Bunty Afoa

Bunty Afoa

Personal information
Full name	Iulio Afoa [1]
Born	(1996-08-20) 20 August 1996 (age 29) Auckland, New Zealand
Height	188 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	113 kg (17 st 11 lb)
Playing information
Position	Prop
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 2016–2025 New Zealand Warriors 145 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 20 July 2025

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

Bunty is the longest-serving player at the New Zealand Warriors, with an unbroken sequence that stretches across 10 seasons.

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. ^[11]

2017

In the 2017 NRL season, Afoa made 17 appearances as the club finished a disappointing 13th on the table. ^[12]

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. ^[13]

2019

Afoa played 20 games for New Zealand in the 2019 NRL season as the club missed out on the finals.^{[ citation needed ]}

2020

On 18 February, Afoa was ruled out for the entire 2020 NRL season after suffering an ACL injury at pre-season training. ^[14]

2021

On 10 June, the New Zealand Warriors announced that Afoa had signed a new two-year contract. ^[15]

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. ^[16] Afoa made a total of 24 appearances for the New Zealand club as they finished 15th on the table. ^[17]

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. ^[18]

2024

Afoa played nine games for the New Zealand Warriors in the 2024 NRL season which saw the club finish 13th on the table. ^[19]

2025

Afoa played seven games for the New Zealand Warriors in the 2025 NRL season which saw the club finish 5th on the table. The New Zealand Warriors confirmed that Afoa was one of five players released by the club at the end of their season. ^[20] On 28 September, Afoa played in the New Zealand Warriors NSW Cup grand final victory against St. George Illawarra. ^{[21] [22]}

Statistics

As of 20 July 2025 ^[update] . ^{[2] [23]}

NRL

Season	Team	Matches	Tries	Pts
2016	New Zealand Warriors	4	2	8
2017		17	1	4
2018		23	0	0
2019		20	1	4
2021		20	2	8
2022		24	1	4
2023		21	1	4
2024		9	0	0
2025		7	0	0
Career totals		145	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 23 July 2025.
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. Archived from the original on 13 April 2014. 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 (23 June 2016). "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 (2 July 2016). "NRL LATE MAIL | #Mannering250 - Warriors". Warriors.kiwi. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
11. "Toa Samoa squad named for Fiji Test". Asia Pacific Rugby League. 3 October 2016. Archived from the original on 8 October 2016.
12. "Official Player Numbers". Parramatta Eels. 12 December 2017.
13. "Warriors: 2017 by the numbers". www.nrl.com. 12 September 2018.
14. "Big blow for New Zealand Warriors, as Bunty Afoa is ruled out for NRL season". www.nzherald.co.nz.
15. "NRL 2021: Prop Bunty Afoa extends NZ Warriors contract through to end of 2023 season". Newshub. 10 June 2021. Archived from the original on 15 June 2021. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
16. "No DCE, no worries as Manly 'man mountain' stuns; star's no-show for 'diabolical' Warriors: 3 Big Hits". www.foxsports.com.au. 4 June 2022.
17. "Warriors farewell 15 players after return to New Zealand". www.foxsports.com.au. 6 September 2022.
18. "NRL 2023: New Zealand Warriors season review". www.sportingnews.com. 25 September 2023.
19. "The Mole's end-of-season review: The 'harsh' Shaun Johnson truth that plagued highly-fancied Warriors". www.nine.com.au. 9 September 2024.
20. Clements, Matt (16 September 2025). "Warriors confirm five players to depart". Zero Tackle. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
21. Worsley, Dave (29 September 2025). "NZ Warriors win New South Wales Cup". NZ Sports Wire. Retrieved 29 September 2025.
22. "Boyd brilliance steers Warriors to first ever NSW Cup". www.nswrl.com.au.
23. "Bunty Afoa". Warriors. 16 April 2024. Retrieved 28 April 2024.

External links

• New Zealand Warriors profile
• Warriors profile
• NRL profile
• 2017 RWLC profile