Sika Manu

Sika Manu
Manu playing for the Kiwis
Personal information
Born 22 January 1987 (1987-01-22) (age 25)
Lower Hutt, New Zealand
Height 181 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight 115 kg (18 st 2 lb)
Playing information
Position Second-row, Prop
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2007– Melbourne Storm 62 10 0 0 40
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2008–2011 New Zealand 14 4 0 0 16
As of 18 July 2011
Source: [1]

Sika Manu (born 22 January 1987 in Wellington, New Zealand) is a professional rugby league footballer who currently plays for the Melbourne Storm in the NRL. He was a member of the World Cup winning New Zealand team who beat Australia in the 2008 World Cup Final. Manu's position of choice is at prop but he can also play in the second-row.

Contents

Early years

Manu was educated at Upper Hutt College, where he played for the schools' First XV rugby team. He played for the Randwick Kingfishers and Upper Hutt Tigers in the Wellington Rugby League.[1]

Manu was a Junior Kiwi international.

Playing career

Manu made his first grade debut for the Melbourne Storm in 2007. He has since played over 50 games for the club.

He played in the 2008 NRL Grand Final defeat to Manly.[2]

Manu suffered a leg injury in the Storm's 2009 Round 21 clash with the St George Illawarra Dragons, thus ending his season. He ultimately missed the Grand Final win.

Representative career

Manu made his New Zealand Kiwis debut in 2008.

He was been named in the Tongan and New Zealand training squads for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.[3][4] In October 2008 he was named in the final 24-man Kiwi squad and was part of the team that went on to win the tournament.[5]

Personal life

Manu is of full Tongan descent and as a result is eligible both for New Zealand and Tonga.

His older brother Phillippe was also contracted to the storm.[1]

He is cousin to current Super 15 Rugby union player from the Higlanders; Nasi Manu.

He is also cousin to up and coming Rugby superstar David Manu, located in the Eastern Suburbs.

References

  1. ^ a b Deane, Steve (30 October 2010). "League: Time for Manu to prove himself". The New Zealand Herald. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10683967&ref=rss. Retrieved 11 November 2011. 
  2. ^ "Grand final: As it happened". Fox Sports. 2008-10-05. http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,24449388-23214,00.html. Retrieved 2008-10-05. 
  3. ^ "Tug-of-war over Mason". Sky Sports. 2008-08-05. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12196_3935853,00.html. Retrieved 2008-08-06. 
  4. ^ "Kiwis select Sonny Bill". Sky Sports. 2008-08-08. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12196_3949034,00.html. Retrieved 2008-08-08. 
  5. ^ "Kiwis to wait on Webb and Matai". BBC. 2008-10-07. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/7656238.stm. Retrieved 2008-10-07. 

External links