Tyrell Fuimaono

Ty Fuimaono

Personal information
Full name	Tyrell Fuimaono
Born	(1996-03-06) 6 March 1996 (age 28) Penrith, New South Wales, Australia
Height	186 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	99 kg (15 st 8 lb)
Playing information
Position	Second-row, Lock, Centre
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 2017–18 South Sydney 19 2 0 0 8 2019 Penrith Panthers 7 0 0 0 0 2020–22 St George Illawarra 40 2 0 0 8 Total 66 4 0 0 16 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 2020–23 Indigenous All Stars 4 0 0 0 0
Source: [1] [2] As of 30 May 2022

Tyrell Fuimaono (born 6 March 1996) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who last played as a second-row and lock forward for the St. George Illawarra Dragons in the National Rugby League (NRL).

He previously played for the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Penrith Panthers in the NRL, and at representative level for the Indigenous All Stars.

Early life

Fuimaono was born in Penrith, New South Wales, Australia. He is of Indigenous Australian (Wiradjuri) and Samoan and Tokelau descent. ^[3]

He played his junior rugby league for St Marys Saints, and was selected to represent the Australian Schoolboys while attending Patrician Brothers' College, Blacktown in 2014.

Playing career

2016

Fuimaono was signed by the Parramatta Eels, playing for their S. G. Ball Cup and National Youth Competition teams. ^[4] He was named on the interchange bench in the 2016 NYC team of the year. ^[5]

2017

Fuimaono joined South Sydney in 2017.

Fuimaono playing for the North Sydney Bears in 2017

Before making his NRL Debut, Fuimaono played the first half of the 2017 season in the NSW Cup with the North Sydney Bears and made a total of 8 appearances. ^[6] Fuimaono made his NRL debut for Souths in their match against the Wests Tigers on 12 May. Fuimaono finished the season playing 15 games without missing a match since his debut, scoring 2 tries. ^[7]

2018

Fuimaono only made 5 appearances for Souths as the player struggled with injuries and did not feature in Souths finals campaign. ^{[8] [9]}

2019

In 2019, Fuimaono signed a contract to join the Penrith Panthers after being released by South Sydney at the end of 2018. ^[10] Fuimaono made his debut for Penrith against Parramatta in round 1 of the 2019 NRL season which ended in a 20-12 loss. On 16 September 2019, Fuimaono was one of ten players named who were being released by the Penrith club at the end of the 2019 NRL season. ^[11]

2020

On 7 January 2020, Fuimaono signed a two-year deal for St. George Illawarra which be applicable for the 2020 and 2021 seasons. ^[12]

In round 11 of the 2020 NRL season, he scored his first try for St. George Illawarra in a 28-24 loss to rivals Cronulla-Sutherland at Kogarah Oval. ^[13]

Fuimaono played 17 games for St. George Illawarra in the 2020 NRL season as the club finished 13th on the table and missed out on the finals. ^[14]

2021

In round 10 of the 2021 NRL season, Fuimaono was sent off in the club's 44-18 loss against Melbourne after a high tackle on Melbourne's Ryan Papenhuyzen. ^[15] On 17 May 2021, Fuimaono was suspended for five matches by the NRL judiciary for his tackle on Papenhuyzen. ^[16]

He played a total of 17 matches for St. George Illawarra in the 2021 NRL season as the club finished 11th on the table and missed out on the finals. ^[17]

2022

On 20 February during St. George Illawarra’s first pre-season trial match, Fuimaono was placed on report and sent to the sin-bin for a hip-drop tackle on Parramatta's Haze Dunster which ruled the player out of the entire 2022 NRL season. Fuimaono was subsequently suspended for five matches with an early guilty plea to a grade 3 dangerous contact charge. ^[18]

Post NRL

After being released by the Dragons, Fuimaono signed to play with the Thirroul Butchers in the Illawarra Competition. ^[19]

Statistics

Season	Team	Games	Tries	Pts
2017	South Sydney Rabbitohs	15	2	8
2018		4
2019	Penrith Panthers	7
2020	St George-Illawarra Dragons	17	1	4
2021		17	1	4
2022		5
	Totals	66	4	16

Controversy

On 11 June 2019, Fuimaono was handed a 12-month good behaviour bond at court after pleading guilty to hindering police. The sentence was handed down in relation to an incident which happened in 2018 when Fuimaono tried to prevent police from arresting his cousin following a brawl on Oxford Street in Sydney's CBD. ^[20]

On 5 July 2021, he was fined $12,000 by the NRL and suspended for one game after breaching the game's Covid-19 biosecurity protocols when he attended a party along with 12 other St. George Illawarra players at Paul Vaughan's property. ^[21]

References

1. "Tyrell Fuimaono - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
2. "Tyrell Fuimaono". NRL.com. Archived from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
3. Francis, Matthew (6 August 2015). "Indigenous roots drive Fuimaono to succeed". NRL.com. Archived from the original on 6 August 2015. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
4. "Tyrell Fuimaono: School to Work to Origin". Parramatta Eels. 29 June 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
5. "2016 Holden Cup Team of the Year announced". NRL.com. 5 September 2016. Archived from the original on 21 May 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
6. "Tyrell Fuimaono - Player Profile". SportsTG. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
7. Kennedy, Chris (12 May 2017). "Farah stars as Souths crush Tigers". NRL.com. Archived from the original on 12 May 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
8. Nicolussi, Christian (31 May 2018). "Toey Tyrell Fuimaono enhances Rabbitohs' tough reputation" . Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 28 September 2018.
9. "Custom Match List - Tyrell Fuimaono". Rugby League Project.
10. Kennedy, Chris (23 February 2019). "Fuimaono relishing fresh start with Penrith". NRL.com. Archived from the original on 23 February 2019.
11. Tribute to Departing Players (Featurette). Penrith Panthers. 16 September 2019.
12. "Dragons sign Fuimaono". St George Illawarra Dragons. 7 January 2020. Archived from the original on 30 January 2020. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
13. Jackson, Andrew (25 July 2020). "Sharks hold off fast-finishing Dragons in thrilling local derby". Fox Sports. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
14. O'Loughlin, Liam (26 October 2020). "NRL 2020 Season Review: How will your side fare next year?". Sporting News. Archived from the original on 26 October 2020.
15. "Penrith, Parramatta and Melbourne — all score wins on final day of Magic Round". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 16 May 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
16. Pengilly, Adam (17 May 2021). "Griffin tells Dragons to suck it up after stars accept big bans". Sydney Morning Herald . Archived from the original on 18 May 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
17. "Luckless Cowboy ends 14-game losing streak; Dragons find their new No.6: 3 Big Hits". www.foxsports.com.au. 28 August 2021.
18. "Dragons enforcer accepts huge ban after ending season of Eels young gun". www.foxsports.com.au.
19. Chalk, Ethan Lee (21 May 2024). "Ex-Dragon finds new home". Zero Tackle. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
20. Lucius, Adam (11 June 2019). "Penrith's Tyrell Fuimaono handed good behaviour bond for hindering police". Sporting News. Archived from the original on 18 June 2019.
21. "St George Illawarra Dragons players fined $305,000 and given match suspensions". National Rugby League . 5 July 2021. Archived from the original on 6 July 2021. Retrieved 7 July 2021.

External links

• St. George Illawarra Dragons profile
• Penrith Panthers profile
• South Sydney Rabbitohs profile
• Rabbitohs profile