Iafeta Iakopo "Feka" Paleaaesina (born 10 February 1983) 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 ...

footballer. He played as a for 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 ...

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 ...

, and for the

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 ...

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 ...

and

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 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 ...

Background

Paleaaesina was born in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, New Zealand and of Tokelau and Samoan descent. He was educated at Penrose High School (now

One Tree Hill College One Tree Hill College is a state coeducational secondary school located in the district of Ellerslie in Auckland, New Zealand. One Tree Hill College, formerly known as Penrose High School, opened on 1 February 1955. In 2019 it had a student bod ...

) in Auckland.

Career

New Zealand

He started playing rugby league at the age of nine with New Zealand club

Otahuhu Leopards The Otahuhu Leopards are a rugby league club based in Otahuhu, Auckland. Founded in 1911 Auckland Rugby League season, 1911, the club has produced 49 New Zealand national rugby league team players. The club competes in the Fox Memorial competit ...

. He made his

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 ...

(NRL) début with the

against

Northern Eagles The Northern Eagles were a rugby league team, that competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) between 2000 and 2002. The club was formed during the rationalisation process of the NRL by the merger of the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles and the Nort ...

in June 2001, and went on to become one of the club's most effective performers. Before his NRL debut, he had previously played for Papatoetoe in the Auckland competition, and

Hibiscus Coast Raiders The Hibiscus Coast Raiders are a rugby league club based on the Hibiscus Coast, New Zealand. They compete in Auckland Rugby League's Fox Memorial competition and between 2000 and 2005 were also involved in the Bartercard Cup competition. History ...

in the

Bartercard Cup The Bartercard Cup (successor of the Lion Red Cup) was the top level rugby league club competition in New Zealand from 2000 until 2007. For the entire life of the tournament it was sponsored by Bartercard. The cup was administered by the New Zeala ...

. Paleaaesina played for the Junior Kiwis in 2001, and the Kiwis in 2005.

Wigan Warriors

In June 2005 he signed a three-year deal to play for Wigan Warriors, starting in 2006. Recently arrived Wigan Warriors coach

Ian Millward Ian "Basil"/"Minibus" Millward (born 22 August 1960) is an Australian rugby league coach, occasional pundit and former player. Millward is now the assistant coach of St George Illawarra in the NRL Millward is the former head coach of Wigan, S ...

commented: "This is a great signing for us. He will add size and pace to our pack for next year and he is only 22 years of age." Paleaaesina said: "It's a great thrill to be joining Wigan and my good friend

Jerry Seu Seu Jerry Seuseu (born 19 April 1974) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s, as a . He represented New Zealand and Samoa at international level. After retirement he became Wellbeing and Educa ...

. I had several offers but Wigan is still the biggest name down here and it will be a thrill to play for them." Iafeta Paleaaesina impressed on his league début for the Wigan Warriors scoring a try in the opening 2006

Super League XI Engage Super League XI was the official name for the year 2006's Super League season in the sport of rugby league in Europe. Bradford Bulls were looking to retain the title they won in Super League X. The competition kicked off the weekend after ...

match against the

Catalans Dragons The Catalans Dragons ( French: ''Dragons Catalans'', Catalan: ''Dracs Catalans'') are a professional rugby league club from Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales department, France. The team competes in the Super League and are the only team from ...

. Paleaaesina also scored again in Wigan Warriors' 36–20 victory over 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 ...

on 24 February 2006. He was one of the best players for Wigan Warriors in the 2006 Super League season despite damaging his calf muscle in a game against the

Warrington Wolves The Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league club based in Warrington, England, that competes in the Super League. They play rugby at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2004. Founded as Warrington Z ...

. His return from injury was against the

on 22 April 2006 which Wigan Warriors won 46–14. Iafeta Paleaaesina played a key role in Wigan Warriors: 2007 squad making a noticeable impact to their performances. Although his surname is often written with an apostrophe in the middle (between the 2 letter "a"s), this is incorrect. When the player first arrived at Wigan Warriors, he was handed his playing shirt with his name on it, and he returned it, stating that the spelling was incorrect. A new one was produced, minus the apostrophe, which he was happy with. On 4 October 2007 the

RLIF The International Rugby League (IRL) is the global governing body for the sport of rugby league football. Previously known as the ''Rugby League Imperial Board'', the '' International Rugby League Board'' and latterly the ''Rugby League Internat ...

gave permission for Paleaaesina to represent

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 Island, Manono an ...

at 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 ...

rather than

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 ...

who he had previously represented in international matches. He qualified to play for Samoa due to his Samoan heritage. He played in the

2010 Super League Grand Final The 2010 Super League Grand Final was the 13th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding game of Super League XV. Held on Saturday 2 October 2010, at Manchester's Old Trafford stadium, the match was contested by English club ...

victory over St. Helens at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

Later career

In 2014, Paleaaesina signed to play for

in the

. In 2016, Paleaaesina played for

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

as a dual registration player before joining the club on a permanent basis at the end of the season. In September 2017, Paleaaesina announced he would be retiring at the end of the season.

Career highlights

*''Junior Club:''

Papatoetoe Panthers Papatoetoe is a suburb in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest suburb in Auckland by population and is located to the northwest of Manukau Central, and 18 kilometres southeast of Auckland CBD. Papatoetoe has the unofficial title of Auckland ...

*''First Grade Debut:'' Round 15, Warriors v Northern Eagles at Ericsson Stadium, 1 June 2001 *''Career Stats:'' 83 career games to date scoring 8 tries

References

External links

Iafeta Paleaaesina Official Player ProfileIafeta Paleaaesina NRL Player Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paleaaesina, Iafeta 1982 births Living people Doncaster R.L.F.C. players Hibiscus Coast Raiders players Hull F.C. players Limoux Grizzlies players New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent New Zealand people of Tokelauan descent New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand Warriors players Otahuhu Leopards players Papatoetoe Panthers players Rugby league players from Auckland Rugby league props Salford Red Devils players Samoan rugby league players Wigan Warriors players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England