Jerry Seuseu

Jerry Seuseu (born 19 April 1974) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s, as a prop. He represented New Zealand and Samoa at international level.^[1] After retirement he became Wellbeing and Education manager at the New Zealand Warriors, and the manager for the Junior Warriors. He is the current Junior Kiwis Manager as well as the Senior Wellbeing Manager for the New Zealand Warriors

Jerry Seuseu

Personal information
Born	(1974-04-19) 19 April 1974 (age 50) Auckland, New Zealand
Playing information
Height	188 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	108 kg (17 st 0 lb; 238 lb)
Position	Prop
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1995–96 Counties Manukau 37 6 0 0 20 1997–04 NZ Warriors 132 10 0 0 40 2005–06 Wigan Warriors 40 1 0 0 4 Total 209 17 0 0 64 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 2000 Samoa 4 0 0 0 0 2001–04 New Zealand 11 1 0 0 4
Source: ^[1]

Playing career

A Mangere East Hawks junior, Seuseu represented the Counties Manukau Heroes in the Lion Red Cup in 1995 and 1996, where he was Lion Red Cup player of the year in 1996 before joining the Auckland Warriors^[2] where he was named Reserve Grader of the Year in 1997.^[3] Seuseu then became a stalwart in the Auckland Warriors front row after Joe Vagana left the club to join Bradford Bulls in 2000.^[4] Seuseu played for Samoa at the 2000 World Cup. Seuseu played for the New Zealand Warriors at prop forward in their 2002 NRL Grand Final loss against the Sydney Roosters. He went on to make over 120 appearances for the New Zealand Warriors, scoring 8 tries.^[5]

In 2004 he was banned for seven matches after pleading guilty to reckless high tackling.^[6]

Seuseu joined English club Wigan Warriors at the start of the 2005 Super League season. His younger brother, Anthony Seuseu, also played in Super League VIII with strugglers Halifax. Seuseu retired from rugby league at the end of the 2006 Super League season after two years playing for Wigan Warriors.

Post playing

Between 2007 and 2009 he worked as a Football Development Officer for the Auckland Rugby League focusing on grassroots juniors. He then took up a similar position at the New Zealand Warriors, becoming the Welfare and Education manager for the 2010 season.^[7]

In 2023, Seuseu participated in season 3 of Match Fit, where former rugby players return to play against the Australian counterparts. He joined in the first season that featured former rugby league stars.^[8] He also revealed that he had undergone hip replacement in the last year. On episode 5, he revealed the true reason that he entered his current job was mostly due to losing his father from suicide when Jerry was just six-years-old. Jerry was the oldest of six siblings, and his father was unable to unable to sufficiently provide for the family due to rapid expansion of the family.^[9]

References

1. "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
2. "Rugby league: Seuseu epitomises new Warriors". New Zealand Herald. 3 August 2001. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
3. "`Consistent' Jones named Warriors' player of year". Dominion-Post. 27 August 1997. p. 40 – via EBSCOHost.
4. He was Warriors player of the year in 2001 when they made their inaugural NRL finals appearance and was the starting front rower in the 2002 NRL Grand Final. Jerry Seuseu fightforlife.co.nz
5. "Don't play it again, Daniel". Stuff.
6. "Seuseu cops seven-match ban". ABC. 8 June 2004. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
7. Alderson, Andrew (13 December 2009). "NRL: Seuseu signs up for welfare". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
8. "Match Fit Season 3 Ep 1 | SPORT | ThreeNow". www.threenow.co.nz. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
9. "Match Fit Season 3 Ep 5 | SPORT | ThreeNow". www.threenow.co.nz. Retrieved 16 May 2023.

External links