Peta Hiku
| Personal information | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 4 December 1992 Gisborne, New Zealand | |||||
| Height | 181 cm (5 ft 11 in) | |||||
| Weight | 94 kg (14 st 11 lb) | |||||
| Playing information | ||||||
| Position | Fullback, Wing, Five-eighth, Halfback | |||||
| Club | ||||||
| Years | Team | Pld | T | G | FG | P |
| 2013– | Manly-Warringah | 13 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| As of 23 June 2013 | ||||||
| Source: RLP and NRL Stats | ||||||
Peta Hiku (born 4 December 1992 in New Zealand) is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer for the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles of the National Rugby League (NRL), after previously being a member of the New Zealand Warriors National Youth Competition (NYC) squad. Hiku primarily plays either at Fullback or on the Wing, though he also played some of his junior football was at Five-eighth.
Playing career
Born in New Zealand, Hiku played his junior football for the Manurewa Marlins before being signed by the Warriors. He played for the Warriors' NYC team in 2012, and had the second most metres gained during the 2012 NYC season behind team mate Ligi Sao.[1]
At the end of 2012, Hiku was named the New Zealand Warriors Under-20s Player of the Year.
In 2013, Hiku (and long time Marlins and Warriors team mate Ligi Sao) left the Warriors and joined Sydney club the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, playing mostly at fullback for the Luke Williamson coached Sea Eagles NYC team. In Round 6 of the 2013 NRL season he made his NRL debut on the wing for the Sea Eagles in place of the injured David Williams against the Cronulla Sharks at Brookvale Oval, scoring a try on debut in Manly's 25-18 win.[2][3]
After Williams returned to the First Grade team, Hiku spent rounds 7 and 8 with the NYC team before he was called back into the team by coach Geoff Toovey to play fullback in thr Round 9 clash with the Sydney Roosters. Hiku's call up was due to a back injury suffered by representative fullback Brett Stewart in Manly's 24-18 win over St. George Illawarra in Monday Night Football at WIN Jubilee Oval in Round 8. With Stewart expected to be out for at least four or five weeks, the 20 year old New Zealander was given the chance by Toovey to prove himself in the top grade. Hiku marked his first game in the Sea Eagles #1 jumper by producing a strong display in a disappointing 16-4 loss to the Sydney Roosters at Brookvale Oval.
In six games for Manly (as of 23 June 2013), Hiku has scored two tries and impressed with his displays at fullback in place of the injured Stewart. He has also proven himself to be a reliable last line of defense for Manly, with 25 tackles and only 7 missed tackles in his 6 First Grade games.
In his first game of NRL finals football, again in place of an injured Brett Stewart, Hiku was judged as man of the match despite Manly going down 4-0 to the 2013 minor premiers the Sydney Roosters.
Representative career
In 2012, Hiku played for the Junior Kiwis, and has been talked about as a future test player for New Zealand.[citation needed]