Tony Tatupu

Kuripitone "Tony" Tatupu is a former professional rugby league footballer. He played as a centre and in the second-row and represented both New Zealand and Western Samoa.^[1] Tatupu is the uncle of the rugby league footballer; Matthew Wright.

Tony Tatupu

Personal information
Full name	Kuripitone Tatupu
Born	(1969-07-26) 26 July 1969 (age 53) New Zealand
Height	190 cm (6 ft 3 in)
Weight	98 kg (15 st 6 lb; 216 lb)
Playing information
Position	Centre, Second-row
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P Mt Albert Lions 1994 North Harbour 23 9 0 0 26 1995–96 Auckland Warriors 27 6 0 0 24 1997 Warrington Wolves 1998–99 Auckland Warriors 40 4 0 0 16 2000–01 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 21 2 0 0 8 Total 111 21 0 0 74 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 1991–94 Auckland 12 1990–00 Western Samoa 6 2 0 0 8 1994–95 New Zealand 4 0 0 0 0
Source: ^[1]

Playing career

Tatupu first played for the Mt Albert Lions in the Auckland competition before joining the North Harbour Sea Eagles for the 1994 Lion Red Cup season. Between 1991 and 1993 he played 12 games for Auckland.^[2] From there he joined the Auckland Warriors for their inaugural season in the Australian Rugby League competition. Along with Nigel Vagana he joined the Warrington Wolves in the Super League competition in 1997 before returning to the Warriors for another two seasons.

In 2000 he returned to England to finish his career at the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats. He stayed with the club during a time of financial turbulence mid-way through the 2000 season which saw all players aged over 24 released and then re-signed on limited wages.

Representative career

Tatupu represented Samoa at two World Cups, and two Pacific Cups. He was named in the 1992 Pacific Cups team of the tournament.

Later years

He now serves as a New Zealand Police officer and represented the New Zealand Police at the inaugural Police World Cup.^[3][4]

Tatupu's son Shem has been signed by Australian Football League (AFL) club Hawthorn as an international rookie.^[5]

References

1. "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
2. Richard Becht. A New Breed Rising: The Warriors Winfield Cup Challenge. Auckland, HarperCollins, 1994. ISBN 1-86950-154-3. p.183
3. . finda.com.au. 13 November 2008. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
4. . warriors.co.nz. 13 July 2009. Archived from the original on 26 July 2009. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
5. Worthington, Sam. "Wayne Schwass tips Kiwis to make AFL impact". Stuff.co.nz. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 12 May 2013.