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Brendon Tuuta

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Brendon Tuuta
Personal information
Full nameBrendon Ephia Tuuta
Born (1965-04-29) 29 April 1965 (age 61)
Chatham Islands, New Zealand
Playing information
Height178 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight90 kg (14 st 2 lb)
PositionStand-off, Five-eighth, Second-row, Lock
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1989–90 Western Suburbs 34 3 0 0 12
1990–95 Featherstone[1] 155 29 0 1 117
1995 Western Reds 9 1 0 0 4
1995–97 Castleford Tigers[2] 60 4 0 0 16
1998 Warrington[3] 22 4 0 0 16
1999 Featherstone
Total 280 41 0 1 165
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
Canterbury
South Island
1989–95 New Zealand 16 1 0 0 4
Source: [4][5]

Brendon Ephia Tuuta[6] (born 29 April 1965) is a New Zealand former rugby league footballer of Māori (Ngāti Mutunga) and Moriori descent.

Tuuta played a variety of positions including stand-off, scrum-half, second-row and loose forward. He was known as "the baby-faced assassin" and had a reputation as a brawler.[7]

Background

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He is related to Lewis Brown.[8]

Early years

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Originally from the Chatham Islands, Tuuta played much of his youth league for Canterbury.

Tuuta withdrew from the New Zealand Māori squad for the 1986 Pacific Cup.[9]

Playing career

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Tuuta first played professionally when he played for the Western Suburbs Magpies in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership between 1989 and 1990.[10]

He was a New Zealand international between 1989 and 1995. During his début in 1989 he was involved in an incident where it was claimed he kneed Paul Vautin.[11] He went on the 1989 Kiwis tour of Great Britain and France and played in Featherstone for the first time.[12]

He then moved to Featherstone Rovers in England, playing in the second division.[13] In 1993 he was suspended for six matches for breaking Nigel Heslop's jaw with a punch.[14] He played loose forward in the Rovers' 20–16 victory over Workington Town in the 1992–93 Division Two Premiership Final at Old Trafford, Manchester on 19 May 1993.[15]

Tuuta was a Canterbury representative and famously returned to New Zealand for the 1993 provincial grand final where Canterbury upset Auckland, earning the man of the match award that day.[16]

During the 1995 Australian season, he returned to play for the Western Reds,[17] before signing for the Castleford Tigers for the English 1995/96 season.[18]

Tuuta joined the Warrington Wolves for the 1998 season but struggled with knee problems.[19] Despite deciding to retire after 1998 he reconsidered and returned to Featherstone Rovers for one more season.[20]

Honours

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Tuuta is a Featherstone Rovers' Hall of Fame inductee.[21]

References

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  1. ^ Rothmans RL Yearbooks Vol 11 p50, Vol 12 p59, Vol 13 p53, Vol 14 p52, Vol 15 p 61, Vol 16 p49
  2. ^ Rothmans RL Yearbook 16 p38, Rothmans RL Yearbook 17 p51, Rothmans RL Yearbook 18 p47
  3. ^ Rothmans RL Yearbook 1999 page 120
  4. ^ "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  5. ^ "Tribute to Canterbury Rugby League - Significant Results and Famous players". planetnz.com.
  6. ^ "TUUTA, BRENDON EPHIA 1989, 1992 – 95 – KIWI #608". nzleague.co.nz. 2 April 2012. Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  7. ^ "Your Favorite Moments". eraofthebiff.com. 7 August 2008. Archived from the original on 7 August 2008. Retrieved 1 January 2009.
  8. ^ "New Warrior leaps to aid of snatch-and-run victim". The Sunday Star-Times. 24 January 2009. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  9. ^ John Coffey, Bernie Wood. 100 Years: Maori Rugby League, 1908–2008. Auckland, Huia Publishers, 2008. ISBN 1-86969-331-0
  10. ^ "Ask a tricky question and get some Tricky answers". smh.com.au. 30 August 2002. Retrieved 1 January 2003.
  11. ^ "Tuuta Comes Out Of His Cocoon With A Halo". rotorua.com.au. 14 July 1989. Archived from the original on 13 September 2009. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  12. ^ "Rovers v New Zealand 1989: Our Introduction To Brendon Tuuta". fevshop.com. 31 December 2017. Archived from the original on 23 January 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  13. ^ "Leeds have to tame Tuuta". independent.co.uk. 30 March 1995. Retrieved 1 January 2018.[dead link]
  14. ^ "Tuuta out for six matches". independent.co.uk. 19 March 1993. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  15. ^ "Rovers Dig Deep To Lift The 1993 RL Premiership". Great Players – Great Games. 31 December 2010. Archived from the original on 11 October 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2011.
  16. ^ Smith, Tony (30 May 2009). "Nothing better than bettering Auckland". The Press. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  17. ^ "Perth / Western Reds". rl1908.com. 31 December 2017. Archived from the original on 21 June 2002. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  18. ^ "Profile at thecastlefordtigers.co.uk". thecastlefordtigers.co.uk. 31 December 2017. Archived from the original on 27 February 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  19. ^ "Tuuta Retires". Warrington Guardian. 2 October 1998. Archived from the original on 11 March 2026. Retrieved 11 March 2026.
  20. ^ "Fearsome Fev for Ford fiesta". The Racing Post at thefreelibrary.com. 6 February 1999. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  21. ^ "Featherstone Rovers legends added to Hall of Fame". pontefractandcastlefordexpress.co.uk. 5 November 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
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Sources

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