Samuela "Sam" Moa (born 14 August 1986) 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 , most recently for the

FC Lézignan XIII Football Club de Lézignan (often referred to as the Lézignan Sangliers) are a semi-professional rugby league, rugby league football club based in Lézignan-Corbières in the Departments of France, départment of Aude in the south of France. The ...

in the French

Elite One Championship Elite 1 is the top level rugby league competition in France, sanctioned by the French Rugby League Federation. The season runs from September to April, which is in contrast to the majority of other major domestic rugby league competitions worl ...

. He is both

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 ...

and

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. Moa has previously played for 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 ...

and 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 ...

, with whom he won the 2013 Telstra Premiership 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 ...

, and

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 ...

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 ...

Background

Moa was born in Tonga and raised in New Zealand.

Playing career

Wests Tigers

Moa started his career at

side

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers are an Australian professional Rugby league, rugby league football team, based in the Inner West and South West Sydney. They have competed in the National Rugby League since being formed at the end of the 1999 NRL season as a j ...

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks

He then signed with the

in 2008 and playing in one

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 ...

match.

Hull FC

He was signed by

in January 2009 and arrived a week before the club's fixture with

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 sh ...

which he featured off the bench in his debut. Moa is good friends with former

and

teammate

Willie Manu Viliami Makamaile "Willie" Manu (born 20 March 1980) is a former Tonga international rugby league footballer. He played as a second-row forward, he previously played in the National Rugby League for Australian clubs the Wests Tigers, South Syd ...

and former

and

teammate

Epalahame Lauaki Epalahame Lauaki (born 27 January 1984) is a Tongan former professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Bradford Bulls in the Championship. Background Lauaki was born in Ha'apai, Tonga. He is the brother of former All Black ...

(now at Bradford Bulls). The trio were commonly known by the Hull fans as 'The Tongan Mafia'. 043 Moarunn

Sydney Roosters

Sam signed for the

for the

2013 NRL season The 2013 NRL season was the 106th season of professional rugby league club competition in Australia. The National Rugby League's main competition, named the 2013 Telstra Premiership after major sponsors Telstra Corporation, was contested by sixte ...

, winning the premiership with them at the end of the season. Many observed that Moa's performance in the grand final was particularly memorable, flattening Manly's

Glenn Stewart Glenn Stewart (born 11 January 1984) is a former Australian professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Leigh Centurions in the Super League. An Australia international and New South Wales State of Origin representative , ...

with an aggressive kick-off return in the 1st minute.

Catalans Dragons

Moa joined the French side ahead of the

2017 Super League season The 2017 Super League season, known as the Betfred Super League XXII for sponsorship reasons, was the 22nd season of the Super League and 123rd season of rugby league in Britain. Twelve teams competed over 23 rounds, including the Magic Weekend, ...

. He played in the

2018 Challenge Cup Final The 2018 Challenge Cup Final was the 117th cup-deciding game of the rugby league 2018 Challenge Cup Season. It was held at Wembley Stadium in London on 25 August 2018, kick off 15:00. The final was contested by Catalans Dragons and Warrington W ...

victory over 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 ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

On 2 December 2020 it was reported that Moa would leave the club at the end of the 2020 season

FC Lézignan XIII

On 11 December 2020 it was reported that Moa had signed for

Coaching career

In November 2021,

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 ...

appointed Sam Moa as

assistant coach A sports coach is a person coaching in sport, involved in the direction, instruction and training of a sports team or athlete. History The original sense of the word ''coach'' is that of a Coach (carriage), horse-drawn carriage, deriving ultima ...

Steve McNamara Steve McNamara (born 18 September 1971) is an English professional rugby league football coach who is the head coach of the Catalans Dragons in the Betfred Super League and a former professional player. He is a former coach of England, and a Gr ...

. He returned to the club one year after having left the club and retired from playing professional rugby.

International career

Tonga

Moa first played for

in 2006 as part of the 2008 World Cup qualifying series. Moa was subsequently picked in the 2008 World Cup squad and went on to feature in all three of Tonga's matches at the tournament.

New Zealand

He declared himself eligible for selection for New Zealand at the next world cup citing his desire to be part of a world cup winning squad. Despite playing for Tonga against

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 ...

in the

Pacific Rugby League International The Pacific Rugby League International is a rugby league test match that has been played between two Pacific Island nations during the National Rugby League's annual representative weekend since 2013. The fixture was held at Penrith Stadium for ...

in April 2013, he played for

in the

2013 Rugby League World Cup The 2013 Rugby League World Cup was the fourteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup and took place in England, Wales, France and Ireland. between 26 October and 30 November 2013. It was the main event of the year's 2013 Festival of World ...

References

External links

Catalans Dragons profile
*
SL profile2017 RLWC profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moa, Samuela 1986 births Living people Balmain Ryde-Eastwood Tigers players Catalans Dragons players Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks players Hull F.C. players Lézignan Sangliers players New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Australia New Zealand sportspeople of Tongan descent New Zealand rugby league players People educated at Keebra Park State High School Rugby league props Sydney Roosters players Tonga national rugby league team players Tongan rugby league players