Lorenzo Ma'afu

Lorenzo Ma'afu (born 13 November 1987) is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who plays for the Burleigh Bears in the Queensland Cup. He primarily plays second-row. Ma'afu is of Tongan descent. Ma'afu is well known for overcoming much adversity to make it into the NRL.[2]

Lorenzo Ma'afu
Ma'afu playing for the Bulldogs in 2008
Personal information
Full nameLorenzo Ma'afu
Born (1987-11-13) 13 November 1987
New Zealand
Height181 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight100 kg (15 st 10 lb)
Playing information
PositionSecond-row
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2008 Canterbury-Bankstown 2 0 0 0 0
As of 17 January 2019
Source: [1]

Early life

Born in New Zealand, before moving to Australia. Ma'afu played his junior football for the East Hills Bulldogs in Australia before being signed by the Bulldogs RLFC.

Canterbury-Bankstown

In Round 9 of the 2008 NRL season he made his NRL debut for the Bulldogs against the Penrith Panthers.

Ipswich Jets

In 2009, he joined the Ipswich Jets in the Intrust Super Cup.[3]

2012-14

At the start of 2012, Ma'afu was close to joining NRL club, the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles but nothing eventuated as Sea Eagles recruitment manager, Noel Cleal, who wanted to sign him, went to the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs before anything was finalized. Ma'afu was invited to do pre-season training with the Gold Coast Titans.[4]

In June 2012, Ma'afu was invited to come down for a week to train with the Newcastle Knights at the request of Knights coach Wayne Bennett in order to possibly gain a contract.[5]

In September 2012, Ma'afu signed a 2-year contract with the Parramatta Eels.[6]

Townsville Blackhawks

In 2015, Ma'afu joined Townsville and played 2 seasons with the club.

Burleigh Bears

In 2017, Ma'afu joined Burleigh and made 12 appearances during the 2017 season.[7]

Controversy

In 2010, he was banned from the sport for 15 months after his drink was spiked with ecstasy and another recreational drug. Ma'afu's ban expired on 1 February 2011 and he returned to play for the Jets.[8]

References
  1. Rugby League Project
  2. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/nrl/parramatta-eels-recruit-lorenzo-maafu-credits-sonny-bill-williams-with-turning-his-life-around/story-e6frfgbo-1226489498828
  3. Jets star Lorenzo Maafu fights suspension The Queensland Times, 18 June 2009
  4. http://www.qt.com.au/story/2012/01/12/nrl-return-likely/
  5. http://football.ipswichjets.com.au/news/jet-lands-knights-nrl-bid
  6. https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=359343857486935&id=119814368106553
  7. "Player Profile". www.qrl.com.au.
  8. "Former Bulldog has doping ban reduced". The Press. AAP. 19 March 2010. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
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