| Personal information | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Epalahame Vear Loloko Lauaki[1] | |||||
| Born | 27 January 1984 Ha'apai, Tonga |
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| Height | 184 cm (6 ft 0 in) | |||||
| Weight | 109 kg (17 st 2 lb) [2] | |||||
| Playing information | ||||||
| Position | Second-row | |||||
| Club | ||||||
| Years | Team | Pld | T | G | FG | P |
| 2004–2008 | NZ Warriors | 69 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 40 |
| 2009–11 | Hull | 56 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| Total | 125 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 60 | |
| Representative | ||||||
| Years | Team | Pld | T | G | FG | P |
| 2007 | New Zealand | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2008–2010 | Tonga | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| As of 24 January 2009 | ||||||
| Source: RLP | ||||||
Epalahame Lauaki (born 27 January 1984 in Ha'apai, Tonga) is a professional rugby league footballer formerly contracted to English club Hull in the Super League. He is brother of All Black Sione Lauaki. He is the cousin of rugby league and union star Tevita Vaikona.
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Lauaki was educated at Waitakere College and then at Kelston Boys High School and played for the Waitemata Seagulls and Glenora Bears in the Auckland Rugby League competition.
He was signed by the New Zealand Warriors and made his first grade debut on March 14, 2004 against the Brisbane Broncos at Suncorp Stadium. During his Warriors career he was used mainly as an interchange player, starting only ten games in sixty nine appearances. When not selected for the first grade side, Lauaki played for the Waitakere Rangers in the Bartercard Cup and the Auckland Lions and Auckland Vulcans in the NSW Cup. In 2007 he signed a three year extension with the Warriors, making him a Warrior until the end of the 2010 season.[3]
On 23 February 2009 it was announced that Lauaki had been released by the Warriors so he could sign a 3-year deal to play for Hull in the Super League.
He made his Super League debut for Hull against Harlequins Rugby League on 21 August 2009 and has since made himself a crowd favourite at the KC Stadium.[4]
After finally arriving at the KC Stadium late in 2009, Lauaki made his intentions clear with a number of brutally committed displays. The hard-working, powerful second-rower or prop forward will provide some serious physicality, along with good feet and a great offload and many teams will fear him this season. Those attributes were epitomised in 2010, with a stunning hand off on Leon Pryce to score against St. Helens on the opening day of the season, before a similar try against Salford later that year as he held off four men to touch down.
In 2006 Lauaki was named in the New Zealand 'A' team that played against an Australian Invitational side.[5] In 2007 Lauaki was then named in the New Zealand Kiwis squad for the tour of Great Britain. He played in two tests for the Kiwis and also played in the All Golds match.
Lauaki then decided to switch his international allegiance to the nation of his birth, Tonga. In August 2008, Lauaki was named in the Tongan training squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup,[6] and in October 2008 he was named in the final 24-man Tonga squad.[7] He played in three games at the tournament as well as a warm up game against the New Zealand Kiwis.
Lauaki is the third eldest from a total of nine siblings. His parents Kepu and Mele Fale Lauaki both come from the Tonga. His immediate family reside in Auckland, New Zealand.
Lauaki married Renee from Kolovai, Tonga whom he met in Auckland, New Zealand. They have one child together, Kepu Lauaki Jr, who is named after his father. Lauaki and his family currently reside in England.
Lauaki is good friends with fellow Hull and Tonga team mates Willie Manu and Sam Moa. The trio are commonly known by the Hull fans as 'The Tongan Mafia'.
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