Viliami Makamaile "Willie" Manu (born 20 March 1980) is a former
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 ...
international
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 played as a second-row forward, he previously played 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 ...
for Australian clubs the
Wests Tigers
The Wests Tigers are an Australian professional 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 joint-venture ...
,
South Sydney Rabbitohs
The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional Australian rugby league club based in Redfern, a suburb of inner-southern Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and are one of nine existing tea ...
,
St. George Illawarra Dragons and 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 ...
. Manu moved to England and played in the
Super League for the
Castleford Tigers (
Heritage № 854),
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 ...
before joining
St Helens (
Heritage № 1200), with whom he won the
2014 Super League championship.
Background
Manu was born in
Hornsby, New South Wales
Hornsby is a suburb in the Northern Sydney region, or Upper North Shore of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia, approximately north-west of the Sydney central business district. It is the administrative centre of the local gove ...
, Australia.
Playing career
In August 2008, Willie Manu was named in the
Tonga 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 ...
,
and in October 2008 he was named in the final 24-man
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 ...
squad.
He played for Tonga in 2009 in a Test match against the
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 ...
.
St. Helens reached the
2014 Super League Grand Final
The 2014 Super League Grand Final was the 17th official Grand Final and conclusive and deciding match of Super League XIX. It was held on Saturday 11 October 2014, at Old Trafford, Manchester with a 6pm kick-off time. The game was played between ...
and Manu was selected to play from the interchange bench in their 14-6 victory over the
Wigan Warriors
The Wigan Warriors are a professional rugby league club in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the Super League.
Formed in 1872 as Wigan Football Club, Wigan was a founding member of the Northern Rugby Football Union followin ...
at
Old Trafford.
Controversy
In July 2005, Manu was granted continuing bail in Wollongong Local Court on charges related to an altercation at a Wollongong nightclub. Manu was charged with maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm and affray. A nightclub employee suffered head injuries in the incident, while another man received a serious cut to his head.
References
External links
Saints Heritage Society profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manu, Willie
1980 births
Living people
Australian sportspeople of Tongan descent
Australian rugby league players
Castleford Tigers players
Exiles rugby league team players
Hull F.C. players
Rugby league players from Sydney
Rugby league second-rows
South Sydney Rabbitohs players
St Helens R.F.C. players
St. George Illawarra Dragons players
Sydney Roosters players
Tonga national rugby league team players
Wests Tigers players