Sione Faumuina

Sione Faumuina (born 27 March 1981) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Redcliffe Dolphins in the Queensland Cup. He previously played for the Canberra Raiders, North Queensland Cowboys and New Zealand Warriors in the NRL and for the Castleford Tigers and Hull FC in the Super League.

Sione Faumuina

Personal information
Full name	Sione Vili Faumuina[1]
Born	(1981-03-27) 27 March 1981 (age 43) Auckland, New Zealand
Playing information
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight	15 st 12 lb (101 kg)
Position	Lock, Second-row, Five-eighth, Centre
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 2001 Canberra Raiders 11 2 0 0 8 2002–06 New Zealand Warriors 88 18 33 0 138 2005 Hull FC 3 1 0 0 4 2007–08 North Queensland Cowboys 33 4 0 0 16 2009 Castleford Tigers 21 2 0 0 8 Total 156 27 33 0 174 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 2003–04 New Zealand 2 0 4 0 8
Source: [2][3][4]

Faumuina represented New Zealand on two occasions between 2003 and 2004 and his position of choice was second-row, although he also played as a centre, five-eighth or lock.^[2][5]

Playing career

Faumuina made his first grade debut in round 1 of the 2001 NRL season for Canberra against the New Zealand Warriors. Faumuina signed with the New Zealand Warriors in 2002 but did not play in the clubs 2002 NRL Grand Final loss against the Sydney Roosters. He was released by the New Zealand Warriors in August 2006 for repeated involvement in "cases of serious misconduct", related to alcohol.^[6] Faumuina was due to play for Super League club the Harlequins RL until the club tore up his contract pre-season.^[7] Faumuina later signed with the North Queensland Cowboys and played with them between 2007 and 2008. In 2009, Faumuina signed for English side Castleford. Faumuina was released by mutual consent from Castleford at the back end of the 2009 season. In 2011, Faumuina moved to Tannum Sands to work in local industry. He went on to play five-eighth for Tannum Sands Gullaz.

Personal life

• Faumuina is the former partner of professional netball player Temepara George. He is currently married with three girls.
• On 4 July 2008, Faumuina is involved in a single vehicle accident near the Lavarack Barracks in Townsville where he rolled his car and escaped unscathed. He left the scene and reported to police 10.5 hours later.^[8]
• In August 2009, Faumuina was suspended from the Castleford Tigers and returned to Australia.^[9]
• In 2023, Faumuina participated in season 3 of Match Fit, where former rugby players return to play against their Australian counterparts. He joined in the first season that featured former rugby league stars.^[10] He was the most physically fit-looking member at the start of the season because he already started his physical fitness regime with his wife in January 2022. He started the regime at 133 kg (20 st 13 lb), but started the season with a metabolic age of 26, which is far than he was in his playing days. He was invited to the show to deal with his mental issues and off-field concerns. Through his dedication and hard work, and significantly cutting back on alcohol intake, he was given Captaincy in the final match against Australian Kangaroo alumni.^[11]

References

1. FAUMUINA, SIONE VILI 2003 - 2004 - KIWI #703 Archived 23 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine nzleague.co.nz
2. "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
3. "Statistics at NRL". NRL. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
4. "Statistics at loverugbyleague.com". loverugbyleague.com. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
5. "2009 NRL Player Movements". NRL Live. 4 October 2008. Archived from the original on 5 October 2008. Retrieved 4 October 2008.
6. Warriors Website – News Archived 11 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine
7. "Kiwi forward Faumuina gone missing". server-web.com. 31 December 2005. Retrieved 1 January 2006.
8. "Cowboy caught in Townsville car mishap". townsvillebulletin.com.au. 5 July 2008. Archived from the original on 1 August 2008. Retrieved 1 January 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
9. "foxsports.com.au - story". foxsports.com.au. 31 August 2009. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
10. "Match Fit Season 3 Ep 1 | SPORT | ThreeNow". www.threenow.co.nz. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
11. "Match Fit Season 3 Ep 6 | SPORT | ThreeNow". www.threenow.co.nz. Retrieved 19 May 2023.