Jack Taualii Afamasaga (born 2 June 1984), also known by the

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

of "Skuks", is a New Zealand former

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 it ...

and 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 played in the 2000s and 2010s. He played at club level for the

Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League. The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and their ...

, 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 ...

, 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 leag ...

, the

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm are a rugby league club based in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia that participates in the National Rugby League. The first fully professional rugby league team based in the state, the Storm entered the competition in 1998. ...

in 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 ...

, the

Western Suburbs Rosellas The Western Suburbs Rosellas, Western Suburbs, Wests, The Rosellas, 2/10 - J Baker are a Rugby league club based in the Newcastle, NSW region of Australia. It was a foundation member of the Newcastle Rugby League in 1909 and has been one of th ...

in the

Newcastle Rugby League The Newcastle Rugby League is a local rugby league football competition in Newcastle, Australia. It is one of the oldest rugby league competitions in Australia, founded in 1910. A Newcastle representative team was also assembled from players in ...

competition, with stints 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 ...

and in France, as a or .

Background

Afamasaga was born in Lower Hutt, New Zealand and is of Samoan heritage. Afamasaga is a cousin of

Hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

and

All Blacks 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, ...

player

Ma'a Nonu Ma'a Allan Nonu (; born 21 May 1982) is a professional rugby union player from New Zealand who currently plays for the San Diego Legion in Major League Rugby (MLR). He plays in the inside centre, but can also cover outside centre and wing. H ...

. He is eligible 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 and Apolima); ...

Childhood and early career

Afamasaga originally began playing

in his youth, playing for the 1st XV team at Waiopehu College in Levin (the same high school attended by former All Black

Carlos Spencer Carlos James Spencer (born 14 October 1975) is a former New Zealand rugby union player and previously the head coach of the and the . He is currently an assistant coach for the New Orleans Gold of Major League Rugby (MLR). During his playing ...

) and working his way up through several representative teams before he was eventually selected by the

Wellington Hurricanes The Hurricanes ( ; formerly the Wellington Hurricanes) is a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Wellington that competes in Super Rugby. The Hurricanes were formed to represent the lower North Island, including the East Coast, H ...

in their schoolboy team. In 2002, at age 18, and after several seasons in the Hurricanes' youth system playing in the centres Afamasaga was spotted by

rugby league scout

Mark Horo Mark Gregory Horo (born 27 March 1963) is a New Zealand rugby league coach and former footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. A New Zealand international representative, he played club football in New Zealand for Te Atatu and in Australia ...

, and was signed to the Australian club on a development deal.

Parramatta Eels

He began playing in the junior grades at the Parramatta club during the 2003 season, impressing with his skill, power and pace. Afamasago made his first grade debut during the 2004 season against the

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers are an Australian professional rugby league football team, based in the Inner West and South West Sydney. They have competed in the National Rugby League since being formed at the end of the 1999 NRL season as a joint-venture ...

Leichhardt Oval Leichhardt Oval is a rugby league and soccer stadium in Lilyfield, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently one of three home grounds for the Wests Tigers National Rugby League (NRL) team, along with Campbelltown Stadium and Western Sydney ...

. He then went on to play five games for the club and showed glimpses of the great potential he possessed eventually going on to win the Eric Grothe ''Rookie of the Year'' award. During the next two seasons with the club, Afamasaga played another six games but could not hold down a permanent first-grade position.

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles

Afamasaga was offered a new deal at Parramatta at the completion of the

2006 NRL season The 2006 NRL season was the 99th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the ninth run by the National Rugby League. The lineup of teams remained unchanged from the previous year, with fifteen clubs competing for the 2006 ...

but signed for the

instead, deciding to chase a regular first grade spot. He appeared in the 2007 Grand Final, which Manly lost to Melbourne. However, after failing to crack a regular first-grade spot in 2008 (only playing 2 matches) he has now been released by Manly.

Melbourne Storm

Afamasaga was signed to a trial deal with the

for the rest of the 2011 season. Signed before the 30 June deadline, Afamasaga is now free to play with the Victorian side and their feeder team on the

. He had recently been playing in France for RC Lescure-Arthes XIII, and played in the

for the

Wynnum Manly Seagulls The Wynnum-Manly Seagulls are an Australian rugby league football club based at Kougari Oval, in Brisbane's bayside suburb of Manly West, which neighbours the suburb of Wynnum. They competed in the Brisbane Rugby League from 1951 to 1997. Sinc ...

in 2010.

Newcastle Rugby League

After his stint with Storm, Afamasaga moved to

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle ( ; Awabakal: ) is a metropolitan area and the second most populated city in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie local government areas, and is the hub of the Greater Newcastle area ...

to play with the

for the 2012 season.

Representative career

In 2009 he was named as part of the Samoan squad for the

2009 Pacific Cup The 2009 Pacific Cup, known as the 2009 SP Brewery Pacific Cup due to sponsorship, was a rugby league competition held in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. The competing teams were the , , , , . Tonga, Fiji and PNG had their places in the draw c ...

.Poching names strong Samoan squad
''therhinos.co.uk'', 6 October 2009

References

External links

Jack Afamasaga NRL player profileJack Afamasaga official player profileWynnum Manly Seagulls profile"Interview with Jack Afamasaga"
by Ben Horne 27/12/2006, retrieved 12 February 2007
Samoan Bios: Jack Afamasaga
{{DEFAULTSORT:Afamasaga, Jack 1984 births Living people Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks players Expatriate rugby league players in Australia Manly Warringah Sea Eagles players Melbourne Storm players New Zealand expatriate rugby league players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Australia New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand rugby union players Parramatta Eels players RC Lescure-Arthes XIII players Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Lower Hutt Rugby league second-rows Rugby union players from Lower Hutt Samoa national rugby league team players Western Suburbs Rosellas players Wynnum Manly Seagulls players