Setaimata Sa (born 14 September 1987) is a 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 for the

Mackay Cutters The Mackay Cutters are a semi-professional rugby league football club based in Mackay, Queensland. They compete in Queensland's top rugby league competition, the Queensland Cup. The club was admitted to the Queensland Cup in 2007, alongside t ...

in the

Intrust Super Cup The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by fou ...

Background

Sa was born in Samoa. His junior club was Shirley before he was poached by the Papanui Tigers as a 9 year old in the

Canterbury Rugby League Canterbury Rugby League is the regional body that administers rugby league in Canterbury, New Zealand. CRL manages local competitions from senior level down to age group competitions. Canterbury Rugby League also manages the Canterbury rugby lea ...

competition.

Rugby league career

Sa made his first grade debut 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 ...

against

St. George Illawarra 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 ...

in round 7 of the 2006 NRL season. In his final year at the club during the

2009 NRL season The 2009 NRL season was the 102nd season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the twelfth run by the National Rugby League. For the third consecutive year, sixteen teams competed for the 2009 Telstra Premiersh ...

, he made 20 appearances as the Sydney Roosters finished last for the first time since 1966 and claimed the Wooden Spoon. On 30 August 2009, Setaimata Sa was charged with assault, resisting arrest, malicious damage and failure to leave a licensed premises, after a drunken episode in a Sydney hotel. He played for the

Catalans Dragons The Catalans Dragons (French: ''Dragons Catalans'', Catalan: ''Dracs Catalans'') are a professional rugby league club from Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales department, France. The team competes in the Super League and are the only team from outs ...

in 2010 after sealing a release from the final two years of his Sydney Roosters contract. The deal was a part exchange transfer involving Jason Ryles moving in the opposite direction. In 2014 Sa transferred to

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 wer ...

on a contract until the end of 2015. On 25 October 2016, Sa signed a three-year contract with Australian Rugby League team

who play in the

International career

He was called up for the 2008

ANZAC day , image = Dawn service gnangarra 03.jpg , caption = Anzac Day Dawn Service at Kings Park, Western Australia, 25 April 2009, 94th anniversary. , observedby = Australia Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Cook Islands Ne ...

test at the SCG. In August 2008, Sa 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 1954 Rugby League World Cup, inauguration in 1954, and the first since the 2000 Rugby League World Cup, 2000 tournament. The tournament was held ...

, and in October 2008, he was named in the final 24-man Kiwi squad. He also represented

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); ...

on five occasions scoring four tries. In 2006 he was selected for the New Zealand Tri-Nations squad but was not selected for any of the matches in the series. In 2007 he was in running to be selected for New Zealand again but missed out through injury along with Kiwi international and

teammate

Iosia Soliola Iosia Soliola (born 4 August 1986) is a former professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Canberra Raiders in the National Rugby League (NRL). He played for New Zealand and Samoa at international level. He previously played as ...

. Sa was a member of the World Cup winning New Zealand team beating Australia in the 2008 World Cup Final at

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 ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

. Sa was eligible to represent

Rugby union career

When at

Shirley Boys' High School Shirley Boys' High School (known as SBHS) is a single sex state (public) secondary school in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was originally situated on a 6 hectare site in the suburb of Shirley, but in April 2019 moved, along with Avonside ...

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

he played Rugby for the school's first XV. In 2012 Sa signed a contract to switch codes and play

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

for the

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club which competes in the Premiership, the top division of English rugby union. The club has also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. Whil ...

club, which was finally completed in January 2013 after he received a work permit.Former Kiwi Sa signs with English club rugby
''The Press'', 3 May 2012 On 9 November 2012, he made his debut for the Samoan national team against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

References

External links

Profile at sydneyroosters.com.au
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sa, Setaimata 1987 births Catalans Dragons players Expatriate rugby league players in Australia Expatriate rugby league players in France Expatriate rugby union players in England Hull F.C. players Living people London Irish players Mackay Cutters players New Zealand expatriate rugby league players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in France New Zealand national rugby league team players Papanui Tigers players People educated at Shirley Boys' High School Rugby league centres Rugby league five-eighths Samoa international rugby union players Samoa national rugby league team players Samoan emigrants to New Zealand Samoan expatriate rugby league players Samoan expatriate rugby union players Samoan expatriate sportspeople in France Samoan expatriate sportspeople in England Samoan rugby league players Samoan rugby union players Sydney Roosters players Widnes Vikings players