Masada Iosefa

Masada Iosefa
Personal information
Born (1988-01-26) 26 January 1988
Motootua, Samoa
Height 179 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight 90 kg (14 st 2 lb)
Playing information
Position Hooker, Lock, Five-eighth, Halfback
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2008–11 Penrith Panthers 61 22 0 0 88
2012–13 Wests Tigers 42 3 0 0 12
Total 103 25 0 0 100
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2010–13 Samoa 2 0 0 0 0
As of 23 September 2013
Source: Rugby League Project League Central

Masada Iosefa (born 26 January 1988) is a Samoan professional rugby league footballer who currently plays for the Penrith Panthers and West Tigers in the National Rugby League. He primarily plays as a hooker. He is cousins with the four Mata'utia brothers, Newcastle Knights players Chanel Mata'utia, Sione Mata'utia and Pat Mata'utia, and St. George Illawarra Dragons player Peter Mata'utia.

Career

A Blacktown City junior and a student of Patrician Brothers' College, Blacktown, Iosefa has said of his younger years, "I was a little gangster. I guess it doesn't matter now but I grew up with a lot of guys and all they knew was crime. I just blended in with them and got caught up with it a bit. I was just hanging out on the streets. Doing the wrong thing. It is a pretty rough place and the kids just hang out and get into trouble. Not massive trouble but it can go that way. I was caught up with it. I was really close to getting locked away for a while."[1]

In 2008, Iosefa made his NRL debut for the Penrith Panthers. He played with the Panthers in the following 3 years making 43 appearances, almost all from the bench, and scoring 8 tries.

In 2012, he joined the Mount Pritchard Mounties in the NSW Cup, a feeder team for the Canberra Raiders. Iosefa was picked up as a mid-season recruit by the Wests Tigers, as back-up for hooker Robbie Farah. Playing hooker or from the bench, he made 9 appearances for 2012, the last 7 of which were losses. He was also a member of the feeder team Balmain Ryde Eastwood Tigers side that lost the NSW Cup grand final.[2]

Early in 2013, it was reported that Iosefa had been offered a contract with the New Zealand Warriors, with the Wests Tigers unwilling to release him as they needed a back up for hooker Farah.[3]

Representative career

Iosefa was named in both the Samoan and New Zealand training squads for the 2008 World Cup however, he did not end up making either final side.[4][5]

In 2009 he was named as part of the Samoan side for the Pacific Cup.[6]

In April 2013, Iosefa played for Samoa in a test match against rivals Tonga in Penrith. Later in the year, Samoa selected him to play in Samoa's 2013 Rugby League World Cup campaign. Just before the tournament kicked off, however, he was forced out of the side after suffering an injury.


References

  1. ↑ James Phelps (18 July 2012). "How Masada Iosefa beat a life of crime". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  2. ↑ Wayne Cousins (30 September 2012). "Tigers go down fighting to Jets in NSW Cup Grand Final". weststigers.com.au. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
  3. ↑ Josh Massoud (25 March 2013). "Cash offer to silence ex-Shark". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
  4. ↑ "Samoa name World Cup Squad". League Unlimited. 2008-08-05. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
  5. ↑ "Kiwis select Sonny Bill". Sky Sports. 2008-08-08. Retrieved 2008-08-08.
  6. ↑ Poching names strong Samoan squad therhinos.co.uk, 6 October 2009
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