Frank Puletua

Frank Puletua (born 8 May 1978) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. A Samoa international representative second-row, he played his club football in the National Rugby League for Australian clubs the Penrith Panthers and South Sydney Rabbitohs.

Frank Puletua
Personal information
Born (1978-05-08) 8 May 1978
Auckland, New Zealand]
Playing information
Height186 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight102 kg (16 st 1 lb)
PositionProp, Second-row
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1998–01 Penrith Panthers 31 1 0 0 4
2002–03 South Sydney 26 3 0 0 12
2004–11 Penrith Panthers 121 4 0 0 16
Total 178 8 0 0 32
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2000–08 Samoa 7 1 0 0 4
Source: [1][2]

Background

Puletua played his junior rugby league for the St Mary's Saints before being signed by the Penrith Panthers.

His brother is New Zealand and Samoan international Tony Puletua. He holds fine arts and graphics design degrees from the University of Western Sydney[3]

Playing career

Puletua made his NRL debut for the Penrith Panthers on 25 April 1998 against the Melbourne Storm. Eligible to represent Samoa,[4] Puletua did so in the 2000 World Cup. He played for the Panthers until switching to the South Sydney Rabbitohs for the 2002 and 2003 seasons. He then signed with the new Gold Coast Titans but changed his mind and left the club, returning to Penrith. He was named in the Samoa training squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.[5]

Post-playing

After retiring from rugby league he became the creative producer at the Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre. In September 2013 Puletua gave the 15th annual Tom Brock Lecture.[6]

References
  1. Frank Puletua at the Rugby League Project
  2. The Daily Telegraph
  3. Lewis, Daniel. "Puletua jumps the fence to showcase the game's true flag bearers". The Sydney Morning Herald. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  4. "NRL's island talent". Samoa Observer. 28 March 2008. Archived from the original on 8 December 2008. Retrieved 4 August 2008.
  5. "Samoa name World Cup Squad". League Unlimited. 5 August 2008. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
  6. "XV Tom Brock Lecture". tombrock.com.au. Tom Brock Bequest Committee. Archived from the original on 17 March 2014. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
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