Sebastine Ikahihifo (born 27 January 1991) is a New Zealand 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 plays as a and 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 sh ...

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 wh ...

. He previously played 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 ...

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 ...

Background

Ikahihifo 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, and is of Tongan descent. He played his junior rugby league for the

Mangere East Hawks The Mangere East Hawks are a rugby league based in Mangere, New Zealand. The Hawks compete in Auckland Rugby League's Fox Memorial competition. History The club was formed in 1963, the first fourteen junior teams took the field in 1964.''The Haw ...

Playing career

Early career

He signed for the

in 2010 and played 36 games in the Toyota Cup, being part of the 2010 and 2011 grand final victories. In 2012, Ikahihifo played for the

Auckland Vulcans The Auckland Vulcans were an Auckland based rugby league club that participated in the New South Wales Cup. They were administered by the Rugby League Development Foundation. The team was selected from the Auckland Rugby League's Fox Memorial C ...

in the

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 ...

2012

In round 21 of 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 ...

, Ikahihifo made his first grade début for the New Zealand Warriors against the

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...

playing off the interchange bench in the Warriors' 24–22 loss at

NIB Stadium Perth Oval, currently branded HBF Park (under a sponsorship agreement with HBF Health Fund) and called Perth Rectangular Stadium for international football matches, is a sports stadium in Perth, the capital of the Australian state of Western A ...

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

. Ikahihifo played in 4 matches for the Warriors in the

2013

Ikahihifo finished 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 ...

with him playing in 8 matches for the Warriors.

2014

In February 2014, Ikahihifo was selected in the Warriors' 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. In June 2014, Ikahihifo had his contract extended to the end of the 2015 season. Ikahihifo finished off the Warriors'

2014 NRL season The 2014 NRL season was the 107th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 17th season of the National Rugby League in Australia and New Zealand. The season started in New Zealand, for the Auckland Nines, replacing the Rugby Leagu ...

with him playing in 18 matches.

2015

On 16 January, Ikahihifo was named in the Warriors'

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 ...

wider training squad but did not make the final squad. In Round 5 against 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. ...

, he scored his first NRL career try in the Warriors' 30–14 loss at

AAMI Park The Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, known as AAMI Park for sponsorship reasons, is an outdoor sports stadium on the site of Edwin Flack Field in the Sports and Entertainment Precinct in the Melbourne central business district. When completed ...

. He finished off the season having played in 9 matches and scoring a try. On 23 September, he signed a two-year contract with the

St. George Illawarra Dragons The St. George Illawarra Dragons is an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League since 1999 after a joint-ve ...

starting in 2016.

2016

On 29 January, Ikahihifo was named in St. George Illawarra's 2016 Auckland Nines squad. He was released from his St. George contract without making an appearance for the club in order to join the

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 ...

as a mid-season transfer.

2017

In 2017, Ikahihifo was named in the

Super League Dream Team The Super League Dream Team is an annually-selected rugby league All Star Team consisting of the players deemed to have been the best in their respective positions in the Super League competition. The team is selected by a panel of journalists and ...

2018

He made a total of 20 appearances for Huddersfield in all competitions as the club missed the finals series finishing 5th.

2019

He made a total of 18 appearances in the 2019 season as Huddersfield finished a disappointing 10th.

2020

He joined

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

on loan in the 2020 season. He later played for Salford in their 2020 Challenge Cup Final defeat against Leeds.

2021

On 13 November 2020, the club website reported that they would extend the loan period to cover the 2021 season.

2022

He played a total of 13 matches for Huddersfield in the 2022 Super League season as Huddersfield reached the playoffs. He played in Huddersfield's shock 28–0 loss to Salford in the elimination playoff.

2023

He played 21 matches with Huddersfield in the 2023 Super League season as the club finished ninth on the table and missed the playoffs.

References

External links

Huddersfield Giants profileSL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ikahihifo, Sebastine 1991 births Living people New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand sportspeople of Tongan descent New Zealand expatriate rugby league players in England New Zealand Warriors players Auckland rugby league team players Mangere East Hawks players Junior Kiwis players Rugby league second-rows Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Auckland Huddersfield Giants players