Moses Suli

Mosese Suli

Personal information
Full name	Mosese Suli
Born	(1998-06-09) 9 June 1998 (age 25) Fairfield, New South Wales, Australia
Height	189 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	109 kg (17 st 2 lb)
Playing information
Position	Centre, Wing
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 2017 Wests Tigers 16 2 0 0 8 2018–21 Manly Sea Eagles 63 12 0 0 48 2022– St. George Illawarra 46 8 0 0 32 Total 125 22 0 0 88 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 2017–22 Tonga 8 1 0 0 4
Source: [1] As of 19 April 2024

Mosese "Moses" Suli (born 9 June 1998) is a Tonga international rugby league player who plays as a centre and winger for the St. George Illawarra Dragons in the National Rugby League (NRL).

Suli previously played for the Wests Tigers, was signed by the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs before his contract was terminated ahead of the 2018 NRL season for repeated indiscretions during pre-season, he then joined Manly Warringah Sea Eagles.

Background

Suli was born in Geelong Crescent in St John's Park Fairfield, New South Wales, Australia. He is of Tongan descent. ^[2]

He played his junior rugby league for Fairfield United. He was then signed by the Wests Tigers. Suli later said, "I got axed by Parra in Harold Matthews when I was 16. They actually wanted me back but I just didn’t want to go back. I just said I wasn’t interested. I was going good at the Tigers and I just wanted to stay here." ^[3]

Playing career

2016

In 2016, Suli played for the Wests Tigers' NYC team. ^[4]

2017

In January, Suli re-signed with the Tigers on a three-year contract until the end of 2020. ^[5]

In round 1 of the 2017 NRL season, he made his NRL debut for the Tigers against the South Sydney Rabbitohs, ^{[6] [7]} scoring a try. ^[8] The Daily Telegraph said, "Apart from owning wonderful speed, footwork and vision, Suli is also larger than your favourite reality TV star’s ego. Truly, this young bloke is the real deal. A genuine Next Big Thing." ^[9]

2018

On January 31, Suli was released by the Wests Tigers. It was reported that Suli would only attend training sessions for five minutes, and would sleep in a teammates car while the team was training. ^[10]

He was quickly signed by the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs. However, 28 days later, his new contract was terminated by the Belmore-based club following repeated indiscretions. ^[11] It was revealed he had been given two warnings in his first two weeks at the club. ^[12]

Suli subsequently joined Manly-Warringah, making his debut in round 9. By round 14, he had been dropped again after misplacing his passport and missing training in New Zealand. ^[13]

Suli after Tonga were knocked out of the 2021 RLWC

2019

On 2 April, Suli was dropped from the Manly side for the club's Round 4 match against South Sydney for failing to meet the club's disciplinary standards. ^[14]

Suli made a total of 22 appearances for Manly and scored 6 tries as the club finished 6th on the table and qualified for the finals. Suli played in both finals games for the club and scored a try in each match as they were eliminated in the semi-final by South Sydney at ANZ Stadium. ^{[15] [16] [17]}

2020

In round 16, Suli was taken from the field during Manly's 56-16 loss against South Sydney. He was later ruled out for the rest of the season with injury. He made a total of 13 appearances for Manly scoring two tries. ^[18]

2021

In round 22, Suli came on as 18th man in Manly's 56-10 victory over Parramatta and scored two tries. ^[19]

Suli played a total of 13 games for Manly in 2021, including the club's preliminary final loss against South Sydney. On 6 October, he was released early from his contract to join St. George Illawarra. ^[20]

2022

Suli made his club debut for St. George Illawarra in round 1 of the 2022 NRL season against the New Zealand Warriors. On 19 July, it was confirmed that Suli had suffered a leg injury and would be told that he would return during the NRL Finals. ^[21]

Suli played 17 games for the club throughout 2022 as they finished 10th on the table and missed the finals for a fourth straight season. ^[22]

In October he was named in the Tonga squad for the 2021 Rugby League World Cup. ^[23]

