Ricky Leutele (born 10 April 1990) is a

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); ...

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 11 ...

footballer who plays as a for the

Leigh Leopards The Leigh Leopards are a professional rugby league club based in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England, who compete in the Betfred Super League. The club was founded in 1878, and is one of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern R ...

in the

Betfred 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 w ...

. Leutele previously played for the

Huddersfield Giants Huddersfield Giants are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, the birthplace of rugby league, who play in the Super League competition. They play their home games at the John Smiths Stadium which is sha ...

in the Super League,

Toronto Wolfpack The Toronto Wolfpack are a Canadian professional rugby league club based in Toronto, Ontario, who compete in the North American Rugby League. The club originally competed in the British rugby league system but withdrew in the 2020 Super Leagu ...

in the

Betfred Championship The Championship, known as the Betfred Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a professional rugby league competition. It is the second-tier competition organised by the Rugby Football League, the governing body for the sport in England, ...

and the Super League, 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. ...

and 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 ...

in the NRL. He was part of the

Cronulla Cronulla is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Boasting numerous surf beaches and swimming spots, the suburb attracts both tourists and Greater Sydney residents. Cronulla is located 26 kilometres south of the Sydne ...

team that won their maiden premiership title in the

2016 NRL Grand Final The 2016 NRL Grand Final was a rugby league match between the Melbourne Storm and the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks to determine the premiers of the National Rugby League for the 2016 season. The match was held at Sydney's ANZ Stadium on Sunday ...

, making the final tackle.

Background

Leutele was born in

Brisbane, Queensland Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

, Australia. He is of Samoan and

Tokelau Tokelau (; ; known previously as the Union Islands, and, until 1976, known officially as the Tokelau Islands) is a dependent territory of New Zealand in the southern Pacific Ocean. It consists of three tropical coral atolls: Atafu, Nukunonu, a ...

descent, from the Leutele and Moeono family of

Falefa Falefā is located on the north eastern coast of Upolu island in Samoa. It was the ancient capital during the ‘''Malo’'' (‘government’) of ''Tupu Tafa'ifa'' (King) Fonoti. After having defeated his siblings Va'afusuaga and Samalaulu for co ...

. Leutele played his junior rugby league for the

Logan Brothers Rugby League Football Club The Logan Brothers Rugby League Football Club, commonly known as The leprechauns, was formed at the St Pauls Convent in 1977. Logan Brothers competes in the Brisbane Rugby League and the Brisbane Second Division Rugby League with the club p ...

Playing career

Leutele played his junior football for Logan Brothers before being signed by the

. Leutele played for the Sharks Toyota Cup team in 2009 and 2010, scoring 5 tries in 38 games before moving on to the Sharks'

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 reserv ...

reserve-grade team in 2011.

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks: 2010 - 2018

In round 24 of the

2010 NRL season The 2010 NRL season was the 103rd season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the thirteenth run by the National Rugby League. The season commenced on 12 March and ended with the Grand Final, played on 3 Octobe ...

, Leutele made his NRL debut for the

against the

at in Cronulla's 24–4 loss at AAMI Park. This was the only match Leutele played in his debut year. In round 22 of the 2011 season, against the

Gold Coast Titans The Gold Coast Titans are a professional rugby league football club, based on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australia and New Zealand's national rugby league club competition. The ...

, Leutele scored his first NRL try in Cronulla-Sutherland's 20–16 loss at

Remondis Stadium Endeavour Field (also known by its commercial name PointsBet Stadium and colloquially as Shark Park during Cronulla Sharks matches) is a rugby league stadium in the southern Sydney suburb of Woolooware, New South Wales, Australia. It is the ho ...

. At the end of the season, he was named at centre in the 2011

Team of the Year. Leutele played in 2 matches and scored a first grade try. In July 2012, Leutele played 3 games in 6 days, playing for the NSW Residents on 4 July, the

team on 7 July and then the Sharks' NRL team on 9 July. On 12 September 2012 Leutele was again named at centre in the 2012

Team of the Year. Leutele played in 7 matches and scored 4 tries for the Sharks in the

2012 NRL season The 2012 NRL season was the 105th season of professional rugby league club competition in Australia, and the first run by the newly formed Australian Rugby League Commission. The main competition, called the 2012 NRL Telstra Premiership due to spon ...

On 25 June 2013, Leutele extended his contract with the

for two years till the end of the 2015 season. Leutele played in 3 matches for the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...

. In February 2014, Leutele was selected for the Sharks inaugural

2014 Auckland Nines The 2014 NRL Auckland Nines (known as the Dick Smith NRL Auckland Nines due to sponsorship) was the first NRL Auckland Nines tournament, contested between all sixteen teams of the National Rugby League. The draw was released on 30 October 2014. ...

squad. Leutele finished off the

with him playing in 23 matches and scoring 2 tries as Cronulla finished last on the table and claimed the wooden spoon. On 31 January and 1 February, Leutele played for the Sharks

2015 NRL Auckland Nines The 2015 NRL Auckland Nines (known as the Dick Smith NRL Auckland Nines due to sponsorship) was the second NRL Auckland Nines tournament, contested between all sixteen teams of the National Rugby League. The draw was released on 16 September 201 ...

