Bunty Afoa
Personal information
Full nameIulio Afoa[1]
Born (1996-08-20) 20 August 1996
Auckland, New Zealand
Height188 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight113 kg (17 st 11 lb)
Playing information
PositionProp
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2016– New Zealand Warriors 129 8 0 0 32
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2016–22 Samoa 8 0 0 0 0
2019 Samoa 9s 3 0 0 0 0
Source: [2]
As of 2 September 2023

Iulio "Bunty" Afoa (born 20 August 1996) is a Samoa international rugby league footballer who plays as a prop for the New Zealand Warriors in the National Rugby League (NRL).

Background

Afoa was born in Auckland, New Zealand, and is of Samoan[3] descent and attended St Paul's College.

He played his junior rugby league for the Point Chevalier Pirates, before being signed by the New Zealand Warriors.

Playing career

Early career

From 2014 to 2016, Afoa Loni Lolohea played for the New Zealand Warriors' NYC team.[4][5] In May 2015, he was selected as 18th man for the Junior Kiwis side to play the Junior Kangaroos.[6] Afoa played in his 50th Holden Cup match in 2015 and was named the Junior Warriors player of the year at the end of the season.[7]

2016

On 23 June, Afoa re-signed with the Warriors on a three-year contract until the end of 2019.[8] In Round 17 of the 2016 NRL season, he made his NRL debut for the Warriors against the Gold Coast Titans.[9][10] On 8 October, he made his international debut for Samoa in their historical test match against Fiji in Apia.

2017

In the 2017 NRL season, Afoa made 17 appearances as the club finished a disappointing 13th on the table.[11]

2018

Afoa made 23 appearances for New Zealand in the 2018 NRL season as the club qualified for the finals for the first time since 2011. Afoa played in the club's elimination final loss to Penrith.[12]

2019

Afoa played 20 games for New Zealand in the 2019 NRL season as the club missed out on the finals.

2020

On 18 February, Afoa was ruled out for the entire 2020 NRL season after suffering an ACL injury at pre-season training.[13]

2021

On 10 June, the New Zealand Warriors announced that Afoa had signed a new two-year contract. [14]

2022

In round 13 of the 2022 NRL season, Afoa was sent to the sin bin for a professional foul and later scored a try in New Zealand's 44-12 loss against Manly.[15] Afoa made a total of 24 appearances for the New Zealand club as they finished 15th on the table.[16]

2023

Afoa played 21 games for the New Zealand Warriors in the 2023 NRL season as the club finished 4th on the table and qualified for the finals.[17]

Statistics

Season Team Pld T G FG P
2016 New Zealand Warriors 4 2 8
2017 17 1 4
2018 23
2019 20 1 4
2021 20 2 8
2022 24 1 4
2023* 18 1 4
Totals 127 8 32

References

  1. ↑ NRL. "Bunty Afoa - Warriors". Warriors.kiwi. Archived from the original on 6 July 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  2. ↑ "Bunty Afoa - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  3. ↑ "NRL: Family first for Bunty Afoa - Sport - NZ Herald News". Nzherald.co.nz. 15 July 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  4. ↑ "A". Nyc Database. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  5. ↑ Tim Costello (29 March 2016). "LeagueUnlimited NYC Teams - 2016 Round 5". League Unlimited. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  6. ↑ Zero Tackle (26 April 2015). "Junior Kiwis squad named". Zero Tackle. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  7. ↑ Ben Matulino wins Warriors' player of year award for second time stuff.co.nz, 15 September 2015
  8. ↑ NRL. "Kata secured - Warriors". Warriors.kiwi. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  9. ↑ "Updated team lists: Warriors v Titans". NRL.com. 28 February 2016. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  10. ↑ NRL. "NRL LATE MAIL | #Mannering250 - Warriors". Warriors.kiwi. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  11. ↑ "Official Player Numbers". Parramatta Eels.
  12. ↑ "Warriors: 2017 by the numbers". www.nrl.com.
  13. ↑ "Big blow for New Zealand Warriors, as Bunty Afoa is ruled out for NRL season". www.nzherald.co.nz.
  14. ↑ "NRL 2021: Prop Bunty Afoa extends NZ Warriors contract through to end of 2023 season". NewsHub. 10 June 2021. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  15. ↑ "No DCE, no worries as Manly 'man mountain' stuns; star's no-show for 'diabolical' Warriors: 3 Big Hits". www.foxsports.com.au.
  16. ↑ "Warriors farewell 15 players after return to New Zealand". www.foxsports.com.au.
  17. ↑ "NRL 2023: New Zealand Warriors season review". www.sportingnews.com.
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