Kylie Leuluai (born 29 March 1978) is a New Zealand 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 112 ...

footballer. A New Zealand Māori and Samoa international representative , he most notably played at club level for the

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 Headi ...

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 ...

. He also played club football in Australia for

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 ...

clubs; the

Balmain 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 i ...

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 ...

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby league, Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won ...

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 ...

, and 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 ...

. Leuluai was a massive part of the Leeds Rhinos success during his nine seasons at the club, winning a total of six

Grand Finals Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...

, two

World Club Challenge The World Club Challenge is an annual rugby league competition between the winners of the Australasian National Rugby League (NRL) and the European Super League, for the de facto club world championship of the sport. The first such match was pl ...

s and two

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

s in that time to make him the most successful overseas player in the club's history.

Background

Leuluai 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. He attended the Church College of New Zealand in Hamilton, New Zealand, playing both Rugby union and league.

Playing career

Leuluai played for Balmain,

Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...

, and Manly 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 ...

. In 2007, he joined

club

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

. In 2007 Leuluai played for

in the 2007 Super League Grand Final victory over St. Helens. The

club defeated the

Saints In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual res ...

33–6. In 2008 Leuluai played for

in the 2008 World Club Challenge against

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. The

side defeated

18–10. Later that year, Leeds once again made it to the 2008 Super League Grand Final against St. Helens. They defeated

24–16. In 2009, Leuluai played for the

in the 2009 World Club Challenge against Manly. The Leeds side were defeated by Manly 28–20. He played in the 2009 Super League Grand Final 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 ...

. In 2010, Leuluai played for Leeds in the 2010 World Club Challenge against

. The Leeds side were defeated by Melbourne 18–10. It was later found that Melbourne were in serious breach of the NRL Salary Cap Rules and they had the Title stripped from them. It is well known, yet unofficial that this action automatically made the

outfit World Club Champions of 2010. Kylie Leuliai

He played in the 2010 Challenge Cup Final defeat by 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 ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

. In June 2011, Leuluai announced he will retire at the end of the 2012 season, signing a new one-year contract with

in the process. Later that year he played at for Leeds in the 2011 Challenge Cup Final defeat by

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

. He played in the 2011 Super League Grand Final victory over St. Helens at

. Towards the end of 2011, Leuluai announced he would play on into 2012, but would retire at the end of the 2013

Season. In 2012 Leuluai played for the Leeds in the 2012 World Club Challenge against Manly. Leeds beat Manly 26–12. He played in the

2012 Challenge Cup Final The 2012 Challenge Cup Final was the 111th cup-deciding game of the rugby league 2012 Challenge Cup Season. It was held at Wembley Stadium in London on 25 August 2012, kick off 14:30. The final was contested by Leeds Rhinos and Warrington Wolves ...

defeat by

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

. Leeds went on to win the

2012 Super League Grand Final The 2012 Super League Grand Final was the 15th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding match of the Super League XVII season. The match was held on Saturday 6 October 2012, at Old Trafford, Manchester, and was contested by ...

with victory over

. Towards the end of 2012, Leuluai announced he would play on into 2013, but would retire at the end of the 2014

Season. In 2013 Leuluai played for Leeds in the 2013 World Club Challenge against

. Leeds were defeated by Melbourne 18–14. Leuluai once again halted his retirement plans by announcing he would play on into the 2014

Season, but would hang up his boots at the end of 2014. In 2014, Leuluai played in the 2014 Challenge Cup Final victory over the Castleford Tigers at

. Surprisingly enough, Leuluai halted his retirement plans yet again and announced he would play on into the 2015

Season, but would most definitely hang up his boots at the end of 2015 along with fellow Prop Forward

Jamie Peacock James Darryl Peacock MBE, (born 14 December 1977) is a motivational speaker, leadership mentor and former English professional rugby league footballer. He played for Leeds Rhinos and the Bradford Bulls in the Super League, and captained both ...

