Lopini Paea (born 19 April 1984) is a

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 ...

international

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 who last played for the

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 ...

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 ...

. He previously played for the

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 ...

and 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 ...

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 ...

. His preferred position is .

Background

Paea was born in

Auburn, New South Wales Auburn is a Western Sydney suburb in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Auburn is located west of the Sydney central business district and is in the local government area of Cumberland City Council, having previously been the administrativ ...

, Australia. He is the brother of

Mickey Paea Mickey Paea (born 25 March 1986) is a former Tonga national rugby league team, Tonga international rugby league footballer who played as a . He previously played for the Sydney Roosters, St. George Illawarra Dragons, Canterbury-Bankstown Bulld ...

and

Lelea Paea Lelea Paea (born 6 January 1983 in Sydney, New South Wales) is a former Tonga international rugby league footballer. He previously played for Coca-Cola West Red Sparks rugby union in Japan. He usually plays centre, but has played in wing at ti ...

. Paea attended Sarah Redfern High School, and played junior rugby league for the Minto Cobras.

Playing career

Paea made his first grade debut for the

in round 22 of the

2003 NRL season The 2003 NRL premiership was the 96th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the sixth run by the National Rugby League. Fifteen teams competed, with the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles returning in place of their failed joint ...

against Cronulla-Sutherland at the

Sydney Football Stadium The Sydney Football Stadium, commercially known as Allianz Stadium and previously Aussie Stadium, was a football stadium in Moore Park, Sydney, Australia. Built in 1988 next to the Sydney Cricket Ground, the stadium was Sydney's premier rect ...

. He made three appearances for the club in his debut season but did not feature in the club's finals campaign or

2003 NRL Grand Final The 2003 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding match of the 2003 NRL season. In what was a contest of Sydney's east versus west, defending premiers the Sydney Roosters played against minor premiers the Penrith Panthers. The ...

defeat against Penrith. Paea missed the entire

2004 NRL season The 2004 NRL season (also known as the 2004 Telstra Premiership due to sponsorship from Telstra) was the 97th season of professional rugby league football in Australia, and the seventh run by the National Rugby League. Fifteen clubs competed dur ...

but returned in 2005 making five appearances for the club. Over the next few seasons, Paea became a regular starter within the

team. During 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 Te ...

, Paea was suspended for ten weeks after performing a dangerous tackle on

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. ...

player Ben Cross. He played in the 2006

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 reserve ...

grand final for Newtown who were the

feeder club at the time against

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 ...

. Newtown would lose the grand final 20-19 at

Stadium Australia Stadium Australia, currently known as Accor Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Sydney Olympic Park, in Sydney, Australia. The stadium, which in Australia is sometimes referred to as Sydney Olympic Stad ...

. In the

2009 NRL season The 2009 NRL season was the 102nd season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the twelfth run by the National Rugby League. For the third consecutive year, sixteen teams competed for the 2009 Telstra Premiership ...

, Paea played 21 games as the club finished last on the table for the first time since 1966. He played in the

2010 NRL Grand Final The 2010 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2010 NRL season. Played on Sunday, 3 October at Sydney's ANZ Stadium, the match was contested by the St. George Illawarra Dragons and the Sydney Roosters. It was ...

earning a late recall in the team replacing

James Aubusson James Aubusson (born 14 December 1986 in Sydney, New South Wales) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in 2000s and 2010s. He played for the Sydney Roosters and the Melbourne Storm in the Australian National ...

. The Roosters lost however 32–8 to St. George Illawarra at

ANZ Stadium ANZ may refer to: People * Anz (musician), a British DJ and electronic musician Banks * ANZ (bank), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, the fourth-largest bank in Australia ** ANZ Bank New Zealand, the largest bank in New Zealand ...

. Following the Grand Final, Paea joined France-based

side

, where he played until 2014, when he joined Super League rivals

. In June 2015, Paea was granted a release from his contract to return to his first club the

for the remainder of the season, however did not see any game time.

Representative

Paea has represented on several occasions for the

n national team with his most recent international games during the 2007

Junior Kangaroos The Junior Kangaroos side represents Australia in the sport of rugby league. They are commonly known as the Junior Kangaroos, after the native marsupial of that name. Since 2019, they are an under-23 side, with players selected from the NRL. The ...

tour, in which Paea also captained the Tongan side. In August 2008, Lopini Paea was named in the Tonga 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 ...

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

squad.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paea, Lopini 1984 births Living people Australian sportspeople of Tongan descent Australian rugby league players Catalans Dragons players Newtown Jets NSW Cup players Rugby league players from Sydney Rugby league props Sydney Roosters players Tonga national rugby league team captains Tonga national rugby league team players Tongan sportspeople Wakefield Trinity players