Motu Iosefo Tony (born 29 May 1981) is a former

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 ...

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 played as a in the 2000s and 2010s. He previously played 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 ...

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 ...

and the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite com ...

before playing 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 ...

for the

Castleford Tigers The Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England, that compete in the Super League, the top-level professional rugby league club competition in the Northern Hemisphere. The club have competed i ...

( Heritage № 815),

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 ...

(with whom he won the

2005 Challenge Cup The 2005 Powergen Rugby League Challenge Cup was played by teams from across Europe during the 2005 rugby league season. Hull F.C. won the cup defeating Leeds Rhinos in the final. Qualifying Round First Round Second Round Third Round Four ...

) and 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 in the

RFL Championship The Championship, known as the Betfred Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a professional rugby league competition. It is the Rugby Football League Championship Second Division, second-tier competition organised by the Rugby Football Lea ...

for

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle and to the north of Barrow-in-Furness. It is th ...

Background

Tony was born in

Saleimoa Saleimoa is a small village on the Samoan island of Upolu. It is located on the northwestern coast of the island. The village is split into five sub-villages (Levi, Alamutu, Lotoso’a, Salepouae, and Nonoa) and has a total population of 3816. It i ...

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 ...

. He attended De La Salle College where he played for the First XIII rugby league team. He played for the

Marist Saints The Marist Saints is a rugby league club based in Mount Albert, New Zealand. They currently compete in the top grade in Auckland Rugby League, the Fox Memorial Premiership. History Founded in 1919, the Marist club first won the Fox Memorial in 1 ...

in the

Auckland Rugby League The Auckland Rugby League (ARL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It is responsible for rugby league in the region, including both club and school rugby league. It began in 1910 when the fi ...

competition before being signed by the

. He played for the Marist-Richmond Brothers in the 2000 Bartercard Cup and also toured Australia with the

New Zealand Residents The New Zealand Residents (also previously known as New Zealand 'A', New Zealand XIII, the Lion Red Cup XIII and currently known as the Bartercard Premiership Selection) are a New Zealand rugby league football representative side that is selected f ...

that year.NZ Residents end trip with a flourish
''The Press'', 27 July 2000

Professional playing career

National Rugby League

Tony made his professional début for the

in 2001. He went on to play 55 games for the club, including his appearance at five-eighth in the Warriors'

2002 NRL grand final The 2002 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2002 NRL season. It took place on Sunday, 6 October 2002, at Sydney's Telstra Stadium. 80,130 people saw the Sydney Roosters beat the New Zealand Warriors 30–8. T ...

loss to 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 2004 he moved to the

but only played in three games for the club before leaving to play in the

. His spot in Brisbane was taken over by 17 year old Karmichael Hunt.

Super League

Tony initially played for English club

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the town centre the River Calder joins the ...

. In 2005 he joined

Tony played for Hull in the

Final, scoring a

try Try or TRY may refer to: Music Albums * ''Try!'', an album by the John Mayer Trio * ''Try'' (Bebo Norman album) (2014) Songs * "Try" (Blue Rodeo song) (1987) * "Try" (Colbie Caillat song) (2014) * "Try" (Nelly Furtado song) (2004) * " Try (Ju ...

in the victory against

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 ...

. He was part of the New Zealand side that won the Gillette Tri-Nations in 2005, beating Australia in the final 24–0. Hull reached the 2006 Super League Grand final to be contested against

St Helens R.F.C. St Helens R.F.C. is a professional rugby league club in St Helens, Merseyside who compete in the Super League, the top tier for rugby league in Great Britain. They are the current Champions, having won the last 4 consecutive titles, and becom ...

and Tony played on the wing in his side's 4-26 loss. He played in 109 games for Hull before crossing codes to play for National 2 (North) Rugby Union club

Hull RUFC Hull RUFC is one of two rugby union clubs based in Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They are the current champions of National League 2 North. History The club was formed in 1992 as a result of two clubs – Old Hymerians RUFC ...

. Following the end of the

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 its m ...

season Tony signed for

. Tony had represented the

New Zealand national rugby league team The New Zealand national rugby league team (Māori: Tīma rīki motu Aotearoa) has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the native bird of ...

18 times between 2001 and 2006.Roll of Honour
''nzrl.co.nz'', Accessed 18 August 2009 In 2008 he chose to represent

and 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 ...

but withdrew due to injury. In July 2010 it was announced that Tony had signed for a 1-month trial with

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

union side

Nottingham Rugby Nottingham Rugby Club is a rugby union club based in Nottingham, England. The club's first team currently plays in the RFU Championship, the second tier of English Rugby. The first XV are nicknamed The Archers, in reference to the famous Robin ...

. On 28 October 2010, Super League club Wakefield Trinity announced the signing of Tony. On 12 June 2010, Tony made his début for Trinity at fullback in their 13–10 home victory over Huddersfield.

References

External links

Hull profileCastleford Tigers profileKiwi star Tony to play for SamoaWildcats Capture Kiwi International
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tony, Motu 1981 births Living people Brisbane Broncos players Castleford Tigers players Hull F.C. players Marist Richmond Brothers players Marist Saints players New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand people of Niuean descent New Zealand people of Samoan descent New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand Warriors players People educated at De La Salle College, Māngere East Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league wingers Sportspeople from Apia Wakefield Trinity players Whitehaven R.L.F.C. players