Wayne Ulugia (born 8 May 1992) 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 11 ...

footballer. He previously played for the

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest town in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...

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 ...

and

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. He primarily plays and .

Background

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, Ulugia played his junior football for the Papakura Sea Eagles before moving to

Townsville, Queensland Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 30 ...

to play for the Burdekin Roosters. At the end of 2006, Ulugia was signed by the

. He played for the Cowboys'

NYC New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

team from 2009 to 2012. On 31 August 2012, Ulugia re-signed with the Cowboys on a 2-year contract. In Round 24 of 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 ...

, Ulugia made his NRL début for the Cowboys against the

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, th ...

. He scored two tries on debut. On 30 January 2014, the

sacked Ulugia due to breaches of their club code of conduct. In April 2014, Ulugia signed a 2-year contract with the

of the Super League starting effective immediately. On 30 June 2014, the

sacked Ulugia due to 'repeated breaches of club discipline.' In November 2014, the

townsville Blackhawks The Townsville & Districts Blackhawks are an Australian semi-professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, Queensland. They compete in Queensland's top rugby league competition, the Queensland Cup. The club was admitted to the Que ...

announced they have signed Ulugia along with 9 other players for their 2015 roster. In 2015, Ulugia has been playing for Norths in the Townsville and District Rugby League Competition.

Representative career

In 2007, Ulugia played for the

Australian Schoolboys The Australian Schoolboys refer to junior teams that represent Australia in various sports. The name is mainly used in rugby league, rugby union and baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players ...

U15's team. In 2009, Ulugia played for the Queensland and

teams. In 2011, Ulugia played for the

Junior Kiwis The Junior Kiwis side represents New Zealand in the sport of rugby league. They are commonly known as the Junior Kiwis, after the native bird of that name. Since 2010, they are an under-20s side, with players selected from the NRL, Intrust Super ...

. In 2013, Ulugia was named in the Samoan

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 Festival of World ...

training squad.

References

External links

2013 North Queensland Cowboys profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ulugia, Wayne 1992 births Living people New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent North Queensland Cowboys players Northern Pride RLFC players Hull Kingston Rovers players Junior Kiwis players Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league wingers Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Auckland Townsville Blackhawks players Papakura Sea Eagles players