. On 18 August, he extended his contract with Cronulla for a further three years to the end of the 2018 season. He finished off the 2015 season having played in 23 matches and scoring 7 tries for the Sharks. On 28 January 2016, Leutele was named in the Sharks 2016 Auckland Nines squad. On 2 October he played in the club's first ever premiership victory, famously making the final tackle on Storm winger

Marika Koroibete Marika Koroibete (born 26 July 1992) is a dual-code international rugby league and rugby union footballer. He has been capped for Australia's national rugby union team, and plays as a winger for the Melbourne Rebels in Super Rugby. Koroibet ...

after the siren had sounded. Cronulla-Sutherland won the game 14–12 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 * ...

. Leutele was part of the Cronulla side which finished 5th on the ladder at the end of the regular season. The following week, Cronulla suffered a shock finals defeat by North Queensland losing the match 15–14 at the Sydney Football Stadium. On 24 May 2018, Leutele signed a three-year deal to join the

starting in 2019. Leutele played 25 games for Cronulla in 2018 as the club finished in the top four and reached the finals. Leutele's final game for Cronulla was the preliminary final defeat against Melbourne at AAMI Park.

Toronto Wolfpack: 2019 - 2020

On 5 October, Leutele was part of the

side which won the

Million Pound Game Million Pound Game (stylized as £1M Game) was an annual playoff final rugby league game that decides which Championship team will be promoted to Super League the following season. Between 2015 and 2018, the game was played as part of The Qualif ...

against

Featherstone Featherstone is a town and civil parish in the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, two miles south-west of Pontefract. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, in 2011 it had a population of 15,244. Featherstone railway stat ...

and earned promotion to the Super League for the first time in the club's history. In mid 2020, the

withdrew from playing in the 2020 Super League season, Leutele and his family were in a state of limbo in London as he had not been paid by the club for some months, in addition his visa had expired and so needed to leave the country.

Melbourne Storm: 2020

On 3 August, Leutele signed a contract with

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 ...

to fill the centre position for the remainder of the

2020 NRL season The 2020 NRL season was the 113th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 23rd season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 14th consecutive year. ; Notes : : : Pre-seaso ...

. Leutele made his

debut in round 20 of the

against St. George Illawarra.

Huddersfield Giants

On 20 December 2020 it was announced that Leutele would join the

for the 2021 season. In round 7 of the

2021 Super League season Super League XXVI, known as the Betfred Super League XXVI for sponsorship reasons, was the 26th season of the Super League and 127th season of rugby league in Great Britain. The 2021 season was originally scheduled to begin on 11 March 2021, how ...

, he scored two tries for Huddersfield in their 44-8 victory over the hapless

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staf ...

team. In round 5 of the 2022 Super League season, he scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in Huddersfield's 36-24 victory over

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 th ...

. On 28 May 2022, Leutele played for Huddersfield in their 2022 Challenge Cup Final loss to

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the 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 north-east and Warrington t ...

. Leutele scored the opening try in the match.

Leigh

On 20 October 2022, Leutele signed a contract to join newly promoted side

Representative

On 3 May 2014, Leutele played for

in the 2014 Pacific Rugby League International against Fiji at centre in Samoa's 32–16 win. On 7 October 2014, Leutele was named in the Samoa 24-man squad for the 2014 Four Nations. Leutele played in one match for Samoa in the tournament. On 2 May 2015, Leutele played for

in their Polynesian Cup clash with Pacific rivals

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 ...

, playing at centre in Samoa's 18–16 win at

Cbus Super Stadium Robina Stadium, also known by its sponsored name Cbus Super Stadium, is a rectangular football stadium in the Gold Coast suburb of Robina, Queensland. The main usage is as the home ground to the National Rugby League's Gold Coast Titans; t ...

. On 7 May 2016, Leutele played for

in the 2016 Polynesian Cup against

, where he played at centre and scored a try in the 18–6 win at Parramatta Stadium. On 25 June 2021 Leutele played for the Combined Nations All Stars in their 26-24 victory over

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 ...

, staged at the

Halliwell Jones Stadium The Halliwell Jones Stadium is a rugby league stadium in Warrington, England, which is the home ground of the Warrington Wolves. It has also staged Challenge Cup semi-finals, the European Nations Final, the National League Grand Finals' Day, ...

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 ...

, as part of England’s

2021 Rugby League World Cup The 2021 Rugby League World Cup (RLWC2021) was a collection of world cups in the sport of rugby league, held in England from 15 October to 19 November 2022. England won hosting rights for the competition on 27 October 2016. The bid received £ ...

preparation.

References

External links

Toronto Wolfpack profileCronulla Sharks profileNRL profile2017 RLWC profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leutele, Ricky 1990 births Living people Australian sportspeople of Samoan descent Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Australian expatriate sportspeople in Canada Australian people of Tokelauan descent Australian rugby league players Combined Nationalities rugby league team players Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks players Huddersfield Giants players Leigh Centurions players Melbourne Storm players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Brisbane Samoa national rugby league team players Samoan sportspeople Toronto Wolfpack players