Wellington, New Zealand
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
) is a 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 played for Cronulla-Sutherland 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 ...
(NRL) competition. Filiga primarily played at or in
Early life
Filiga was born in New Zealand. His father is Australian and his mother is Samoan. Filiga changed his last name from McNichol to his mother's maiden name of Filiga.
Playing career
In 2007, Filiga was labelled by his manager as "the next Sonny Bill Williams".
Cronulla won a bidding war in late 2007 for Filiga, committing to a A$600,000 contract over three years. Filiga, previously a
Bulldogs
The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is of medium size, a muscular, hefty dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose.
Cronulla Sharks released Filiga on "compassionate grounds" in April 2009. It is estimated that Filiga's 11-minute NRL career cost Cronulla per minute.
Filiga then went to play for the
Wentworthville Magpies
The Wentworthville Magpies, colloquially known as ''Wenty'', are a rugby league team based in the suburb of Wentworthville in Sydney's Western Suburbs. Founded in 1963 (or 1937), the club has competed in various Sydney district competitions an ...
, who are the feeder club for the Parramatta Eels NRL Side.
As of 2017, Filiga plays for The Cooma Stallions.