Motu Tony

Motu Tony

Tony playing for Hull in 2008
Personal information
Full name	Iosefo Motu Tony
Born	29 May 1981 (1981-05-29) (age 30) Apia, Samoa
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	91.5 kg (14 st 6 lb) [1]
Playing information
Position	Fullback, Wing, Five-eighth
Club
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
2001–03	New Zealand Warriors	55	23	0	0	92
2004	Brisbane Broncos	3	2	0	0	8
2004	Castleford Tigers	9	1	0	0	4
2005–09	Hull	109	29	0	0	116
2010	Whitehaven	5	0	0	0	0
2011–	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	2	0	0	0	0
	Total	183	55	0	0	220
Representative
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
2001–2006	New Zealand	18	3	6	0	24
Source: Rugby League Project

Iosefo Motu Tony^[2] (born 29 May 1981 in Apia, Samoa) is a Samoan-New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who currently plays for Wakefield Trinity Wildcats and previously played for Hull and Whitehaven. His usual playing position is Fullback, although he can also play on the wing, centre, stand off and hooker.

Early years

Tony attended De La Salle College where he played for the First XIII rugby league team. He played for the Richmond Bulldogs in the Auckland Rugby League competition before being signed by the New Zealand Warriors. He toured Australia with the New Zealand Residents in 2000.^[3][4]

Playing career

Tony made his professional debut for the New Zealand Warriors in 2001. He went on to play 55 games for the club, including the 2002 National Rugby League grand final. In 2004 he moved to the Brisbane Broncos but only played in three games for the club before leaving and joining the Castleford Tigers. In 2005 he joined Hull.

He played in 109 games for Hull before crossing codes to play for National 2 (North) Rugby Union club Hull RUFC.^[5] Following the end of the Rugby union season Tony signed for Whitehaven. In July 2010 it was announced that Tony had signed for a 1 month trial with Championship union side Nottingham Rugby.^[6]

On 28 October 2010, super league club Wakefield announced the signing of Tony. On the 12th of June, Tony made his debut for the Wildcats at Fullback in their 13-10 home victory over Huddersfield

Representative career

Tony represented the New Zealand Kiwis 18 times between 2001 and 2006.^[7] He was part of the New Zealand side that won the Gillette Tri-Nations in 2005, beating Australia in the final 24 -0.

In 2008 he chose to represent Samoa and was named in the Samoa training squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup but withdrew due to injury.^[8]

References

1. ^ "Official site of the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats". web page. Wakefield wildcats. 2011. http://www.wakefieldwildcats.co.uk/squad/first-team-squad/15-motu-tony/. Retrieved 16 June 2011. 
2. ^ TONY, IOSEFO MOTU 2001 - 2006 - KIWI #686 nzleague.co.nz
3. ^ Johns named halfback and captain AAP Sports News (Australia), 10 October 2000
4. ^ NZ Residents end trip with a flourish The Press, 27 July 2000
5. ^ "Tony makes the switch". Sky Sports. 2009-12-21. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12321_5792647,00.html. Retrieved 2010-07-11. 
6. ^ "Nottingham hand trial to Whitehaven full-back Motu Tony". BBC Sport. 2010-07-06. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/english/8792531.stm. Retrieved 2010-07-11. 
7. ^ Roll of Honour nzrl.co.nz, Accessed 18 August 2009
8. ^ "Samoa name World Cup Squad". League Unlimited. 2008-08-05. http://www.leagueunlimited.com/article.php?newsid=16750. Retrieved 2008-08-06. 

7.http://wakefieldwildcats.co.uk/2010/10/wildcats-capture-kiwi-international/

External links

• Hull profile
• Kiwi profile
• Castleford Tigers profile
• Kiwi star Tony to play for Samoa

Persondata
Name	Tony, Motu
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1981-05-29
Place of birth	Apia
Date of death
Place of death