Anthony Puletua (born 25 June 1979), also known by the nickname of "TP", 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 11 ...

footballer who last played for the

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challen ...

in the Super League. A

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 ...

and Samoan international, Puletua previously played for the

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. Penrit ...

in the

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 ...

competition, primarily as forward. Puletua joined the Hull Kingston Rovers, on loan in 2015 from the Salford Red Devils. He made 13 appearances, scoring one try for the Hull Kingston Rovers, and retired on 18 September 2015.

Background

Puletua was born in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

, New Zealand. He is of Samoan descent.

Penrith Panthers

Puletua played his junior rugby league with the

St Mary's Saints The St Marys Saints are an Australian rugby league club who were formed in 1908.St Marys''/ref> They were the founding Member of the Penrith District Rugby League. They have previously competed in the NSWRL Jim Beam Cup, winning three titles i ...

before being signed by the

. Puletua made his début for the Penrith Panthers in 1997 and played at second row in the Panthers team which defeated the

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional 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 fifteen Ne ...

in the

2003 NRL Grand final The 2003 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding match of the 2003 NRL season. In what was a contest of Sydney's east versus west, defending premiers the Sydney Roosters played against minor premiers the Penrith Panthers. The ...

. As 2003 NRL premiers, the Panthers travelled to England to face

Super League VIII Tetley's Super League VIII was the official name for the year 2003's Super League championship season, the 109th season of top-level professional rugby league held in Britain, and the eighth championship run by Super League. The season culminat ...

champions, the

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is predom ...

in the

2004 World Club Challenge The 2004 World Club Challenge was held on Friday, 13 February 2004, at the Alfred McAlpine Stadium, Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and larg ...

. Puletua played at second-row forward in the Panthers' 22–4 loss. He was captain of the team from January 2006. Puletua's brother,

Frank Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curr ...

, also played for the Penrith Panthers, retiring from professional rugby league in April 2011. On 4 October 2006, TP was selected to be a part of the Perinth Panthers' Team Legends. Used to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Panthers, Puletua was alongside Penrith legends Mark Geyer, Brad Fitler and Rhys Wesser.

St Helens

Puletua joined St Helens at the end of the 2008 season on a three-year deal. He played in the

2009 Super League Grand Final The 2009 Super League Grand Final was the 12th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding match of the Super League XIV season. It was held on Saturday 10 October 2009, at Old Trafford, Manchester, and was contested by defen ...

defeat by the

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 Headin ...

at Old Trafford. He played in the

2011 Super League Grand Final The 2011 Super League Grand Final was the 14th official Grand Final and the championship-deciding game of the Super League XVI season. It was held on Saturday, 8 October at Manchester, England's Old Trafford stadium. The match was contested by ...

defeat by the

at Old Trafford.

Salford Red Devils

Puletua joined the

Salford Red Devils The Salford Red Devils are a professional rugby league club in Salford, Greater Manchester, England, who play in the Super League. Formed in 1873, they have won six Championships and one Challenge Cup. Their home ground since 2012 has been t ...

for the 2014 season. He made 26 appearances for the club in 2014, but was not registered as a player for the 2015 season due to salary cap issues.

Hull KR

Puletua joined

mid-season in 2015 on a season-long loan from Salford, and announced that he would retire from the game following his spell with Hull KR.

Representative football

Puletua represented the New Zealand national team on 22 occasions following his début in 1998, including the 2000 World Cup. His last selection was for New Zealand against Australia in the ANZAC Test on 20 April 2007 as a replacement for the injured David Kidwell. After that, he switched his allegiance to

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); ...

. Puletua was named in the

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 ...

, and played in three matches. In 2009 he was named as part of the Samoan side for the

Pacific Cup The Pacific Cup was a rugby league football competition for national teams from the Pacific region. History The Pacific Cup was started in 1975 by Keith Gittoes of the New South Wales Rugby League.2013 World Cup.Samoa call up new Salford star Tony Puletua
''skysports.com'', 5 November 2013

Career highlights

* ''First Grade Debut:'' 1997 – Round 10, Penrith v

Perth Reds The Western Reds were a rugby league football club based in Perth, Western Australia. Founded in 1992 as the Western Reds, they entered into the Australian Rugby League competition in 1995 before defecting to the rival Super League competition i ...

at the WACA, 4 May * ''Representative Debut:'' 1998 – Australia vs New Zealand,

Suncorp Stadium Lang Park, also known as Brisbane Football Stadium, by the sponsored name Suncorp Stadium, and nicknamed: 'The Cauldron', is a multi-purpose stadium in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Milton. The current facility co ...

, 9 October * ''Premierships:'' 2003 – member of the

Grand final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. S ...

winning Panthers team that defeated the

, 18–6

References

External links

St Helens profilePenrith Panthers profileSaints Heritage Society profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Puletua, Tony 1979 births Living people Exiles rugby league team players Hull Kingston Rovers players Junior Kiwis players New Zealand emigrants to Australia New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand people of Samoan descent New Zealand rugby league players Penrith Panthers players Penrith Panthers captains Rugby league players from Auckland Rugby league props Rugby league second-rows Salford Red Devils players Samoa national rugby league team captains Samoa national rugby league team players St Helens R.F.C. players