Name Tuimoala Lolohea Date joined 2014 Weight 89 kg | Height 1.77 m Role Rugby league Five-eighth | |
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Tuimoala Lolohea (born 23 January 1995) is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who currently plays for the Wests Tigers in the National Rugby League. A New Zealand and Tongan international representative, he mostly plays at five-eighth, halfback and fullback, but can also fill in at centre and wing. Lolohea previously played for the New Zealand Warriors.
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Tuimoala lolohea 2015 tries
Playing career
A Marist Saints junior, Lolohea is of Tongan descent and signed with the New Zealand Warriors in 2013, playing in all 28 matches in the Holden Cup. Lolohea was named the Warriors' 2013 NYC Young Player of the Year and also played for the Junior Kiwis that year. He attended Kelston Boys’ High School.
2014
In February, Lolohea was selected in the Warriors' 2014 NRL Auckland Nines squad. He started the season plaing for the Warriors NSW Cup squad. Lolohea made his first grade debut in round 20 against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, playing off the interchange bench in the Warriors 22-12 loss at Mt Smart Stadium after halfback Shaun Johnson was ruled out with injury. Lolohea played in the 2014 Holden Cup Grand Final, won by the Junior Warriors 34-32 over the Junior Brisbane Broncos. He made 3 appearances in first grade.
2015
Lolohea was again named in the Warriors' 2015 Auckland Nines squad. In Round 3 against the Parramatta Eels, Lolohea scored his first NRL career try in the Warriors 29-16 win at Mt Smart Stadium. On 2 May, Lolohea played fullback for Tonga against Samoa in the Polynesian Cup, in Tonga's 18-16 loss at Cbus Super Stadium. In round 18, against the Melbourne Storm, Lolohea scored one of the best tries of the 2015 season when he finished a sensational team effort; Nathan Friend was upended and displayed his best acrobatic moves when he chased a Chad Townsend bomb kick and delivered a stunning back flip pass to Sam Tomkins, the ball passed between further Warriors before Lolohea scored in the corner. Lolohea finished the season with 23 matches, 11 tries and 13 goals, while mid-season his contract was extended until the end of 2018.
Lolohea was selected in the final 23-man squad for the New Zealand Kiwis' tour of Great Britain. After injuries to Kieran Foran and Shaun Johnson, the Kiwis were forced to search for a new halves pairing. Lolohea had recently been playing in the halfback role for the Warriors so he was chosen by Kearney to play at halfback with Peta Hiku. Many people were questioning the inexperience of the halves pairing but it was revealed by Stephen Kearney that the two had been training together in secret during the NRL finals to become better adapted to the situation. He played halfback in the first test against England, in the 26-12 loss at KC Stadium.
2016
In February, Lolohea played for the Warriors in the Auckland Nines. He finished the 2016 NRL season with 23 matches, scoring 5 tries and kicking 9 goals.
2017
After playing in the first 4 rounds, Lolohea was dropped to the Warriors NSW Cup team. He subsequently attracted interest from the Wests Tigers, Canberra Raiders and the North Queensland Cowboys.
On 6 May, Lolohea was selected for Tonga to play against Fiji in the 2017 Pacific Cup, he played at five-eighth in the 26-24 win.
On 27 May, Lolohea was granted a release from his contract with the Warriors. He played 52 first-grade matches for the club, scoring 17 tries and 18 goals for a total of 104 points. Warriors coach Stephen Kearney said that Lolohea was granted a release so he could play in the halves at another club.
He signed with the Wests Tigers on 29 May. Lolohea said of his move from the Warriors, "I was overweight. I was unhappy. I was struggling. Playing reserve grade on the wing probably didn't help. I was off it a little bit. I've lost six kilograms since coming here and each week I'm feeling better on the field. In the first month at the Tigers I was struggling and my weight had a lot to do with it." He made his club debut in round 13, and remained at five-eighth for the rest of the season, also taking over goal-kicking duties. He scored 4 tries and 92 points in his 13 matches with his new club.