Roy Asotasi (born 6 January 1982) 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 112 ...

footballer who played as a in the 2000s and 2010s. A New Zealand international captain, he also played for

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 ...

. Asotasi 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 Australian clubs

Canterbury-Bankstown Canterbury-Bankstown is a customary region of Sydney, Australia, in the south-western suburbs. The area is located around the Bankstown railway line, to the west of the St George region and to the south of the Inner West region. The suburbs ...

(with whom he won the 2004 NRL Premiership) and the

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional Australian 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 pla ...

from 2007 to 2013. He then played 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

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 ...

Background

Asotasi 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 is of Samoan descent, A product of 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 ...

junior club in

, he also attended

Marcellin College, Auckland Marcellin College is a Catholic, integrated, co-educational college in Royal Oak, Auckland, New Zealand for students in Year 7 to Year 13. The college was founded by the Marist Brothers in 1958 as a school for boys only. The school follows the v ...

Professional playing career

Canterbury-Bankstown

Asotasi joined Sydney

club, the

club in 2000 as a where he was a regular member of their

Jersey Flegg Cup The Jersey Flegg Cup is a junior rugby league competition played in New South Wales, contested among teams made up of players aged 21 or under. The competition is administered by the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL), and is named for Easter ...

team, playing in the Premiership-winning team against Western Suburbs. In 2001 he was again a regular member of the

team and played in the Premiership-winning team against 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 league ...

as a . By 2002 Asotasi became a regular member of the dogs of war'

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

team and received the opportunity to join the highest grade of Rugby League in Australia, the NRL against

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

, when Glen Hughes was injured. He returned to the Premier League to play in the Preliminary Final against

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith that competes in the NRL. The team is based west of the centre of Sydney, at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Penrith ...

but was injured and missed the Grand Final win. In 2004, Asotasi started the season in the NRL premiership and played every game of the season including the

2004 NRL grand final The 2004 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2004 NRL season. It was contested by the Sydney Roosters, who had finished the regular season in 1st place, and the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, who had finished ...

victory over cross-town rivals, 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 that same year he was also selected to play for New Zealand. He has played 14 Tests for New Zealand from 2004 to 2006. As 2004 NRL premiers, the

faced

Super League IX Tetley's Super League IX was the name of the 2004 Super League championship season due to sponsorship by Tetley's Bitter. This was the 110th season of top-level professional rugby league held in Britain, and the ninth championship decided by Super ...

champions,

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 the

2005 World Club Challenge The year 2005 Carnegie World Club Challenge was contested by Super League IX champions Leeds Rhinos and 2004 NRL season premiers, the Bulldogs. The match was played on 4 February at Elland Road, Leeds before 37,208 spectators. Australian Sean Hamp ...

. Asotasi played as a in the Bulldogs' 32–39 loss. In 2005, Asotasi played every match of the season before his sequence of 74 consecutive games was interrupted in 2006. He was injured just before the finals but returned to play in the Preliminary Final against

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

South Sydney

Foundation club,

signed Roy Asotasi for the start of the 2007 NRL season. He was selected to captain the New Zealand national team as a in the 2007 ANZAC Test loss against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. With Souths he played a major part in helping the club to its first finals appearance in over two decades by finishing in seventh position. That year Asotasi was awarded the

George Piggins Medal The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional Australian rugby league club based in Redfern, New South Wales, Redfern, a suburb of inner-southern Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and are ...

as the club's best and fairest player for the season. Asotasi was named the New Zealand national side captain, as of the 2008 Anzac Test

Match A match is a tool for starting a fire. Typically, matches are made of small wooden sticks or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by friction generated by striking the match against a suitable surface. Wooden matc ...

. He was named in the New Zealand 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 ...

. However, in the round 25 clash against the

, Asotasi picked up a pectoral injury and was sidelined for the remainder of the season and subsequently, took no part in New Zealand's

Rugby League World Cup The Rugby League World Cup is an international rugby league tournament contested by the top national men's representative teams. The tournament is administered by the International Rugby League and was first held in France in 1954, which was ...

success. A pectoral injury also interrupted Asotasi's 2012 season. In April 2013, Asotasi captained

in their

test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

against fierce 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 ...

Warrington Wolves

On 2 July 2013, Roy signed a two-year contract to play for the English Super League club

. His contract began in 2014. On 20 August 2015, Tony Smith, coach of Warrington confirmed that he would be releasing Asotasi for the 2016 season as he wants space to sign one more player to the team next season. Asotasi finished his Warrington career with 58 appearances, 5 tries and one goal.

Highlights

*''Junior Club:''

*''Career Stats:'' 218 career games to date scoring 15 tries * Three Premierships with the Bulldogs, 2000 and 2001 (Jersey Flegg), 2004 (NRL) * 3 May 2007: first game played in the famous red and green. * Appointed captain of South Sydney * Captain of

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 ...

(the Kiwis)

References

External links

South Sydney Rabbitohs profileNRL profileBulldogs profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Asotasi, Roy 1982 births Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs players Expatriate rugby league players in Australia Expatriate rugby league players in England Living people Marist Saints players New Zealand expatriate rugby league players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Australia New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England New Zealand national rugby league team captains New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand people of Samoan descent New Zealand rugby league players North Sydney Bears NSW Cup players People educated at Marcellin College, Auckland Rugby league players from Auckland Rugby league props Samoa national rugby league team players South Sydney Rabbitohs captains South Sydney Rabbitohs players Warrington Wolves players