Iosia Soliola (born 4 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 11 ...

footballer who last played for the

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby ...

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 ...

(NRL). He played for

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

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); ...

at international level. He previously played as a for 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 NRL, and as a forward for St Helens in the Super League, with whom he won the 2014 Super League Grand Final. Whilst playing in Europe he gained selection for the Exiles.

Background

Soliola 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. After making his début in Jersey Flegg, Soliola moved onto

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

in which he played with Eli Hayes and won a premiership with the Roosters in 2004.

Professional playing career

2000s

In 2005, Soliola made his NRL début for the Roosters against South Sydney, and went on to play 19 games for the club that season. He was chosen to make his international début at the age of 19 for

in the Tri-nations series of 2005, however was forced to pull out due to injury. Soliola then went on to represent New Zealand in the 2006 Tri-nations tournament. In 5 games, Soliola scored 4 tries including a double against the

Australians Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizens, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Australians, several (or all) ...

at the

Telstra Dome Docklands Stadium, also currently known by naming rights sponsorship as Marvel Stadium, is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment stadium in the Docklands area of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Construction started in October 1997 and w ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. Soliola was selected to play for the New Zealand national team at centre in the 2007 ANZAC Test loss against Australia. He was dropped to premier league in the middle of the 2007 season before returning to first grade in round 14 and regained his form before he badly injured his knee in round 22 against 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 ...

. He missed the rest of the 2007 season. Soliola returned from his lengthy spell on the sidelines in the off season to come off the bench in the Roosters' opening centenary clash against South Sydney in round 1. He also represented the Kiwis in the 100 year centenary test match where he scored one try. In August, 2008 Soliola was named in the New Zealand 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 September, 2008 he was selected in the final 24-man

. He was forced to withdraw from the squad due to a shoulder injury. The Sydney Roosters confirmed that Soliola had signed a three-year deal to play with English Super League club St. Helens midway through the 2009 NRL Season. Soliola played his last match for the tri colours against 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 ...

, ending his 6-year stint with the club. Soliola also represented the Kiwis in the 2009 Four Nations tournament.

2010s

Soliola officially made his début for St. Helens in 2010 making the 2010 engage super league championship final. Iosia Soliola was selected for the Exiles squad for the inaugural Rugby League International Origin Match against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. In the 2011 game Soliola was supposed to play in the 2nd Row alongside Willie Manu, but due to the birth of

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 ...

' Matt King's baby, Soliola was moved by coach

Brian McLennan Brian "Bluey" McClennan (born 16 February 1962) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer and coach. He was previously the head coach of the New Zealand national team (with whom he won the 2005 Tri-nations) and then England' ...

to the centre. New Exiles coach Daniel Anderson selected Soliola at centre for Game 1 of the International Origin. However he was moved into the loose forward role for Game 2 in which the Exiles won 32-20. 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

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 captained

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 Festival of World ...

. On 12 April 2014, Iosia announced he would end his Super League career at the conclusion of the 2014 season., He agreed join the

in 2015 on a two-year deal. St Helens reached the 2014 Super League Grand Final, and Soliola was selected to play at second-row forward, scoring a

try Try or TRY may refer to: Music Albums * ''Try!'', an album by the John Mayer Trio * ''Try'' (Bebo Norman album) (2014) Songs * "Try" (Blue Rodeo song) (1987) * "Try" (Colbie Caillat song) (2014) * "Try" (Nelly Furtado song) (2004) * " Try (Ju ...

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.

2015

Soliola came back to Australia to play with the

. In his first season back in the NRL, Soliola made 19 appearances and scored 4 tries.

2016

In the

2016 NRL season The 2016 NRL season was the 109th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 19th season run by the National Rugby League. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, and was followed by the All Stars Match, w ...

, Soliola was part of the Canberra side which made it through to their first preliminary final in nearly 20 years. Canberra went on to lose the match against Melbourne 14-12.

2017

In the

2017 NRL season The 2017 NRL season was the 110th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 20th season run by the National Rugby League. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, and was followed by the All Stars Match, w ...

, Soliola was suspended for 5 weeks after a high shot on Melbourne's

Billy Slater William Slater (born 18 June 1983), is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. An Australian international and one-time captain of the Queensland State of Origin team, he played his entire ...

. On 2 September 2017, Soliola made his 150th appearance in the NRL for Canberra in their match 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. ...

2018

On 3 July, Soliola signed a two-year contract extension to keep him at Canberra until the end of the 2020 season.

2019

Soliola made 26 appearances for Canberra in the

2019 NRL season The 2019 NRL season was the 112th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 22nd season run by the National Rugby League. The Sydney Roosters became the first team to win back-to-back Premierships since the Brisbane Broncos in 1992 ...

as the club reached the grand final for the first time in 25 years. Soliola played at prop in the club's

2019 NRL Grand Final The 2019 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2019 National Rugby League season and was played at Sydney's ANZ Stadium. The match was contested between defending premiers the Sydney Roosters and the Canberra Ra ...

defeat by the

ANZ Stadium ANZ may refer to: People * Anz (musician), a British DJ and electronic musician Banks * ANZ (bank), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, the fourth-largest bank in Australia ** ANZ Bank New Zealand, the largest bank in New Zealand * ...

. Soliola was awarded the Ken Stephen Medal at the official awards ceremony following the game for his involvement with the community in relation to

2020

After playing the first eight games of the

2020 NRL season The 2020 NRL season was the 113th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 23rd season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 14th consecutive year. ; Notes : : : Pre-seaso ...

for the Raiders, Soliola suffered a horrific facial fracture during their 22-16 win against St. George Illawarra on 3 July. He returned from the injury for Canberra's round 20 match against 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 leag ...

and played a part in the side's finals campaign. On 6 October it was announced Soliola had re-signed with Canberra for the 2021 NRL season. He played in all three of Canberra's finals games including the preliminary final defeat against Melbourne.

2021

On 28 September, Soliola announced his retirement from rugby league.

References

External links

Canberra Raiders profileSydney Roosters profileSaints Heritage Society profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soliola, Iosia 1986 births Living people Canberra Raiders players Exiles rugby league team players Expatriate rugby league players in Australia Expatriate rugby league players in England New Zealand expatriate rugby league players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Australia New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent New Zealand rugby league players Ponsonby Ponies players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Auckland Rugby league second-rows Samoa national rugby league team captains Samoa national rugby league team players Samoan rugby league players Samoan sportspeople St Helens R.F.C. players Sydney Roosters players