigh Centurions) and then in Round 22 (

Oldham R.L.F.C. Oldham R.L.F.C., also known as the Roughyeds, is a professional rugby league football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. The club currently competes in the RFL League 1, the third tier of British Rugby League. Formed in 1876 as Oldh ...

). Lauaki played in the Championship Shield Game 1 (

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle and to the north of Barrow-in-Furness. It i ...

) then in Game 3 (

) to Game 4 (

). He scored against

(1 try).

Statistics

Statistics do not include pre-season friendlies.

Representative career

In 2006 Lauaki was named in the New Zealand 'A' team that played against an Australian Invitational side.NZ A - 2006
''NZRL Official site'' In 2007 Lauaki was then named in the

New Zealand national rugby league team The New Zealand national rugby league team ( Māori: Tīma rīki motu Aotearoa) has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the native bird of ...

squad for the tour of Great Britain. He played in two tests for the Kiwis and also played in the All Golds match. Lauaki then decided to switch his international allegiance to the nation of his birth, Tonga. In August 2008, Lauaki was named in the Tongan 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 ...

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

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

squad. He played in three games at the tournament as well as a warm up game against the

Personal life

Lauaki is the third eldest from a total of nine siblings. His parents Kepu and Mele Fale Lauaki both come from Tonga. His immediate family reside 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 ...

, New Zealand. Lauaki married Renee (née Halapua) from Hihifo, Tonga, whom he met in Auckland, New Zealand. They have two children together, the eldest, Kepu Lauaki Jr, who is named after his father, and his youngest son, Mana'ia Lauaki who was born in 2011. Lauaki and his family currently reside in England. Lauaki is good friends with fellow

and

team mates

Willie Manu Viliami Makamaile "Willie" Manu (born 20 March 1980) is a former Tonga international rugby league footballer. He played as a second-row forward, he previously played in the National Rugby League for Australian clubs the Wests Tigers, South Syd ...

and Sam Moa. The trio are commonly known by the Hull fans as 'The Tongan Mafia'.

References

External links

New Zealand Warriors profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lauaki, Epalahame 1984 births Tongan rugby league players Tonga national rugby league team players New Zealand national rugby league team players Hull F.C. players Wigan Warriors players New Zealand Warriors players Exiles rugby league team players Auckland rugby league team players Glenora Bears players Waitakere rugby league team players Rugby league second-rows Tongan emigrants to New Zealand Living people People from Haʻapai People educated at Waitakere College People educated at Kelston Boys' High School