MBE. In June 2015, Leuluai once again announced his intention to retire at the end of 2015, saying that he felt it was time to move on to a new challenge. Leuluai expected to be staying on and working with the club on a part-time basis while studying at university as well. He played in the 2015 Challenge Cup Final victory over

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challen ...

. On 3 July 2015, Leuluai scored a try on his 250th appearance for

against reigning Super League champions St Helens as Leeds completed the double with a ruthless 46–18 victory to go three points clear of them with just three games left before the start of the Super 8s. Leuluai would finish his career with a sixth Grand Final victory with Leeds after defeating Wigan in the 2015 Grand Final at

Representative career

Leuluai played for New Zealand Māori in 1998 and at the 2000 World Cup.''New Zealand Rugby League Annual '98'',

New Zealand Rugby Football League The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in New Zealand. SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a tour of Great Britain that same year.Coffey and Wood ''T ...

, 1998. p.118 Leuluai was named in the Samoa 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 b ...

. In 2009 he was named as part of the Samoan side for the

Pacific Cup The Pacific Cup was a rugby league football competition for national teams from the Pacific region. History The Pacific Cup was started in 1975 by Keith Gittoes of the New South Wales Rugby League.Samoan player of the year for 2009.

Rugby League International Origin Match

Kylie Leuluai was selected for the Exiles squad for the Rugby League International Origin Match against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...

on 10 June 2011.

Honours

Club

(6): 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015 *

(2): 2008, 2012 *

League Leader's Shield The League Leaders' Shield is a shield awarded to the team finishing the season top of Super League in the sport of rugby league football. Currently, and for most of Super League's history, the championship is decided on the basis of a play-off s ...

(2): 2009, 2015 *

(2): 2014, 2015

Personal life

James Leuluai A'au James Leuluai (born 4 February 1957) is a New Zealand former international rugby league . Background He is the father of former Widnes Vikings player Macgraff Leuluai and Wigan Warriors and New Zealand international Thomas Leuluai, and th ...

is his uncle and his cousins are

Thomas Leuluai Thomas James Leuluai (born 22 June 1985) is a New Zealand professional rugby league coach who is the assistant coach of the Wigan Warriors in the Betfred Super League and a former professional rugby league footballer who played for New Zealand ...

and

Macgraff Leuluai Macgraff David E. Leuluai (born 9 February 1990) is a rugby league footballer who plays as a or . Background He was born in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. His father, James Leuluai, James, and his brother, Thomas Leuluai, Thomas, have bot ...

. Kylie belongs to

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

and is renowned for being able to bench press 225 kg – the heaviest weight lifted by an NRL player.

Career highlights and honours

*''Junior Club:'' Papatoetoe Panthers *

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 ...

2004–06 *''

Championship:'' member of the 2007 Championship

Team *''

Championship:'' member of the 2008 Championship

Team *''

Championship:'' member of the 2009 Championship

Team *''

Championship:'' member of the 2011 Championship

Team *'' Exiles:'' member of the 2012 Winning Team against England Rugby League *''

Championship:'' member of the 2012 Championship

Team *''

Winners:'' member of the 2014 Challenge Cup Winners

Team

References

External links

Rhinos squad: Kylie LeuluaiWarrington Wolves profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leulai, Kylie 1978 births Living people Balmain Tigers players Exiles rugby league team players Expatriate rugby league players in Australia Expatriate rugby league players in England Junior Kiwis players Leeds Rhinos players Kylie Manly Warringah Sea Eagles players New Zealand expatriate rugby league players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Australia New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England New Zealand Māori rugby league players New Zealand Māori rugby league team players New Zealand Māori rugby union players New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand rugby union players Papatoetoe Panthers players Parramatta Eels players Rugby league players from Auckland Rugby league props Samoa national rugby league team captains Samoa national rugby league team players Samoan rugby league players Sydney Roosters players Wests Tigers players