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Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 14 June 1992 Apia, Samoa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 170 cm (5 ft 7 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 80 kg (12 st 8 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Halfback, Five-eighth, Hooker | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: [1] As of 12 May 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Penani Manumalealii (born 14 June 1992) is a Samoan professional rugby league footballer who plays as a halfback and five-eighth for the Newtown Jets in the Intrust Super Premiership NSW, having previously played for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks and the Wests Tigers in the NRL. [2]
Born in Apia, Samoa, Manumalealii was raised in New Zealand and attended Hornby high school while playing his junior football for the Hornby Panthers.
As a 16-year-old, Manumalealii moved to Sydney, Australia to play for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks. [3] He played for the Sharks' NYC team from 2010 to 2012 [4] [5] before moving on to the Sharks' New South Wales Cup team in 2013. [6]
In Round 2 of the 2014 NRL season, Manumalealii made his NRL debut for the Sharks against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs. [7]
On 20 March 2014, Manumalealii signed a contract with the Wests Tigers effective immediately for the rest of the season. [8]
At the end of the 2016 season, Manumalealii was not re-signed by the Wests Tigers, instead signing with the Newtown Jets.
In 2012, Manumalealii played for the Junior Kiwis. [9] [10]
In 2013, Manumalealii was named in the Samoa squad for the World Cup. [11] He scored a try in their opening match against New Zealand.
In May 2014, Penani played for Samoa in the 2014 Pacific Rugby League International. He scored three tries in Samoa's 32-16 victory. He dedicated those tries to his mother who had died months earlier. [12]
On 8 September 2014, Manumalealii was selected for the Samoa Four Nations train-on squad. [13] On 7 October 2014, Manumalealii was selected in the Samoa national rugby league team final 24 man squad for the 2014 Four Nations series. [14] [15]