2023

In round 10 of the 2023 NRL season, Suli was responsible for one of the bombed tries of the year with one minute remaining as St. George Illawarra lost 16-18 against the bottom placed Wests Tigers. The ball had found Suli with an unmarked Mikaele Ravalawa on his outside. Suli elected to run the ball but then attempted a flick pass which went to ground. Ravalawa picked up the loose ball but was then bundled into touch. ^{[24] [25]} A week later he scored the opening try for the St. George Illawarra Dragons in a 95 m effort against the Sydney Roosters in their 24-22 win. Suli played a total of 22 games in the 2023 NRL season as St. George Illawarra finished 16th on the table. ^[26]

Statistics

Season	Team	Played	T	G	FG	P
2017	Wests Tigers	16	2	0	0	8
2018	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	15	1			4
2019		22	6			24
2020		13	2			8
2021		17	3			12
2022	St. George Illawarra Dragons	17	5			20
2023		22	2			8
	Totals	118	21			84

* denotes season still competing

source; ^[27]

References

1. "Mosese Suli - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project.
2. Proszenko, Adrian (4 February 2017). "Wests Tigers wonder kid Mosese Suli doing it for his late father". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
3. Matt Encarcion (10 April 2017). "Wests Tigers winger Moses Suli knocked back Parramatta's offer to return". Fox Sports.
4. "S". NYC Database. 27 December 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
5. "Moses Suli commits to Wests Tigers - Tigers". Go1.weststigers.com.au. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
6. "Updated team lists: Rabbitohs v Tigers". NRL.com. 18 December 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
7. "Late Changes: NRL Round 1 vs. Rabbitohs - Tigers". Weststigers.com.au. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
8. "Tedesco-inspired Tigers smash Souths". NRL.com. 18 December 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
9. Nick Walshaw. "Moses Suli stars with brilliant debut in Tigers victory over South Sydney". Daily Telegraph.
10. Michael Chammas (28 February 2018). "Suli failed to respond to Bulldogs warnings". nrl.com.
11. "Moses Suli released by Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs".
12. "Sleeping in a car at training: The bizarre decline of Moses Suli". Fox Sports.
13. Adrian Proszenko. "Suli axed for missing training ... again". Sydney Morning Herald.
14. "Moses Suli dropped by Manly for failure to meet discipline standards". www.sportingnews.com.
15. "South Sydney Rabbitohs beat Manly Sea Eagles 34-26 in NRL semi-final". ABC News. 20 September 2019.
16. "Rabbitohs dig deep to eliminate Sea Eagles in finals thriller". NRL. 20 September 2019.
17. "Under-strength Sea Eagles send Sharks packing". NRL. 14 September 2019.
18. "Manly Sea Eagles centre Moses Suli ruled out for season with foot injury". www.sportingnews.com.
19. "Eels star's season could be over as 'shocking' high shot earns a HUGE suspension". www.foxsports.com.au. 15 August 2021.
20. "Sea Eagles farewell departing players". www.seaeagles.com.au. 5 October 2021.
21. "Storm's Papenhuyzen fears confirmed as Sharks flyer cops brutal blow: NRL Casualty Ward". www.foxsports.com.au.
22. "NRL 2022: St George Illawarra Dragons season review". www.sportingnews.com.
23. Full list of every squad at the Rugby League World Cup 2021
24. "Magic Round: Gold Coast Titans beat Parramatta 26-24, Nth Queensland Cowboys down Sydney Roosters 20-6, Wests Tigers beat St George illawarra 18-16". www.abc.net.au.
25. "NRL Magic Round: Dragons suffer fifth-straight loss as Ben Hunt slams 'dumb' performance against Tigers". www.sportingnews.com.
26. "Hunt call that could define Flanagan era; glaring hole that must be filled: Brutal Review". www.foxsports.com.au.
27. "Moses Suli". St George Illawarra Dragons. 19 July 2022. Retrieved 29 January 2024.

External links

• Manly Sea Eagles profile
• Wests Tigers profile
• NRL profile